La maritimisation des Petites Antilles, entre mondialisation et maritimité « ordinaire »
Abstract
The concept of maritimization reflects the increasing dependency of contemporary societies on maritime areas and their resources. It can be analyzed according to several markers. The first are related to the geography of needs, which are shaped by the import-export flows generated by the demand in a given territory. This gives rise to a structure of exchanges, but also to port typologies able to respond to the specificity of the vessels mobilized for these services. These functions build a service economy around a network of companies dedicated to receiving ships and goods, and which shapes the singularity of each port. They also shape an infrastructural landscape whose growth patterns are not always consistent with the trajectories of the territories served. The Lesser Antilles, whose economies and transport needs remain modest, are an exemplary case in this way. They witness the combination of two processes of maritimization, one driven by exogenous forces, in relation to the globalization of maritime actors, the other structured by domestic traffic and the needs of islanders’ daily lives.
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