Islands and Self-Determination in the Caribbean: Puerto Rico and Aruba in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

The politics of self-determination in non-independent Caribbean islands features both common and divergent outcomes. The common outcome is a weakness of secessionism. The divergent outcome is the broader politics over status. Using a comparison of Puerto Rico (where secessionism is weak and the constitutional status is strongly contested) and Aruba (where secessionism is also weak but the status broadly accepted), this article refines arguments found in the literature on why non-independent island territories eschew the pursuit of independence, and it formulates an explanation for variation in the politics over status based on the symbolic value of institutions and historical processes of othering.