Small states as holons : the transnational survival kit of small jurisdictions

Abstract

This chapter argues that small jurisdictions-often islands or enclaves - are generally exposed to the vagaries of the transnational. Yet sound socio-economic and political policies, at intersecting individual, household and national levels, can offset what is often construed as structural and inherent handicaps. Thus while exogenous shocks tend to be larger on small economies, these economies can usually bring to bear home-bred, endogenous, policy capacities to compensate for this openness. The chapter argues that the nation, the local economy, the local household, even the individual, are but fragments of a larger system and it is the awareness of this fragmentation that explains the resilience and survival of small states, just as much as it explains their vulnerability.