A Martinican collectivist model, the SICA of Fond Saint-Jacques

Guy Flandrina
Preface by Gilbert Pago, postscript by Sylvère Farraudière

In recent years, the former French-speaking colonies of the Antilles-Guyana have undertaken the task of writing, themselves, their contemporary history.
Through this book, Guy Flandrina contributes to this necessary collective enterprise.
The SICA de Fond Saint-Jacques is the first and oldest Society of Agricultural Collective Interest in Martinique. This structure has shaped both the work of men and the agro-economic profile of the region. The memory of the elder actors of this structure is made up of experiences compared, cross-checked and restored – often – from their oral testimonies and from the – unfortunately too parsimonious – public and private archives that the author was able to bring together.
This precious work benefited above all from the generous support of many witnesses of the time, whose average age today is… 87 years old!

SICA de Fond Saint-Jacques is the first and oldest agricultural collective interest company in Martinique. Its birth, in 1957, took place at a crucial moment in the history of Martinique, a former colony struggling to endorse its new status as an overseas department. For twelve years, changes have succeeded and accelerated in all areas: rural, social, anthropological, economic, political... This is a new stage for the world of the Martinican countryside and that which revolves around the "Transat" and maritime transport, whose influence continues to grow.
By placing the daily life of the SICA at the center of this work, Guy Flandrina makes a judicious choice on at least two counts. By questioning the actors of the time, he underlines the urgency of saving what can be saved from oblivion. By studying the archives he was able to find, he analyzes a model whose effectiveness has never wavered in sixty years of existence. Incidentally, the attentive reader will see in it a strong tribute to a development model that retains its relevance more than ever in the current situation.
And since in recent years, the former French-speaking colonies of the Antilles-Guyana have undertaken to write their own contemporary history, this work is also a valuable contribution to this – too late? – collective enterprise.