Caribbean History

"Bearing in mind the recent renewed interest in the economic and environmental problems of small islands everywhere, (this) is a highly appropriate time to bring back to world attention the issues of that time, which served in large measure to define the patterns of development in Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent in the early decades of the twentieth century", -- David Watts, University of Hull, England

In this historical geography of the British colonies of Barbados and the Windwards (St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grenada), Bonham C. Richardson describes the economies, environments, and societies of the four geographically dissimilar islands and outlines the severe economic depression they experienced following the 1884 plunge in London sugar prices and the exacerbating effects of two catastrophes, a massive hurricane in 1898 and a volcanic eruption in 1902.

In response to these problems, the British parliament created the 1897 West India Royal Commission to outline a new policy for the islands' development. Concentrating on the years between 1880 and 1905, Richardson makes use of unpublished archival records, local newspapers, and records of the Royal Commission to explain the enormous changes in land-use patterns.

In a novel approach, Richardson emphasizes the effects of the islands' physical environments and devotes chapters to climate, waters, lowlands, and highlands. He also demonstrates how these environmental zones and resources were contested by different socioeconomic groups, leading him to one of his most provocative arguments: that depression-induced demonstrations and riots in the islands in the late 1890s in large part precipitated the Royal Commission'swise decision to advocate the break-up of sugarcane plantations into smaller shareholds. Thus, Richardson demonstrates the ways in which working people, far from being victims of colonialism, managed to influence British deci

In this section edition of the Repeating Island, Antonio Benitez-Rojo, a master of the historical novel, short story, and critical essay, continues to confront the legacy and myths of colonialism.

Focusing on Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Trinidad & Tobago, this text looks at the political history of the Caribbean region during the Cold War years, the region's current political economy, international security and issues of migration and crime.

A sophisticated comparative study of the Cuban, Nicaraguan and Grenadian revolutions, using techniques derived from J. S. Mill and perfected by Theda S. Skopol. Despite the unfulfilled promise of all three revolutions, they do suggest that people have the potential to make history and affect positive changes. Originally published by Macmillan Caribbean 1993, this edition contains a new Preface by Anthony Maginot, Florida International University.

"This book is a substantial contribution to the historical and interpretive sociology of the modern world. It is written as both a critique of the modernist paradigm, and as a reinterpretation of the contribution of Puerto Rico to the making of the modern world from a 'decentered' perspective."--Philip McMichael, author of "Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective

"Grosfoguel's grounding in the complexities of the Puerto Rican past and present provides us with original and generative scholarship that requires a new self-reflexive approach to knowledge and nationalism, to colonialism and capitalism, to citizenship and subjectivity. Within ethnic studies, Grosfoguel's approach is a crucial contribution to the progress of the field beyond ethnic particularism and toward the identification and understanding of the broader social forces that create social differences and give them their determinate social meanings."--George Lipsitz, author of "American Studies in a Moment of Danger "

"Grosfoguel's,book should become the definitive work on Puerto Rican migratory circuits."--Jose David Saldivar, author of "Border Matters: Remapping American Cultural Studies

"Grosfoguel discovers the relationship between the coloniality of power, the migratory movement to the Caribbean, the formation of new global cities like Miami, and tendencies toward a new geo-strategic configuration of a global scale."--Anibal Quijano, Professor of Sociology, Binghamton University

"In this exciting look at Puerto Rico from a world-systems perspective, Grosfoguel examines colonialism with a fresh theoretical eye."--Immanuel Wallerstein, author of "The Modern World-System