"C.L..R. James' 1938 seminal text, The Black Jacobins, and Eric Williams' 1944 tour de force, Capitalism and Slavery, constitute much more than foundational works in West Indian nationalist historiography. Both authors, born in colonial Trinidad and writing Caribbean history within its Atlantic context, made significant contributions to development discourse within the traditions of Enlightenment Idealism. As critical realists they considered popular historiography indispensable to any attempt to root philosophical ideals within recognizable terms of everyday living. In The Black Jacobins, James documents the struggles of the enslaved peoples of St. Dominique, the mercantile showpiece of French colonial capitalism in the West Indies for freedom and social justice. In addition, he details the transformation of this successful anti-slavery rebellion into something much more elaborate in terms of Atlantic history--the creation of Haiti, the Caribbean's first nation-state. In Capitalism and Slavery, Williams expands and develops the paradigm of African labor enslavement and European capital liberation, first outlined by James in The Black Jacobins, that became the basis of the revolutionary reorganization of productivity for European economic development." (author)
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
294 p, Discusses key individuals (George Padmore, Eric Williams, C.L.R.James among others) and organizations (particularly Labor and liberation movements)in the Anglophone Caribbean world from the perspective of contemporary political and economic Caribbean realities. Particular attention is paid to the Pan-African Movement and its linking of Black Africa and the diasporic Black world of the British West Indies. Colonial Office policies of the period are discussed along with attempts by local and international economic interests during and after both World Wars to control events and thwart labor and independence movements. African American influence in popular political culture and its political and social effect on organizations in the islands is discussed along with key African American newspapers such as The Crisis, Chicago Defender, The Negro Worker, and the Baltimore Afro-American.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
294 p., Documents the lives and work of black individuals and organizations in the West Indies from 1900 to 1989, centered on the worlds of labor and black journalism. The French Caribbean is not covered here. Focuses on historical information as well as information on relationships between the two main "servant" minorities of the British Empire: Caribbeans originally from Africa and from India/Pakistan.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
Caribbean Reasonings Conference (5th : 2006 : Mona, Jamaica)., 302 p, Richard Hart's quest for political autonomy, decolonization and regional unity has earned him a space in the annals of history as one of Jamaica s leading nationalist figures and as a vital contributor to the Caribbean integration movement. As a key proponent of social, political and economic transformations in the region, Hart fought arduously for trade unionism, political sovereignty and mass-based democratic political parties among other important issues which advanced the lives of Caribbean nationals.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
517 p., Focuses on the period after the Second World War, when a significant number of Caribbean countries gained their independence, and the character of the region's post-colonial politics had become clear. The survey of political thought in this collection is divided into four sections: theories of the post-colonial state, theorizing post-colonial citizenship, Caribbean regionalism and political culture.
Tempe: Center for Latin American Studies Arizona State University
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
Papers presented at a conference, October 31, 1986, Arizona State University; sponsored by Center for Latin American Studies, Arizona Council for the Social Studies, Arizona Humanities Council., 133 p., Contents: Caribbean and Central American literature and art / Emil Volek -- Caribbean alternatives, Cuba and Puerto Rico / Juan M. Garcia Passalacqua -- The novel of the Cuban revolution, phase five, 1975-1986 / Seymor Menton -- The role of women in Cuba / K. Lynn Stoner -- Central American alternatives, Nicaragua and Costa Rica / Jennie K. Lincoln -- United States relations with Central America and the Caribbean / Thomas L. Karnes.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
306 p., Weather-induced environmental crises and slow responses from imperial authorities, Johnson argues, played an inextricable and, until now, largely unacknowledged role in the rise of revolutionary sentiments in the 18th century Caribbean.
