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The Multiracial Project in the Caribbean is a detailed case study of emancipatory racial unity in post-colonial politics. Sara Abraham argues that the Caribbean provides a good site for studying unity as the major population groups share equal power bases, unlike in metropolitan countries. She offers a rich exploration of the four historical periods of multi-racial political unity in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana: the 1930s, 1970s, and the 1980s. In each of these cases unity was an important goal and the focus of organized social movements as the countries attempted to break out of colonial legacies of division. Abraham explores several immediate factors which led to social change, including: the structural conditions in the political system that allowed movements of unity to gain center stage, the new class formation as the social basis for a new politics, and the moral courage of the activists themselves, which is represented by first hand accounts from contemporary activists and a Caribbean political elder. *The Multiracial Project in the Caribbean* is a comprehensive and accessible work, suitable for sociologists and historians of the area as well as general readers with an interest in race relations.
List of contents
Chapter 1 Introduction: Types of Multiracialism Chapter 2 Plantations, Widespread Labour Rebellions and Popular Multiracialism Chapter 3 Nationalist Multiracial Unity, Its Breakup, and the Rise of the Party System Chapter 4 "It was Going So Good": Solidaristic Multiracial Unity in the 60s, 70s, & 80s Chapter 5 The 1986 National Alliance or Strategic Multiracialism Chapter 6 Tales from the Streets and Fields Chapter 7 Concluding Reflections, Ongoing Struggles
About the author
Sara Abraham is assistant professor of sociology at the University of Toronto Mississauga.
Summary
Labour and The Multiracial Project in the Caribbean covers major twentieth-century political developments in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. It pays particular attention to social movements, class formation, and new emancipatory ideas on liberation from colonial legacies in political structure and racial division.
