Empire and nation-building in the Caribbean: Barbados, 1937–66

Description

This original and exciting book examines the processes of nation building in the British West Indies. It argues that nation building was a more complex and messy affair, involving women and men in a range of social and cultural activities, in a variety of migratory settings, within a unique geo-political context. Taking as a case study Barbados which, in the 1930s, was the most economically impoverished, racially divided, socially disadvantaged and politically conservative of the British West Indian colonies, Empire and nation-building tells the messy, multiple stories of how a colony progressed to a nation. It is the first book to tell all sides of the independence story and will be of interest to specialists and non-specialists interested in the history of Empire, the Caribbean, of de-colonisation and nation building. Front matter Dedication Contents List of tables General editor's introduction Acknowledgements Introduction The ‘romance’ of foreign: distance, perspective and an ‘inclusive nationhood’ The exigencies of ‘home’: Barbadian poverty and British nation-building Gender and the moral economy Race, nation and the politics of memory ‘A common language of the spirit’: cultural awakenings and national belongings From diffidence to desperation: the British, the Americans, the War and the move to Federation Conclusion Bibliography Index