Race and Nationalism in Trinidad and Tobago / / Selwyn D. Ryan.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Archive 1933-1999
• VerfasserIn: Ryan, Selwyn D.,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2020]; ©1972
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English
• Series: Heritage
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (536 p.)

Trinidad's population of about one million represents a microcosm of the world's peoples and is one of the most exciting laboratories for the study of race relations. Within its small compass are people of African, Indian, European, and Chinese extraction, most of whom are descendants of those who came or were brought to the island to cultivate or manage the sugar plantations which were the mainstay of its economy up to the turn of the century. This study focuses on Trinidad's political history from 1919 to the present. It analyses the transition to nationhood of this former British colony, and examines some of the problems with which it has been confronted since it gained independence. The author's principal aim has been to explore the influence which the island's cultural and ethnic diversity has had on the struggle for political and social reform and to suggest explanations for the failure of the programme of radical decolonization which nationalists had confidently assumed would follow upon political independence. Little has been written of the political history of Trinidad after 1919: this is the first unbiased and scholarly study of its evolution from colonial to independent status. Dr. Ryan has written a coherent, comprehensive, and highly readable study of a fascinating and important period in Caribbean history.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Leading newspapers of Trinidad and Tobago -- Introduction -- Part One -- 1 The old colonial order 1797-1919 -- 2 The crisis of the old colonial order 1919-36 -- 3 The collapse of the old political order 1936-45 -- 4 Postwar nationalism 1946-50 -- 5 Apprenticeship to freedom 1950-5 -- Part Two -- 6 The rally of the progressives -- 7 A movement is born -- 8 The elections of 1956: the parties -- 9 The elections of 1956: campaign issues -- 10 Victory and compromise -- Part Three -- 11 The Nationalists in power 1956-8 -- 12 The federal elections of 1958 -- 13 The constitutional imbroglio 1957-60 -- 14 The 'war' for West Indian independence -- 15 Thunder on the right -- 16 The elections of 1961: preparing the ground -- 17 The elections of 1961: parties and pressure groups -- 18 The elections of 1961: issues and results -- 19 Federation and the Caribbean economic community -- 20 The constitutional imbroglio: the final phase -- Part Four -- 21 Integral decolonization -- 22 Rationalizing the administration -- 23 Race and the national community -- 24 Restructuring the economy -- 25 Parties and the political process -- 26 Conclusions -- Index