Colin Leys

Abigail B. Bakan

David Cox

The election of Ronald Reagan as President of the United States in November 1980 opened a new chapter in international relations; U.S. foreign policy shifted from an alliance-based, consensual approach to one based on a more overt use of its immense economic and, above all, military power. This policy entailed some stark choices for the U.S.A.’s allies and neighbours and, above all, for the small countries of Central America and the Caribbean. This revealing book tells the story of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), through which the new assertion of U.S. hegemony in the region was expressed. The CBI entitled “friendly” countries of the region (i.e., excluding Cuba, pre-invasion Grenada and Nicaragua) to military and economic aid plus incentives, modelled on the so-called “Puerto Rican miracle,” so as to reorient their trade towards the U.S.A. The authors carefully compare the claims made for the CBI with its underlying political objectives and examine its actual impact on regional development through detailed case studies of the Eastern Caribbean and Trinidad. Also examined are the impact of the CBI on Caribbean regional integration and the responses of Canada and Britain, the two other major countries with long-standing political and economic interests in the Caribbean. What emerges from this investigation is the way the CBI reflects the U.S.A.’s historic quest for regional dominance, rather than a new era in Caribbean development.

The Caribbean Basin Initiative

Imperial Power and Regional Trade

Yasmeen Abu-Laban

As the situation in Israel/Palestine seems to become ever more intractable and protracted, the need for new ways of looking at recent developments and their historical roots is more pressing than ever. Bearing this in mind, Yasmeen Abu-Laban and Abigail B. Bakan discuss the historic and contemporary dynamics in Israel/Palestine, and their international reverberations, from the unique vantage point of 'race', racialization, racism and anti-racism. They therefore offer close analysis of the 'idea' of Israel and the 'absence' of Palestine by examining the concepts of race and identity in the region. With fresh coverage of themes relating to gender, Idigeneity, the environment , surveillance and the war on terror, Israel, Palestine and the Politics of Race will appeal to scholars in political science, sociology and Middle East studies.

Exploring Identity and Power in a Global Context

Israel, Palestine and the Politics of Race

Enakshi Dua

Theorizing Anti-Racism presents insightful essays that engage both Marxist thought and postcolonial and critical race theory with a focus on clarification and points of convergence.

Linkages in Marxism and Critical Race Theories

Theorizing Anti-Racism

In each rebellion, two ideological themes re-appear with remarkable tenacity. Bakan demonstrates the existence of "the religious idiom," an ideological current which uses Biblical teaching to reinforce and justify the struggle for greater rights. Also, Bakan shows that there is a belief in the justice and benevolence of the British Crown. Jamaican labourers have repeatedly looked to the Crown as a protector of lower-class interests as opposed to the interests of the local authorities, even when these authorities are appointed by the Crown. Bakan's synthesis of the Gramscian concepts of "willed" and "organic" ideology and of Rudé's notions of "inherent" and "derived" ideology move Ideology and Class Conflict in Jamaica beyond mere historical description. She describes Jamaican resistance as an aspect of willed ideology, with features that are both derived from middle- and ruling-class influences and inherent in the traditions of slaves, peasants, and workers. Each of the rebellions also contains an important organic element which influenced, and in turn was influenced by, the willed ideological aspects.

Abigail B. Bakan

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