Empire and nation-building in the Caribbean: Barbados, 1937–66 (Studies in Imperialism, 82)

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 This book examines the processes of national 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. Using oral histories and archival records from Barbados, Britain and the United States, and engaging with the role of gender in defining and building nationhood and citizenship, Mary Chamberlain challenges previous histories of Caribbean decolonisation which focus on one perspective alone.