Politics of Identity in Small Plural Societies : Guyana, the Fiji Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago

In small plural societies, cultural differences can be exaggerated, exploited and intensified during political contests. The survival of these societies as democracies - or even at all - hangs in the balance. People around the globe have found comfort and strength in mobilizing around culture and ethnic identities more than they have successfully organized around class. This book provides an ethnographic account of the politicization of ethnicity in small plural societies and shows what is at stake for small, economically fragile societies: democratic survival - and sometimes even the state itself. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Introduction....Pages 1-12 Front Matter....Pages 13-13 Conceptualizing Identity....Pages 15-28 Six Perspectives on Identity and Politics....Pages 29-54 Ethnopolitics....Pages 55-71 Front Matter....Pages 73-73 Guyana....Pages 75-97 Fiji....Pages 99-124 Trinidad and Tobago....Pages 125-151 Conclusion....Pages 153-159 Back Matter....Pages 161-219