Sugar Island Slavery in the Age of Enlightenment : The Political Economy of the Caribbean World

Plantations, especially sugar plantations, created slave societies and a racism persisting well into post- slavery periods: so runs a familiar argument that has been used to explain the sweep of Caribbean history. Here one of the most eminent scholars of modern social theory applies this assertion to a comparative study of most Caribbean islands from the time of the American Revolution to the Spanish American War. Arthur Stinchcombe uses insights from his own much admired Economic Sociology to show why sugar planters needed the help of repressive governments for recruiting disciplined labor. Demonstrating that island-to- island variations on this theme were a function of geography, local political economy, and relation to outside powers, he scrutinizes Caribbean slavery and Caribbean emancipation movements in a world-historical context. Throughout the book, Stinchcombe aims to develop a sociology of freedom that explains a number of complex phenomena, such as how liberty for some individuals may restrict the liberty of others. Thus, the autonomous governments of colonies often produced more oppressive conditions for slaves than did so-called arbitrary governments, which had the power to restrict the whims of the planters. Even after emancipation, freedom was not a clear-cut matter of achieving the ideals of the Enlightenment. Indeed, it was often a route to a social control more efficient than slavery, providing greater flexibility for the planter class and posing less risk of violent rebellion. Plantations, especially sugar plantations, created slave societies and a racism that persisted well into post-slavery periods: so runs a familiar argument that has been used to explain the sweep of Caribbean history. Here one of the most eminent scholars of modern social theory applies this assertion to a comparative study of most of the Caribbean islands from the time of the American Revolution to the Spanish American War. Arthur Stinchcombe uses insights from his own much admired Economic Sociology to show why sugar planters needed the help of repressive governments for recruiting disciplined labor. Demonstrating that island-to-island variations on this theme were a function of geography, local political economy, and the relation to outside powers, he scrutinizes Caribbean slavery and Caribbean emancipation movements in a world-historical context. 000_FrontMatter......Page 1 001_Chapter1......Page 19 002_Chapter2......Page 45 003_Chapter3......Page 75 004_Chapter4......Page 107 005_Chapter5......Page 143 006_Chapter6......Page 177 007_Chapter7......Page 191 008_Chapter8......Page 219 009_Chapter9......Page 249 010_Chapter10......Page 275 011_Chapter11......Page 304 012_Chapter12......Page 337 013_BackMatter......Page 351 This text analyzes the argument that plantations created slave societies and a racism that persisted well into post-slavery periods. The book applies this assertion to a comparative study of most of the Caribbean islands, looking at the role of repressive governments in this process.