Caribbean Patterns: A Political and Economic Study of the Contemporary Caribbean

Mitchell, Harold, Sir, Caribbean patterns: a political and economic study of the contemporary Caribbean, Edinburgh & London: W. & R. Chambers, Ltd., 1967.

Reviewed in International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-) © 1968.

Excerpt from the inner sleeve:

The Caribbean of our day represents solutions to colonialism unique in their diversity. In no other small area of the world have more experiments been made. Successful or otherwise, they have linked local experience and knowledge of partial self-government (sometimes stretching back over three centuries) to the ideas of the former colonial powers which included some of the world’s most politically advanced nations. Caribbean Patterns covers Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico together with the Commonwealth, French and Netherlands islands. The three Guianas, British Honduras and the Bahamas have also been included since their links with the Caribbean are so strong. The different attitudes of Europe, Canada, the United States and Latin America to the Caribbean are examined. Agriculture, economic development, population and education are considered, as is nationalism which has manifested itself so strongly in recent years.

The author (from the inner sleeve):

Sir Harold Mitchell, who has had a remarkably versatile career (…) was educated at Eaton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. A background of degrees from Oxford University and from the University of Geneva (where his Europe in the Caribbean gained him a doctorate in Political Science) are among his academic qualifications. For five years he lectured in Stanford University’s Hispanic American Institute, specializing on the Caribbean and editing the West Indies section of the Hispanic American Report. He is at present Research Professor of Latin American Studies at Rollins College, which he combines with farming in the Caribbean, Brazil and Central America.

History of the West Indian Islands of Trinidad and Tobago: 1498-1900

Carmichael, Gertrude, History of the West Indian Islands of Trinidad and Tobago: 1498-1900 London: Alvin Redman, Ltd., 1961.

Reviewed in Race & Class.

Excerpt from the inner sleeve:

Mrs. Carmichael goes back to Columbus’ discovery of the West Indies in 1498 and the story sweeps through the wild days of Spanish dominion and the great adventurers – including Sir Walter Raleigh and the pirate Blackbeard – to the establishment of British colonial rule and sound government during the 19th century. She describes the prickly years of transition from slavery to freedom and the great immigrations of Chinese, Portuguese and East Indians which contributed so much to the colour and variety of these gay, beautiful calypso islands.

Gertrude Carmichael is Assistant Librarian to the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad and was lately Librarian to the Trinidad and Tobago Historical Society.

Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar

Ortiz, Fernando, Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947.

Reviewed in The Hispanic American Historical Review © 1947.

Reviewed in Stet Journal.

Excerpt from the inner sleeve:

Tobacco and Sugar have made the history, the character and the economy of Cuba. In this entertaining book, packed with fascinating lore, scholarship in its most humane form, and the flavor of Fernando Ortiz’s exceedingly civilized and humorous personality, the two important crops are seen from many points of view. Their economic aspects form the base, but are examined, too, for their effects on folklore, art, science, industry, and daily human living. Out of personal experience, memory and a lifetime of reading in all the western European languages, Dr. Ortiz has condensed exactly what is most telling, interesting, and significant about the leafy plant and the cane that together have made the story of his native land.

See also: Fernando Ortiz Foundation.

Escape to the Tropics

Holdridge, Desmond, Escape to the Tropics, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1937.

Reviewed at Kirkus

The Ordeal of Free Labor in the British West Indies

Sewell, William G., The ordeal of free labor in the British West Indies, New York: Harper and Bros., 1861.

Available online HERE (1861), and HERE (1862).

See also The New York Times.

Reviewed by Gordon K. Lewis for Caribbean Studies © 1970.

From the Preface:

Letters on Free Labor in the British West Indies, originally written for the New York Times, and, since their publication in that journal, revised and enlarged, make up the volume now offered to the public. It is not designed, in this work to draw from the results of British Emancipation any inference or to point any conclusion favorable or unfavorable to slave labor in the United States; and for the reason that a great territorial disparity on the one hand, and the southern section of the Union on the other, forbids even a comparison of their social and political institutions. The writer’s aim has been to give, as free from comment as possible, such statistical and other information concerning the West Indian populations, their habits and customs, their industry, their commerce, and their government, as he has been able to procure from reliable sources, or to gain by personal observation.

At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies

Kingsley, Charles, At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies, London: MacMillan and Co., 1887.

Available online HERE, and HERE.

Wikipedia:

Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was an evangelical priest of the Church of England, a university professor, historian and novelist. He is particularly associated with the West Country and northeast Hampshire. He was a friend and correspondent with Charles Darwin.

The West Indies and the Spanish Main

Trollope, Anthony, The West Indies and the Spanish Main, Leipzig: Bernhard Tanchintz, 1860.

Available online HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Reviewed by Gordon K. Lewis for Caribbean Studies © 1970.

Wikipedia:

Anthony Trollope (/ˈtrɒləp/; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote perceptive novels on political, social, and gender issues, and on other topical matters.

Catalogue Exhibition of Rare Cuban Books

Otto G. Richter Library, Catalogue Exhibition of Rare Cuban Books, Coral Gables: University of Miami, 1979.

Excerpt from the Introduction by Mildred Merrick:

In this exhibition we show you Cuba, through the more unusual – the rarer – examples of its literature from the University of Miami’s collections. The gathering together of books and papers from and about Cuba, Florida, the West Indies and South America began with the founding of the University, and the rare books relating to Cuba and the Caribbean form an integral part of our Special Collections. Our recent published six-volume Cuba and the Caribbean provides with some completeness a listing of our Cuban holdings – perhaps forty thousand volumes – and can readily be consulted here or in other large libraries.

Nacionalismo, Etnicidad y Política en la República Cooperativa de Guyana

Serbin, Andrés, Nacionalismo, etnicidad y política en la República Cooperativa de Guyana, Caracas: Bruguera, [198-?]

Tabla de Contenido:

1. Introducción:
1.1. Descripción general.
1.2. Visión histórica de Guyana Británica hasta 1930.
1.3. Caracterización étnica, social y política de la historia reciente de Guyana.

2. Situación social, grupos étnicos e ideologías étnicas en Guyana.
2.1. Introducción
2.2. Los pobladores originales de Guyana: los amerindios.
2.3. Plantocracia, occidentalización y “whiteness”: los europeos de origen anglosajón.
2.4. Esclavitud, africanidad y deculturación en los afro-guyaneses.
2.5. Inmigración, aculturación tardía e integración de los indo-guyaneses.
2.6. Poder económico, poder político y “Whiteness”: portugueses, chinos y “mixtos”.
2.7. Ideologías étnicas, conflictos interétnicos e ideologías étnico-políticas.

3. Espacios de socialización étnica.
3.1. Estructura familiar y etnicidad.
3.2. Religión y etnicidad.
3.3. Asociaciones religiosas, étnico-religiosas y étnicas.
3.4. Sindicatos y etnicidad.

4. Los aparatos ideológicos del Estado: el sistema educativo y los medios masivos de comunicación.
4.1. El sistema educativo guyanés y los intelectuales étnicos.
4.1.1. La evolución del sistema educativo y sus relaciones con los grupos étnicos.
4.1.2. El papel de la Universidad.
4.1.3. Etnicidad, educación e integración de los intelectuales guyaneses.
4.2. La evolución de los medios masivos de comunicación en Guyana.
4.2.1. Los medios masivos de comunicación en Guyana.
4.2.2. Prensa.
4.2.3. Radio.
4.2.4. Cine.
4.2.5. Librerías y bibliotecas.
4.3. El control de los aparatos ideológicos y las relaciones interétnicas.

5. Política, etnicidad e ideología nacional en Guyana.
5.1. El People’s Progressive Party y la lucha anti-colonial.
5.2. El People’s National Congress y la independencia de Guyana.
5.3. El nacionalismo africano y la oposición de izquierda.
5.4. La ideología “nacional” y sus contradicciones.
5.5. Algunas conclusiones tentativas.

Postfacio.

Bibliografía.

Los Derechos de Expresión y el Uso de las Vías Públicas en Puerto Rico

Comisión de Derechos Civiles, Los Derechos de Expresión y el Uso de las Vías Públicas en Puerto Rico, San Juan: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, Segunda Edición Revisada, 1973.

Disponible en línea.

Este informe responde a una investigación realizada por motivo de los incidentes ocurridos frente a la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Rio Piedras, y de otros relacionados con el ataque a la Misión Nacional del Movimiento Pro-Independencia, los días 7 y 8 de noviembre de 1969.

Proceedings of the First Aruban and Antillean Congress on Alcoholism

Wever, O.R., et. al. Proceedings of the First Aruban and Antillean Congress on Alcoholism, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles: September 11-13, 1970.

From the Foreword:

The First Aruban and Antillean Congress on Alcoholism was organized at the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Aruba’s chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous, in an attempt to break down many of the existing prejudices concerning alcoholism as a disease and alcoholics as sick patients, - in short to try to establish more acceptance of the disease concept of alcoholism and also to bring opinions of some highly qualified scientists in this field in order to obtain up-to-date guidelines for therapeutic and preventive purposes for Aruba’s mental health problem no. 1.

La Revolución Dominicana de Abril Vista por Cuba

Riccardi, Antonio, Luis Gómez - Wangüemert, Fernando Álvarez Tabío, Eloy Merino Brito, Miguel A. D’Estéfano Pisani, La Revolución dominicana de abril vista por Cuba, Santo Domingo: Editora de la Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, 1974.

De la presentación por Emilio Cordero Michel:

Los cinco trabajos y los documentos que componen este libro, aparecieron publicados en la Revista Política Internacional, Año 3, No. 10, Segundo Trimestre de 1965, órgano del Instituto de Política Internacional del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de la República de Cuba.

La Editora de la UASD los edita para iniciar la divulgación de capítulos poco conocidos en el país de las repercusiones externas de la invasión yanqui de 1965; capítulos que se caracterizaron por la recia y dura lucha sostenida en el campo internacional por los Gobiernos de Cuba, Chile, México, Uruguay, la Unión Soviética y otros países en defensa de la pisoteada soberanía nacional y del principio de autodeterminación de los dominicanos, mientras el pueblo de Santo Domingo combatía heroicamente al invasor, ensangrentando sus calles coloniales y cubriéndose de gloria bajo el mando del Coronel Francisco A. Caamaño.

Los Documentos ¿Qué Dicen?

Cruz Monclova, Lidio & Reece B. Bothwell, Los documentos ¿qué dicen?, San Juan: Ediciones de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1960.

Del prefacio:

Este volumen es el primero de una serie en la cual se recopilan documentos y lecturas relacionados con la historia política de Puerto Rico a partir de fines del siglo pasado. En esta obra hemos tratado de seleccionar aquella documentación que nos ha parecido más importante.

Los propósitos que perseguimos, pues, son los siguientes:
1. Presentar, en forma precisa y objetiva, los documentos y lecturas que consideramos fundamentales en la historia de Puerto Rico, ya que muchos de estos documentos son citados con frecuencia por los estudiantes de la historia de nuestro país, pero raras veces leídos en su texto original.
2. Recopilar buena parte de la documentación que se halla hoy dispersa en y fuera de Puerto Rico, especialmente en Estados Unidos y España, y la cual no siempre es de fácil acceso; y
3. Dar oportunidad al estudiante de nuestras escuelas de consultar los documentos y lecturas originales sobre los cuales se basa nuestra historia.

Lidio Cruz Moncolova: Historian, educator, writer and lawyer known for his broad contributions to the field of Puerto Rican historiography, particularly related to the history of the 19th century. He was also one of the first Puerto Rican professors to teach classes in the Spanish Studies Department at the University of Puerto Rico.

La Fiesta de Santiago Apóstol en Loíza Aldea

Alegría, Ricardo E., La Fiesta de Santiago Apóstol en Loíza Aldea, (Prólogo de Fernando Ortiz), Puerto Rico: Colección de Estudios Puertorriqueños, 1954.(en muy mal estado)

Disponible en línea.

Ricardo E. Alegría Gallardo[a] (April 14, 1921 – July 7, 2011) was a Puerto Rican scholar, cultural anthropologist and archeologist known as the "father of modern Puerto Rican archaeology".

Contribución a la Historia de la Gente sin Historia

Deschamps Chapeaux, Pedro & Juan Pérez de La Riva, Contribución a la Historia de la gente sin historia, La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 1974.

De la nota del editor:

Los textos que presentamos en este volumen pertenecen a la serie “Historia de la gente sin historia”, publicada en la Revista de la Biblioteca Nacional “José Martí” de enero-diciembre de 1963 a mayo-agosto de 1971. Junto a estos textos ya conocidos se publica otro inédito, “La historia del chinito Pablo”.

“Historia de la gente sin historia” no pretende, ni puede ser, una historia integral de la vida del pueblo cubano, primero, tiene un marco histórico estrecho, el siglo XIX, el cual determina a la vez su unidad y sus limitaciones. Por otra parte, cada uno de los autores que presentan estos documentos, tanto Deschamps como Pérez de la Riva, nos habla no del conjunto del pueblo cubano, sino de una capa social distinta y única. Deschamps escribe sobre los artesanos – pequeña burguesía dirán algunos historiadores – pardos y morenos libres de La Habana, con la excepción de un trabajo sobre “cimarrones y cimarronas urbanos”; Pérez de la Riva, de unos esclavos que compraron su libertad y regresaron a Lagos y, sobre todo, de los culíes chinos.

British Historians and the West Indies

Williams, Eric, British Historians and the West Indies, Port-of-Spain: PNM Publishing Co. Ltd., 1964.

Reviewed in The Hispanic American Historical Review © 1967.

Reviewed in The William and Mary Quarterly © 1968.

Reviewed by Elsa V. Goveia in Caribbean Quarterly © 1964.

Contents:

1) The British Historical Writing in the Slavery Period.

2) The World’s Britain’s Oyster.

3) British Historical Writing: 1830 - 1880.

4) The Neo-Fascism of Thomas Carlyle.

5) British Historical Writing and the West Indies: 1830 – 1880.

6) The Background to the Jamaica Rebellion of 1865.

7) The Jamaica Rebellion of 1865.

8) The British Intellectuals and the Jamaica Rebellion.

9) The Economic Eclipse of Great Britain: 1880-1914.

10) British Historical Writing and the West Indies: 1880 – 1914.

11) British Historical Writing between the Two World Wars.

12) British Historical Writing and the West Indies after World War II.

Conclusion.

Bibliography.

Index.

Haití, Lucha Sin Cuartel

Jean, Manolo, Haití, lucha sin cuartel, Venezuela, s.f.

Del último "capítulo":

1ro) Se trata de una recopilación de textos de diversos autores (incluyendo el recopilador mismo) y, por tanto, presenta una gran variedad en cuanto a la concepción de los referidos textos.

2ndo) La primera parte (si así puede llamarse) contiene dos trabajos originales del autor de mencionada recopilación. El primero, como se infiere del mismo título, constituye un enjuiciamiento de la obra del Dictador Haitiano, mas apasionado que eficaz en cuanto a su construcción. El segundo, es un trabajo acerca de la reforma agraria, expuesta desde el punto de vista del país a que se refiere, si bien presenta rasgos comunes con las estructuras de tenencia de otros países latinoamericanos. El tema esta tratado sin muchas sistematización, y adolece de algunas fallas atinentes a la forma.

3ro) La segunda comprende tres capítulos del libro “El reino de este mundo” del magnífico y brillante escritor Alejo Carpentier. No comprendo muy la interrelación que guarde esta parte con las demás, si la intención es presentar el panorama actual condicionado por la presencia real del régimen dictatorial que allí impera.

4to) La tercera parte contiene un trabajo de Lucidio González, que partiendo de Haití enfoca el panorama de una América compulsada por los intereses capitalistas.

5to) La cuarta parte corresponde a trabajos del periodista Sergio Antillano, de los cuales el primero enfoca a grandes rasgos la situación imperante en Haití, en estilo de reportaje periodístico. El segundo es un diagnóstico de los medios de comunicación de masas, referido principalmente a la prensa y aplicado al caso venezolano.

6to) La quinta parta contiene varios trabajos del profesor L.J. Bregante, sobre diversos temas no relacionados con el fundamental que da nombre al proyectado libro.

7mo) Por último, se incluye un trabajo del autor que venimos comentando, donde narra la situación de un grupo de luchadores haitianos en la Republica Dominicana. No obstante ser el testimonio de una situación vivida, carece del vigor e intensidad de este tipo de narraciones.

Manolo, Jean: Primer año del tirano Papadoc; La reforma agraria; ¿Qué es la democracia?

--Carpentier, Alejo: Crónica del 15 de agosto; Ultima racio regum; La última puerta.

--González C., Lucidio: Haití: Una lección más.

--Antillano, Sergio: Atraso cultura y explotación neo-colonial: Signos de Haití; Desmitificación de la gran prensa.

--Bregante C., L.J.: Del curriculum vitae; Esclavitud; Sacerdotes, militares y políticos; Ciencia, política y gobiernos; Analfabetismo; Esclavitud, libertad; La universidad bruja sin brújula; Socialmotos; Vitamina.

--Jean, Manolo. Balaguer-Duvalier.

--Haití.

Britain and the West Indies

Williams, Eric, Britain and the West Indies, London: Longman's for the University of Essex, 1969.

The fifth Noel Buxton Lecture of the University of Essex, 20 March 1969: “The withdrawal of European imperialism from the western hemisphere has given way to United States hegemony over the area; and there have also been signs in very recent times of new imperialisms rearing their heads in the Caribbean region. But, with a few significant exceptions, the age of European imperialism over the lands lying on the western side of the Papal Donation of 1493 is now over. This is, therefore, an appropriate time to re-evaluate the relationship over the centuries between Britain and the West Indies, the area in which England first cut her teeth as a colonial power.”

Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 28 (Journal)

Social and Economic Studies, [A Special Issue on Science and Technology Policy in the Caribbean], Vol. 28, No. 1, Jamaica: ISER, March 1979.

Contents:

Foreword.

The Approach to Technology Policy Studies, by Norman Girvan.

Select Technological Issues in Agro-Industry (I), by J.H. Dellimore.

Critical Analysis of Agricultural Research and Development: Institutions and their Activities, by L.B. Coke & P.I.Gomes.

Select Technological Issues in Agro-Industry (II), by Judy A. Whitehead.

Technology Leasing as the Latest Imperialist Phase: A Case Study of Guyana and Trinidad, by Maurice A. Odle.

A Tale of Two Issues: Nationalisation, the Transfer of Technology and the Petroleum Multinationals in Trinidad & Tobago, by Trevor M.A. Farrell.

A Technological Policy for Petrochemicals in CARICOM, by Steve DeCastro.

Notes on Contributors.

Americanization in Puerto Rico and the Public School System, 1900-1930

Negrón de Montilla, Aida, Americanization in Puerto Rico and the Public School System, 1900-1930, Rio Piedras: Editorial Edil, 1970.

From the Introduction:

The study is restricted to the task of finding out whether or not the Department of Education has been engaged in the process of Americanization of Puerto Rico, as revealed by the content of the circular letters issued by the Commissioners of Education from 1900 to 1930. Through the fulfillment of this objective, the study will make possible the identification of those trends characterizing the public educational policies on matters related to Americanization from 1900 to 1930. Thus it is expected that this study will find and answer to the nature of the role, if any, of the Department of Education in the Americanization process of the island.

Contents:

1. Historical Background to the First Organic Act, the Military Regime: 1898 - 1900.

2. The First Organic Act of Puerto Rico: the Beginnings of Civil Government and Organization of the Department of Education.

3. Commissioner Martin G. Brumbaugh: 1900 – 1901.

4. Commissioner Samuel McCune Lindsay: 1902 – 1904.

5. Commissioner Roland P. Falkner: 1904 –1907.

6. Commissioner Edwin G. Dexter: 1907 – 1912.

7. Commissioner Edward M. Bainter: 1912 – 1915.

8. Commissioner Paul G. Miller: 1915 – 1921.

9. Commissioner Juan B. Huyke: 1921 – 1930.

10. Summary and Conclusions.

Bibliography.

Power in the Caribbean Basin: A Comparative Study of Political Economy

Stone, Carl, Power in the Caribbean Basin: A Comparative Study of Political Economy, Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1986.

Reviewed in Social and Economic Studies © 1990.

Professor The Hon. Carl Stone, OM: Political sociologist who pioneered the systematic study of voting behaviour in Jamaica. Professor Carl Stone brought public opinion polling to the Jamaican political process and using empirical evidence developed a body of ideas about the Jamaican electorate. He was famous for his election predictions, predicting in terms of the victorious party the outcomes of all national elections held in Jamaica between 1976 and 1990.