Description
The Caribbean ranks a number of the earliest and most completely globalized regions on the planet. From the first moment Europeans set foot on the islands to the present, products, people, and ideas have made their way from side to side between the region and other parts of the globe with unequal but inexorable force. An inventory of a few of these unprecedented multidirectional exchanges, this volume provides a measure of, in addition to a model for, new scholarship on globalization in the region.
Ten essays by leading scholars in the field of Caribbean studies identify and light up important social and cultural aspects of the region as it seeks to take care of its own identity against the unrelenting pressures of globalization. These essays examine cultural phenomena in their creolized forms–from sports and religion to music and drink–in addition to the Caribbean manifestations of more universal trends–from racial inequality and feminist activism to indebtedness and economic uncertainty. All through, the volume points to the contending forces of homogeneity and differentiation that define globalization and highlights the growing agency of the Caribbean peoples in the brand new world.
Contributors:
Antonio Benitez-Rojo (1931-2004)
Alex Dupuy, Wesleyan University
Juan Flores, City University of New York Graduate Center
Jorge L. Giovannetti, University of Puerto Rico
Aline Helg, University of Geneva
Franklin W. Knight, The Johns Hopkins University
Anthony P. Maingot, Florida International University
Teresita Martinez-Vergne, Macalester College
Helen McBain, Economic Commission for Latin The usa & the Caribbean, Trinidad
Frances Negron-Muntaner, Columbia University
Valentina Peguero, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Raquel Romberg, Temple University