Islands at the Crossroads: Politics in the Non-Independent Caribbean

by Angel Israel Rivera Ortiz, Angel Israel Rivera

This group of essays addresses issues affecting the colonial territories of the Caribbean that have arisen from recent changes in their administration, international globalization, the end of the Cold War, urban economic success, and the consolidation of neoconservative ideology in Europe and North America that questions the terms of colonial arrangements. Individual papers discuss these issues in the French Antilles, Curacao, Aruba, and Puerto Rico, as well as the region as a whole. Ramos teaches social sciences, Rivera political science, both at the U. of Puerto Rico; the contributors are professors in these fields, as well as economics, and geography at universities in the US, Australia, and Latin America. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

190 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a dated (circa 2001), but excellent academic treatment of the status of each of the non-independent states in the Caribbean Basin. The non-independent regions currently controlled by the United States, the Dutch, the British and the French in the Caribbean are all discussed at length here--why they have non-independent status, and whether that status is likely to change in the future.

I caught the "Political Institutions of the Caribbean" bug late in my program as a graduate political science student, have become interested in the various independent and non-independent states in this region, and regret not pursuing academic review of this area during my graduate work. This book is very helpful to those academics who wish to get a quick but complete review of colonialism in the region. What is needed now is an updated version of the book, and perhaps something on the non-academic side as well, a read that might be a bit lengthier--and paradoxically--a bit less academically weighty.