The collection of commentaries, essays and articles that comprise the main part of this publication are pen pictures that result from the focus of a distinguished son of the Caribbean Lloyd Best through his unique lens, on the thinking and actions of some Caribbean persons considered influential. The lens chosen is a composite one that was constructed more than three decades ago and perfected over that time. The publication emphasizes the need to distrust and abhor automatic imitation of western scientism and western propaganda if one is to be able to understand and prescribe for the affairs of the Caribbean, in other words it advocates the eschewing of automatic mimicry in things technological or otherwise. The publication offers a selection of essays as our Caribbean forest of memes to savour. In true Caribbean style it is a forest of mixed species and therefore a source of exquisite laminates for the furniture of regional development. This peek offered by this publication into some of the minds of our great Caribbean intellectuals through the window of one such mind, will contribute significantly to the nurturing of thought, the strengthening resolve to understand the Caribbean and to contribute to its continued development.

Covers major events in the Caribbean struggle for freedom from emancipation to the present - from Toussaint's Haiti to the more recent revolutions in Cuba, Grenada and the Dominican Republic. The range of coverage is comprehensive calling attention to the variety of post-slavery experiences in the Spanish, Dutch, English and French Caribbean.

In We Dream Together Anne Eller breaks with dominant narratives of conflict between the Dominican Republic and Haiti by tracing the complicated history of Dominican emancipation and independence between 1822 and 1865. Eller moves beyond the small body of writing by Dominican elites that often narrates Dominican nationhood to craft inclusive, popular histories of identity, community, and freedom, summoning sources that range from trial records and consul reports to poetry and song. Rethinking Dominican relationships with their communities, the national project, and the greater Caribbean, Eller shows how popular anticolonial resistance was anchored in a rich and complex political culture. Haitians and Dominicans fostered a common commitment to Caribbean freedom, the abolition of slavery, and popular democracy, often well beyond the reach of the state. By showing how the island's political roots are deeply entwined, and by contextualizing this history within the wider Atlantic world, Eller demonstrates the centrality of Dominican anticolonial struggles for understanding independence and emancipation throughout the Caribbean and the Americas.

The dawn of the twenty-first century is an opportune time for the people of the Caribbean to take stock of the entire experience of the past forty years since the ending of direct colonialism. The authors believe it is now time to chart our future by carefully learning the lessons of the recent past. This interdisciplinary collection is the first to cross traditionally restrictive disciplinary barriers to address the tough questions that face the Caribbean today. What went wrong with the nationalist project? What, if any, are the realistic options for a more prosperous Caribbean? What are to be the roles of race, gender and class in a more global, less national world? Meeks and Lindahl include thought-provoking articles from twenty-one respected thinkers in diverse fields of study. The groundbreaking articles include critiques of existing bodies of thought, reformulations of general theoretical approaches, policy-oriented alternatives for future development, and more. This book is a must for statesmen, academics and students of political theory, social theory, Caribbean studies, comparative gender studies, post-colonial studies, Marxism and Caribbean history and anyone interested