Description: Non-sovereign territories today account for more than half the states in the Caribbean but regional and global histories of the twentieth century tend to exclude them from narratives of protest and change. This book argues that our current understanding of global decolonisation is partial. We need a fuller picture which includes both independent and non-independent states, and moves beyond a focus on political independence, instead conceptualising decolonisation as a process of challenging and dismantling colonial structures and legacies. Decolonisation is neither an inevitable nor a linear process, but one which can ebb and flow as the colonial grip is weakened and sometimes restrengthened, often in new forms. Using the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Martinique and Guadeloupe as case studies, Grace Carrington demonstrates that a focus on the processes of decolonisation in these non-sovereign states enriches our understanding of the global experience of twentieth century decolonisation.
Brief description: Grace Carrington is a Research Fellow at the University College London Institute of the Americas. She is currently part of an interdisciplinary research team working on the AHRC-funded Visible Crown project. As part of this project, Grace analyses the relationship between monarchy, republicanism and anticolonialism in political debates across the Caribbean during decolonisation.
Review Quotes: 'A terrific book that uses comparative historical investigation to highlight commonalities and differences in the post-1945 trajectories of four Caribbean territories, all of which have sustained their formal connections to an imperial power. Grace Carrington explores the changing economic, demographic and cultural complexions of her Caribbean Island case studies, the role of social movements, labour migration and 'big money' capital in particular. The result is a book that situates enduring imperial sovereignties within the wider global history of decolonisation.' Martin Thomas, University of Exeter, and author of 'The End of Empires and a World Remade'