Contemporary Caribbean Cultures and Societies in a Global Context

“A wide-ranging overview of the challenges facing the region today. . . . A welcome assessment of the positive action that is being taken by Caribbean people to reassert their place within a globalizing world.” — The Round Table

“Offers many ways to approach contemporary globalization, especially as it is experienced by insular societies with limited natural resources.” — New West Indian Guide

“The most rewarding aspect of these volumes is that their divergence in orientation raises important questions about the ways we interpret the Caribbean.” — Caribbean Studies

“These original essays . . . offer refreshing new looks into contemporary Caribbean societies regionally, and specifically in the cases of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. Highly recommended.” — CHOICE

“Taking the view that globalization is not a modern phenomenon but rather began when Europeans set sail in the late 1400s, the various authors [in this collection] attempt to show that the Caribbean is shaped by both local and external processes and, particularly, in modern times, dialectical interactions with their diaspora in Europe and North America. . . . A good collection of works.” — H-Caribbean

“This splendidly eclectic collection of essays on the contemporary Caribbean reveals the fascinating diversity of the region’s cultures as they respond to — and help to shape — the pressures of globalization. The cultural resilience and dynamic creativity of the Caribbean peoples are evoked in interesting, perceptive, and often surprising ways in this highly original book.” — Bridget Brereton, University of the West Indies

“The readability of this collection is so outstanding that it will make it quite useful for advanced undergraduate teaching as well as for . . . the library shelf of every scholar of the region.” — Lynn Bolles, University of Maryland, College Park

“These essays demonstrate with a great deal of detailed evidence that globalization has not produced cultural and social homogeneity in the Caribbean. Although people of the Caribbean may be developing an increasing consciousness of their region’s commonalities — through transnational movement, cultural diffusion, and the centuries-old process of creolization — there remains a vast cultural diversity and a strong sense of identity among the various components. This volume addresses these important and timely issues in ways that are accessible to the layman as well as the scholar.” — O. Nigel Bolland, Colgate University, Emeritus