The Haunting Past

This survey addresses three important aspects of Caribbean life in the 20th century--politics, economics, and race--and attempts to show the relationship and interaction between these three elements. Following a geographic, ethnographic, and historical introduction, the author describes the political heritage of the region, characterized by a lack of indigenous political and democratic tradition and by the existence of political fragmentation and political violence. Second, he investigates economic conditions, including resource dimensions of the region and distorted economic development. Finally, Thompson explores the role of race, racial interaction and dynamism and concludes with a chapter on the prospects for the future in these three areas.