The University of the West Indies Press
Politics in an Island State: Wills O. Isaacs, 1902-1981 and Jamaica's Struggle for Development
Politics in an Island State: Wills O. Isaacs, 1902-1981 and Jamaica's Struggle for Development
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Description
Contents
Reviews

Jamaica is most well-known for its popular culture, crime and violence. Government, the state, is viewed as a malign force. In Politics in an Island State noted anthropologist Diane Austin-Broos brings an alternative view of Jamaica, its culture and governance. This history of Jamaica, and more pointedly, the history of politics in Jamaica, is brilliantly told through the biography of Wills O. Isaacs. Never the leader of his party – the People’s National Party – Wills was active in politics from the 1930s and was nonetheless a prominent and notorious figure.



Informative and entertaining, this biography of a “second-tier” political leader departs from the usual heroic style and addresses the challenges of a fledgling social democracy in the mid-twentieth century. Decolonization and the decline of sugar, the Great Depression and two world wars frame the challenges of the time. Flanked by rural-to-urban migration, unemployment and industrialization, Jamaica’s struggles into the twenty-first century and the conduct of government – the successes, failures and foibles – are presented and viewed through a more nuanced lens.



Leaders shape history, though they seldom dictate its direction. Viewing history through their eyes affords a dynamic account of the structures and events that underpin a society’s development. Politics in an Island State will find a ready audience with readers generally interested in the Caribbean, but even more so with sages – both academic and unconventional – of anthropology, history, foreign affairs, sociology, political science, development studies and political economy.

Language
English
ISBN
9789766409609
Synopsis
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Abbreviations
SECTION I: THE EARLY YEARS
1. A Political Awakening
2. Becoming an Activist
SECTION II: FIGHTING FOR THE PARTY
3. In the KSAC Council
4. In the Streets and Lanes
5. The Split of 1952
SECTION III: MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
6. Assuming Government
7. Promoting Development
8. Cartels and Monopolies
SECTION IV: FACING FEDERATION
9. Warning Signs
10. The Hard Work of Politics
11. Referendum and Electoral Defeat
SECTION V: THE LATER YEARS
12. A Policy Conundrum
13. Generational Change
14. An Ambivalent Departure
Conclusion
Appendix: In His Own Words
Bibliography

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