RACE and MIGRATION in BARBADOS by Stac
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A TREATY DOES NOT MAKE A COMMUNITY: RACE AND MIGRATION IN BARBADOS by Stacey L Cumberbatch A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of George Mason University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Cultural Studies Committee: Director Program Director Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Date: Fall Semester 2015 George Mason University Fairfax, VA A Treaty Does Not Make a Community: Race and Migration in Barbados A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at George Mason University by Stacey L Cumberbatch Masters of Science University of the West Indies, 1998 Director: Zofia Burr, Professor Dean, Honors College Fall Semester 2015 George Mason University Fairfax, VA This work is licensed under a creative commons attribution-noderivs 3.0 unported license. ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my family: Bean, Ganelle, Ivan, Stephen and Shawn. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It has been a long journey for me to complete this dissertation, and I have many people to thank for seeing me through this process. I thank all of my committee members for believing in my project, for understanding its importance to the Caribbean, for helping me complete it, and for encouraging me to ask critical questions about my research. I thank my dissertation director Zofia Burr for her guidance and patience and for helping me shape my dissertation into a manageable project. I am deeply grateful to her for demonstrating to me what it means to be a teacher. I thank my committee member Susan Harewood for the detailed and insightful comments she provided. I greatly appreciate her willingness to work with me at such a late stage in the dissertation process. I thank my committee member Dae Young Kim for his support and his attention to detail. I thank my committee member Michael Malouf for his support and comments. Thank you to Scott Trafton, who encouraged me and helped to shape my ideas when they were just forming. Thanks to Heather Anderson for always listening. I would also like to thank other faculty members, past and present: Denise Albanese, Jean-Paul Dumont and Tim Kaposy. Many of my fellow cultural studies scholars also deserve special mention: Marielle Barrow, Pia Moller and Pawin Malaiwong, thanks for simply listening and for all the other things too numerous to list. Finally, thank you to my family and friends who have supported me throughout this journey. Thanks especially to Ganelle and Ivan, who, as always, provided unconditional support. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Tables.................................................................................................................... vii List of Abbreviations...................................................................................................... viii Abstract.............................................................................................................................. x Chapter One Introduction................................................................................................. 1 Research Problem.......................................................................................................... 1 Background .................................................................................................................... 9 Defining the Caribbean................................................................................................ 13 A Note on Method ........................................................................................................ 14 Cultural Studies Methodology .................................................................................... 28 Outline of the Dissertation.......................................................................................... 40 Chapter Two The History of Race Relations in the Caribbean .................................... 43 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 43 Plantation Economy Model: Racial and Economic Stratification ............................ 45 Theories of Creolization: Reification, Subversion and Negotiation of Hybrid Identities ...................................................................................................................... 50 Twentieth Century Anti- and Post-Colonial Challenges........................................... 59 Pre-texts to Rastafarianism: A Note on Black Inferiority ..................................... 61 Rastafarianism: Race Consciousness, Racial Equality and the Positivity of Blackness .................................................................................................................. 66 The Development of Class Analysis........................................................................ 72 Economic Enclaves and Discourses of Race .......................................................... 84 Conclusion.................................................................................................................... 88 Chapter Three The State of Race in Barbados and Guyana ......................................... 91 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 91 Barbados....................................................................................................................... 92 Guyana........................................................................................................................ 103 v Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 117 Chapter Four Why regional integration? .................................................................... 119 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 119 The Evolution of Regional Integration..................................................................... 120 Before CARICOM: The Federation and CARIFTA................................................. 120 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ...................................................................... 123 The CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME)........................................... 126 A Narrative of Regional Integration and Economic Dependence.......................... 133 Continued Economic Dependence through Preferential Trading Agreements.... 139 Continued Economic Dependence through Neoliberal Economic Policies........... 141 Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 149 Chapter Five Responses Migration: Barbados as Paradise........................................ 151 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 151 The End of Paradise: The Destructive Immigrant................................................... 160 Who is the Destructive Immigrant? ......................................................................... 170 Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 186 Chapter Six Denying Race: Asserting Reason, Nationalism and Culture .................. 189 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 189 Reality: Size Matters.................................................................................................. 192 Problems with Reality............................................................................................... 197 Nationalism ................................................................................................................ 201 Problems with Black Nationalism............................................................................ 215 Cultural....................................................................................................................... 218 Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 229 Chapter Seven Conclusion ............................................................................................ 234 Work Cited ..................................................................................................................... 243 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 1 Internet Users Per 100 People.......................................................................... 25 Table 2 Population by Country of Birth....................................................................... 172 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS African Caribbean and Pacific.........................................................................................................ACP Barbadian..............................................................................................................................................Bajan Barbados Free Press............................................................................................................................BFP Barbados Shipping and Trading Company.............................................................................BS&T Barbados Underground ....................................................................................................................... BU Caribbean Broadcasting