Caribbean Abstracts Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies Caribbean Abstracts July-September 2008 Caribbean Abstracts contains abstracts of books, periodical articles and chapters in books on the Caribbean in the fields of the social sciences and the humanities. Caribbean Abstracts is compiled by Michel Conci, Collections Department, KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, Leiden, The Netherlands. Caribbean Abstracts can also be searched online via KITLV’s online catalogue, accessible through our homepage www.kitlv.nl . Published quarterly and available for free download from the KITLV website. ISSN 0925-8507 © 2008 KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, PO Box 9515, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands . 2 Caribbean Abstracts July-September 2008 Accilien, Cécile (2007) Haitian Creole in a transnational context In: Just below south : intercultural performance in the Caribbean and the U.S. south: (2007), P. 76-94. Charlottesville [etc.] : University of Virginia Press Haiti / USA / Creole languages / French Creole languages / sociolinguistics / cultural identity / language use Focusses on the perceived status of and on misconceptions on Haitian Creole, specifically in New Orleans and in Haiti itself. Author points at complex linguistic identities and performances relating to Haitian Creole, often showing the endurance of colonial values and hierarchies, such as in Haiti the higher status accorded to standard French over "Frenchified" Creole and Creole. She further discusses views and understandings of the term "Creole" in Louisiana, where this term is more an issue of ethnic and racial identity, rather than of linguistic identity as in the Caribbean, including a repository of complex racial politics, also showing colonial legacies. She specifically draws on her experiences in teaching Haitian Creole at Tulane University in New Orleans, and on the images of Haitian Creole, and on Haiti, she encountered among students. These included stereotypes or misconceptions about Vodou, but also a questioning of the legitimacy of Creole as a "real" language, separate from French. Author points out, however, how such views also exist in Haiti, where Creole tends to have an ambivalent place and French is accorded a higher social status, and she notes some shame for the Creole language, even turning to French, or a Frenchified Creole, even when the actual proficiency of French is mostly limited, and is in fact a second language. SIGNATURE: M 2007 A 4029 Andereggen, Anton (2008) France's possessions in the Western Hemisphere : neo-colonialism or decolonization? In: Journal of Caribbean studies: vol. 22 (2008), Issue. 3, pp. 165-176. Martinique / Guadeloupe / French Guiana / St Pierre and Miquelon / France / overseas territories / political history / political development Focusses on France's remaining possessions in the Western Hemisphere, and the historical trajectory toward their present statuses as Overseas Departements or Territories. Author discusses how these remaining possessions, being Saint-Pierre et Miquelon near Canada, and Martinique, Guadeloupe (with dependencies), and French Guiana developed in relation to French political international policies. He discusses how in the 1930s social movements in the American colonies demanded improvement, but with few calls for independence and how anticolonial attitudes expressed by the US and the United Kingdom in the 1941 Atlantic Charter, calling for people's self-determination, did not involve France, choosing another international policy, in line with a constant approach, continuing over time, of France's asserting its global presence and assimilation. He points out how complete constitutional assimilation as DOMs (Départements d'Outre-Mer) since 1946, was prior to this preferred by most groups in these former colonies as a way toward equal rights, development, and democratization. Independence movements have had limited support in these DOMs up to the present, and not at all in Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, which obtained a different status as Territoire d'Outre-Mer (TOM), with somewhat more autonomy. Author further point out in what ways these DOMs and TOM are (political and cultural) showplaces for France, as well as strategic locations in light of different interests of France, including their maritime zone, such as for research, trade, and international influence. SIGNATURE: TA 3631 Anderson, Patricia (2007) The challenge of housing and community conflict in East and West Kingston In: Social and economic studies, ISSN 0037-7651: vol. 56/2007, Issue. 3, pp. 33-70. Jamaica / Kingston / slums / urban areas / urban communities / housing / social development Examines 2 cases of public housing interventions in in low-income neighbourhoods, one in East and one in West Kingston. Author points out how these urban communities had a history and present of intercommunity conflict, mainly as a result of political divisions and partisan affiliations, dividing neighbourhoods in either PNP or JLP supporting warring "garrison communities", and maintained through clientelism, in particular also housing allocation for party 3 Caribbean Abstracts July-September 2008 affiliates. She further looks at the attempts of successive governments to respond to housing needs in the communities, being the planned community of McIntyre Villas, developed in the mid-1970s in East Central Kingston, and a recent and ongoing second housing development in Denham Town in West Kingston. She studies the characteristics and attitudes of residents in these communities, placed in the context of demographic, political, and social changes in Kingston in the last 40 year. She describes the views of community members on housing design and location, life in the communities, and their current social and economic composition. Author shows how McIntyreVillas developed from a squatter settlement, and became a relatively successful re-housing case, as its residents are socially and economically in a better position, with better living conditions and less violence than in bordering areas, and have a strong community sense. She next describes the re-housing at Denham Town, where such efforts go back to the early 20th c. as problems like over-crowding and decay were already present then, and describes how the residents have socio-economically a low position, while the community also has social strengths and the residents a strong sense of community, yet have concerns about the location of new housing, close to usually violent borderlines with other communities. Author further recommends how proper decisions about housing design and location can contribute to improvement and community sustainability, along with addressing wider social problems. SIGNATURE: TA 3962 Böttcher, Nikolaus (2007) "A Ship laden with dollars" : Britische Handelsinteressen in Kuba (1762-1825). Frankfurt am Main : Vervuert Verlag Cuba / United Kingdom / USA / economic history / trade / social history / political history / slave trade / international relations Reconstructs the history of British trade interests and intrusions in Cuba, expanding especially in the later 18th c. Author points out how a turning point in this regard was the occupation of Havana by the British in 1762, that opened up trade of the Havana port, and helped establish an English business community, with persisting effects after the return of Havana to Spain in 1763. He describes how alongside the Bourbonic reforms in the Spanish Empire, liberalizing trade, English merchants had important effects on Cuba's economic development since the late 18th c., especially through port areas, specifically also in the increasing slave trade to Cuba. He shows how British merchants had connections with the Creole oligarchy, helping to develop and expand the Creoles' economic and trade base, and the general Cuban economic direction toward a slave-based plantation economy. This was through formal, official means, such as Asientos, as well as via smuggling. Author also shows how after 1762 trade connections between Cuba and North America increased in volume and influence. He further points out that in the course of the 18th c. British Atlantic trade approaches shifted from territorial expansion to trade expansion, including into Spanish colonies. He discusses the period preceding the 1762 occupation of Havana, when there were already, mostly illicit, trade relations between Cuba and the British in e.g. Jamaica. After this, he sketches the lasting effects of the 1762 occupation, economically, as well as demographically, militarily, and politically. The influence on trading in Cuba was further maintained due to the comparatively more developed overseas and Atlantic trade networks and structures of the British. SIGNATURE: M 2008 A 6262 Bailey, Barbara (2007) Gender and education In: Caribbean journal of education, ISSN 0376-7701: vol. 29 (2007), Issue. 1, pp. 1-160. British Caribbean / gender relations / education / school environment / youth Issue consists of 5 articles addressing the impact of gender and related variables on educational processes and outputs in the British Caribbean. These relate to the "gender mainstreaming" strategy designed by Caricom in 2003, proposing an integrated approach to gender inequalities, and in which education is a priority entry point. Barbara Bailey examines the "gender regime", i.c. gender orientation of students, as part of a wider