-History

Does the scientific "theory" that HIV came to North America from Haiti stem from underlying attitudes of racism and ethnocentrism in the United States rather than from hard evidence? Award-winning author and anthropologist-physician Paul Farmer answers with this, the first full-length ethnographic study of AIDS in a poor society. First published in 1992 this new edition has been updated and a new preface added.

This reader of nearly 60 articles covers major events in the Caribbean struggle for freedom from emancipation to the present - from Toussaint's Haiti to the more recent revolutions in Cuba, Grenada and the Dominican Republic. The range of coverage is comprehensive calling attention to the variety of post-slavery experiences in the Spanish, Dutch, English and French Caribbean. Three broad themes are identified: the slow disintegration of the slave system which was not completed until 1886; the attempts by resistant social groups and imperial agencies to accept and adjust to freedom; and the maturing of nationalist consciousness in terms of constitutional and cultural independence. Among the areas covered under these themes are popular revolts and aborted revolutions; the sugar industry and economic diversification; peasants and planters; immigration from Europe, India and China; the role of women; labour movements; independence and nationhood."

The popular West Indian migration narrative often starts with the Windrush Generation in 1950's England, but in Dying to Better Themselves Olive Senior examines an earlier narrative: that of the neglected post-emancipation generation of the 1850's who were lured to Panama by the promise of lucrative work and who initiated a pattern of circular migration that would transform the islands economically, socially and politically well into the twentieth century. West Indians provided the bulk of the workforce for the construction of the Panama Railroad and the Panama Canal, and between 1850 and 1914 untold numbers sacrificed their lives, limbs and mental faculties to the Panama projects. Many West Indians remained as settlers, their descendants now citizens of Panama; many returned home with enough of a nest egg to better themselves; and others launched themselves elsewhere in the Americas as work beckoned. Senior tells the compelling story of the West Indian rite of passage of Going to Panama and captures the complexities behind the iconic Colon Man.Drawing on official records, contemporary newspapers, journals and books, songs, sayings, and literature, and the words of the participants themselves, Senior answers the questions as to who went to Panama, how and why; she describes the work they did there, the conditions under which they lived, the impact on their homelands when they returned or on the host societies when they stayed. Many books have shown the conquest of the Isthmus of Panama by land and sea exploring how the myriad individual lives touched by the construction of the railroad and the canal changed the world as well.

Peter Drewett's comprehensive survey explores every stage of the dig process, from the core work of discovery and excavation to the final product: the published archaeological report.

Main topics covered are:

• how an archaeological site is formed
• finding and recording archaeological sites
• planning excavations, digging the site and recording the results
• post-fieldwork planning, processing and finds analysis
• interpreting the evidence
• publishing the report.

Illustrated with 100 photographs and line drawings, and using numerous case studies, Field Archaeology is the essential introductory guide for archaeology students, and is certain to be welcomed by the growing number of enthusiasts for the subject.

This is a collection of essays which further Professor Nettleford's exploration of Commonwealth Caribbean cultural identity and the quest for intellectual and cultural independence. Written at different times over the past two decades, the essays are presented with recurring themes which endeavour to explain in part the Caribbean's chequered past, define certain aspects of the current crisis and point directions towards a tolerable future. Collectively, the essays constitute a cultural statement with an historical perspective, and should provide essential reading for native West Indians, students of the Caribbean and of the African diaspora, and those interested in the issues of post-colonial cultural practices and cultural studies generally. The collection also reflects current European discussions and the extensive dialogue in the USA on multi-culturalism. Other books by Rex Nettleford include "Mirror Mirror: Identity, Race and Protest in Jamaica", "Manley and the New Jamaica", "Caribbean Cultural Identity", "Dance Jamaica: Cultural Definition and Artistic Discovery", "Rastafarians in Kingston, Jamaica" (with M.G. Smith and F.R. Augier) and "The University of the West Indies: A Caribbean Response to the Challenge of Change" (with Peter Sherlock).

"Paradise Overseas" presents a tour around the main themes of Dutch Caribbean history and its contemporary legacies. Drawing on wide expertise in Caribbean and Latin American studies, Gert Oostindie strongly posits a refreshing analysis of the Dutch Caribbean in a comparative framework which will be of interest to historians, anthropologists and political scientists alike. Rather than aiming at a comprehensive narrative, he offers a thematic discussion of topics such as the contrasts between Dutch colonization in the Americas and Asia; African slavery, Asian indentured labour and the shaping of plural societies in the Dutch Caribbean; the major contrasts between and within the six Antillean islands and Suriname; the different trajectories of decolonisation and their subsequent costs and benefits; and the changing significance of ethnicity and national identity both in the Dutch Caribbean and its diaspora.

Plantation Jamaica analyses the important but neglected role of the attorneys who managed estates, chiefly for absentee proprietors, and assesses their efficiency and impact on Jamaica during slavery and freedom. Meticulous research based on a variety of sources, including the attorneys' letters, plantation papers and slave registration records, provides rich quantitative and literary data describing the attorneys' role, status, range of activities and demographic characteristics. Higman charts both the extent of absentee ownership and the complex structure of the managerial hierarchy that stretched across the Atlantic. Detailed case studies compare the attorney Simon Taylor's management of Golden Grove Estate in the decade before the American Revolution and Isaac Jackson's control of Montpelier in the years immediately following the abolition of slavery. These examples provide a wealth of information about plantation life and labour, technology, trade, investments and profits. Higman also makes a unique contribution by investigating and describing several topics previously neglected, including the postal service, the history of accounting and the role of attorneys in the British I

During the first half of the twentieth century, both countries witnessed the advance of capitalism, translated into an aggressive police of development, with the exploitation of minerals, construction of railways and roads, urbanization and industrialization. Along with the economic development, Brazilian and South African society tried to take control of their society, meaning to control the population in order to maintain the status quo. For that end, racial definitions, classifications, theories and policies were fundamental. As the features of South African politics and policies of racial segregation emerged with new colors for the world after the end of the Apartheid regime, given the testimonies, the released documents and the new analysis, Brazilians have been pushed to face the problem of racial exclusion, unmasking its image as a racial paradise under the lights of new studies as well. Elaine Rocha uses novels published in both countries between 1912 and 1953 as a window from were one could see how cultural perceptions, policies and of racial differentiation were reflected in the everyday life. The analysis of the literary content, plus the authors' biographies, political ideologies and the problems they were facing and interacting, together with their intentions of affecting the lives of the readers with the tragedy they illustrated in their novels claiming for a change in the real world.