The Caribbean in World History
Dr Hank Gonzalez
The initial site of European overseas colonization, and the earliest destination for Africans in the transatlantic slave trade, the Caribbean region was the central nexus for the emergence of the modern world capitalist market. As the earliest point of contact in the ‘Columbian exchange’ of crops, peoples, diseases, and animal species, the birthplace of the Atlantic sugar plantation complex, and the so-called ‘cockpit’ of strategic conflict between European powers, the Caribbean is a natural point of focus for scholars of political economy, race, colonialism, ecology, and culture. This course traces the strategic global conflicts and key economic processes that have tied the Caribbean region to Western Europe, West Africa, and North America. Beginning with Spanish conquest and European inter-imperial conflict, this course covers the Haitian Revolution by which the initial site of European colonization gave rise to history’s first postcolonial nation. The course goes on to cover the emergence of U.S. hegemony in the Caribbean basin, the development of Caribbean nationalism, the Cuban Revolution, and the rise of neoliberalism. From Cuba’s Castroist dictatorship, to Haiti’s neoliberal ‘failed-state’, to the colonial holdovers of Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe and Martinique, Caribbean societies have followed very different trajectories notwithstanding their shared histories of colonization, slavery and sugar.
Teaching:
Teaching consists of seminar discussion classes, held once per week during Lent Term. Students are invited to do the core reading prior to each class. I recognize that in lockdown times, access to readings might be challenging, students are invited to try to use any and all means to resourcefully obtain access to readings. I will do my best to share and post electronic copies of readings when I have them. The further reading is there for students who take a particular interest in a specific topic and wish to gain a broader understanding of the debates.
Recommended Films (Many available for free online):
- “Burn!” 1969
- “Toussaint Louverture” 2012
- “Rockers” 1978
- “Égalité for All: Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution” 2009
- “Heading South” 2005
- “The Last Supper” 1976
- “Una Noche” 2012
As this is a module borrowed from History, there is a limit on the number of CLAS students who may take it. If you have a particular interest in this module, you should let the MPhil Director know your reasons for wishing to take it, and priority may be given to those for whom it would be central to their dissertation topic.
