The Contemporary Caribbean - Hardcover

Potter, Robert B.; Barker, David; Klak, Thomas; Conway, Denis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1138135364 ISBN 13: 9781138135369

Publisher: Routledge, 2016

Synopsis

This text focuses on the contemporary economic, social, geographical, environmental and political realities of the Caribbean region. Historical aspects of the Caribbean, such as slavery, the plantation system and plantocracy are explored in order to explain the contemporary nature of, and challenges faced by, the Caribbean. The book is divided into three parts, dealing respectively with: the foundations of the Caribbean, rural and urban bases of the contemporary Caribbean, and global restructuring and the Caribbean: industry, tourism and politics.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

The Contemporary Caribbean

provides an illuminating and detailed overview of the contemporary economic, social, geographical, environmental and political realities of the Caribbean region. Historical aspects of the Caribbean, such as slavery, the plantation system and plantocracy are covered in order to explain the contemporary nature of, and challenges faced by, the Caribbean.

Most previously authored texts on the Caribbean tend to approach the subject from discrete and particular perspectives (e.g. history, environment, business, media) and as such fail to present an holistic view of the extant nature of this complex region. The book is divided into three parts, dealing respectively with: the foundations of the Caribbean, rural and urban bases of the contemporary Caribbean, and global restructuring and the Caribbean: industry, globalization, tourism and politics.

Main features:

• Stresses the contemporary nature of the Caribbean as its primary focus, but also covers the foundations in historical processes of the region.
• Well-illustrated with maps, figures, graphics and photographs.
• Boxed case studies are presented in each chapter, principally, but not exclusively, to provide country or region-specific case studies. For example, ¿Promoting export-oriented manufacturing: the example of St Lucia¿s National Development Corporation¿; ¿Grenada, from "not for sale" to "for sale": US opposition to its socialist experiment; ¿Patterns of settlement and economic activity in Guyana¿; ¿Urbanisation and urban structure of San Juan, Puerto Rico¿; and ¿Housing in Cuba: the contribution of the microbrigade system.

 

This is a comprehensive tertiary level textbook aimed at students taking courses that involve consideration of the contemporary character of the Caribbean region. The book will be of value to undergraduates and postgraduates taking courses in geography, development studies, black studies, social policy and social science, economics and politics, as well as more generally in the social sciences.

 

Robert B. Potter is Professor of Human Geography and Director of Research in the School of Human and Environmental Sciences at the University of Reading. David Barker is Senior Lecturer in Geography at the University of the West Indies. Dennis Conway is Professor of Geography at Indiana University. Thomas Klak is Professor of Geography at Miami University, Ohio. All four authors have considerable experience in undertaking first-hand research in the Caribbean.

About the Author:

Professor Rob Potter is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Reading. His research and teaching interests span development geography and development studies; urban geography; return migration; transnationality and issues of identity. He is author of the texts Key Concepts in Development Geography (Sage, 2012), Geographies of Development (Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2008), The Companion to Development Studies (Hodder, 2008), Doing Development Research (Sage, 2006) and The Contemporary Caribbean, Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2005). He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the interdisciplinary journal Progress in Development Studies and is currently a member of the International Editorial Boards of the journals Third World Quarterly, Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies, and Blackwell Geography Compass. Rob Potter was elected to the Academy of Social Sciences in 2006 and in 2007 was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science (DSc) by the University of Reading, in recognition of his contributions to the fields of Geographies of Development and Urban Geography.

Thomas Klak is Associate Professor of Geography and Director of the Latin American Studies Program at Miami University of Ohio.

David Barker has worked as a teacher, news writer, sports writer, city editor, bureaucrat, speech writer, political consultant, and public relations specialist. Married to an ordained minister who works at an adolescent drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, they live in New Jersey with her son.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1138135364
• ISBN 13: 9781138135369
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 528