After the Postcolonial Caribbean: Memory, Imagination, Hope

Examines the history, and possible futures, of radical politics in the postcolonial Caribbean

Across the Anglophone Caribbean, the great expectations of independence were never met. From Black Power and Jamaican Democratic Socialism to the Grenada Revolution, the radical currents that once animated the region recede into memory. More than half a century later, the likelihood of radical change appears vanishingly small on the horizon. But what were the twists and turns in the postcolonial journey that brought us here? And is there hope yet for the Caribbean to advance towards more just, democratic, and empowering futures?

After the Postcolonial Caribbean is structured into two parts. In 'Remembering', Brian Meeks employs an autobiographical form, drawing on his own memories and experiences of the radical politics and culture of the Caribbean in the decades following the end of colonialism. In 'Imagining' he takes inspiration from the likes of Edna Manley, George Lamming, and Stuart Hall in reaching toward a new theoretical framework that might help forge new currents of intellectual and political resistance.

Meeks concludes by making the case for reestablishing optimism as a necessary cornerstone for any reemergent progressive movement.

Brian Meeks is Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University. He has authored or edited numerous books including Critical Interventions in Caribbean Politics and Theory, Caribbean Revolutions and Revolutionary Theory, Narratives of Resistance and Envisioning Caribbean Futures. He is also the author of the novel Paint the Town Red and the poetry collection The Coup Clock Clicks.