Book review - External forces impacting on Carib workers

Book: The Politics of Labour in the British Caribbean
Author: Nigel Bolland
Reviewed by: Balford Henry

THIS book is sub-titled, "The Social Origins of Authoritarianism and Democracy in the Labour Movement".

Mr. Bolland is Professor of Sociology and Co-ordinator of Caribbean and Latin American studies at the Colgate University in the United States. He is the leading scholar of Belizean history and has written extensively on labour issues in the Caribbean. His most recent book being "Struggles for Freedom: Essays on Slavery, Colonialism and Culture in the Caribbean and Central America" (1997).

In this book, Professor Bolland tries to show, how "external forces", which he defines as "forces outside the Caribbean that are constituent of the world system", have affected the labour movement in these societies.

According to him, the growth of racial and class consciousness in the 1920s, the impact of the Great Depression and the Second World War, the decline of the British Empire and the rise of the United States, and the effects of the Cold War all interacted with internal factors and influenced the politics of labour in the British Caribbean colonies.

"In the middle of the 20th century, at the height of the Cold War, when the colonies were moving towards self-government, the Puerto Rican model of dependent capitalist development became widely accepted by nationalist leaders, such as Grantley Adams, Norman Manley and Eric Williams. As a result, just as their countries became independent they were competing with each other, and with many other countries around the world, to attract foreign, largely U.S., investment," he writes.

He adds that at the same time that they sought to create jobs, they had to offer tax concessions to foreign corporations, thereby losing potential revenue, and keeping wages low and trade unions under control.

"These countries became constitutionally democratic and independent, but the development strategy imposed by the world capitalist system reinforced their economic dependency and their new rulers became more authoritarian."

Mr. Bolland believes that while in the past century, most Caribbean societies experienced considerable political and cultural change, there has been little change, "generally," in terms of the structure of social inequality and the distribution of resources.

He says that in most countries, a truce developed between the local political regimes, "that are constantly brown or black," and the holders of economic power, "still largely white, foreign and corporate."

Mr. Bolland says that the establishment of democratic, Westminster-style politics and Government during the process of "constitutional decolonisation," ensured not only a smooth transition from colonial to independent status (except in Guyana), "but also the entrenchment of the middle classes that controlled the political parties, including those with bases in labour".

He quotes C.L.R. James to support the argument that the achievement of formal democracy and independence disguised "the fact that organised labour, which had provided the basis for this achievement, was suppressed or controlled and excluded from political power," and suggests that this is the reason why radical political ideologies, such as black power, developed in several of the countries in the late 1960s and 1970s.

It is quite obvious that Professor Bolland is no fan of Jamaica's National Hero, Sir Alexander Bustamante, who he sees as creating and exploiting a reputation for "brinkmanship"... "while confident that he could lead the masses into situations where, by virtue of his own social status, he would be less susceptible to police harassment or brutality than his followers."

However, he goes on to display the very deception of which he accuses Bustamante, by suggesting that this argument does not deny Bustamante's "great personal courage" but, instead, support his (Bolland's) myopic suggestion that Bustamante's displays of courage seemed to have been staged to create a basis for hero-worship!

Eventually, he comes to the conclusion that despite its shortcomings, the regional trade union movement has achieved a "great deal." Applause, applause, applause. And that the many active participants exhibited courage, determination, interpersonal skills, patience, honesty and reliability in order to achieve those goals (Does that include Bustamante?).

Publisher: Ian Randle

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