Politics in an Island State

Jamaica ismost well-known for its popular culture, crime and violence. Government, thestate, is viewed as a malign force. In Politics in an Island State notedanthropologist Diane Austin-Broos brings an alternative view of Jamaica, itsculture and governance. This history of Jamaica, and more pointedly, thehistory of politics in Jamaica, is brilliantly told through the biography ofWills O. Isaacs. Never the leader of his party - the People's National Party -Wills was active in politics from the 1930s and was nonetheless a prominent andnotorious figure. Informativeand entertaining, this biography of a "second-tier" political leader departsfrom the usual heroic style and addresses the challenges of a fledgling socialdemocracy in the mid-twentieth century. Decolonization and the decline ofsugar, the Great Depression and two world wars frame the challenges of thetime. Flanked by rural-to-urban migration, unemployment and industrialization, Jamaica'sstruggles into the twenty-first century and the conduct of government - thesuccesses, failures and foibles - are presented and viewed through a morenuanced lens. Leaders shape history, though they seldom dictate itsdirection. Viewing history through their eyes affords a dynamic account of thestructures and events that underpin a society's development. Politics in an Island State willfind a ready audience with readers generally interested in the Caribbean, buteven more so with sages - both academic and unconventional - of anthropology, history, foreign affairs, sociology, political science, development studies andpolitical economy.