In a panoramic survey, Professor Benn succeeds in systematizing for the first time, the elements that may be said to constitute the intellectual tradition of the Caribbean from the end of the 18th century to the present. That tradition is divide into two parts; an older tradition that was confined to the white planter class who sought to elaborate a political philosophy in defense of their political and economic privileges, best represented in the writings of Edward Long and Bryan Edwards.
In the newer tradition which emerged during the 19th century, there have been three major intellectual influences in the figures of Marcus Garvey, C.L.R. James and Eric Williams. Garvey developed the perspective using on race consciousness as the basis for political action. James represents the tradition of radical intellectual dissent influenced by Marxist and neo-Marxist perceptions while Williams epitomizes the nationalist intellectual ethos which sees the nation as an indivisible entity and the ultimate basis of political action.
