Caribbean Revolutions and Revolutionary Theory: An Assessment of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Grenada [Paperback]

Brian Meeks (Author), Anthony P. Maingot (Preface)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2001 | ISBN-10: 9766401047 | ISBN-13: 978-9766401047

This volume re-examines the meaning of revolution as a useful concept in politics. It traces the history of the concept from its ancient beginnings, but especially in connection with the idea of progress since the French Revolution. More recent statements are examined as a prelude to arriving at a less deterministic, entrenched definition than has often been the case, but which retains the idea of revolution as a potential window and facilitator of change. The Cuban, Nicaraguan and Grenadian revolutions are compared, using techniques derived from John Stuart Mill and perfected by Theda S. Kocpol. Emphasis is placed on the conditions which facilitated the making of these revolutions, the social forces which led the process in each case and how these factors came together to affect the extent of popular empowerment in the post-insurrectional landscapes. The author contends that none of these revolutions suggests that there is a predetermined, "progressive" path which various states must inevitably follow. Revolutions occur as a result of conjecture, accumulated experience and contingency. Despite the incompleteness and unfulfilled promise of all these revolutions, they suggest, to different degrees, that real human agents in the rare revolutionary opening do have the potential to make history and effect positive changes, if they can learn from the accumulated errors of the past. Brian Meeks has a PhD in government. He is also the author of "Grenada: Social Formation and People's Revolution" and "The Grenada Revolution: Political and Economic Documents".

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: University of the West Indies Press (May 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9766401047
• ISBN-13: 978-9766401047
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,277,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > History > Americas > Caribbean & West Indies > Grenada

More About the Author

Brian Meeks is Professor of Social and Political Change and Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona. He has taught political theory, comparative politics, Caribbean political thought and African American politics at Michigan State University, Florida International University and the University of the West Indies, Mona. He has held the positions of Visiting Fellow at the Centre of Latin American Studies at Cambridge University and Visiting Tinker Scholar at Stanford University.
He is Director of the Centre for Caribbean Thought at UWI Mona and a former Chair of the Michael Manley Foundation. He has authored or edited nine books and many articles on Caribbean politics and political theory. Among them are Caribbean Revolutions and Revolutionary Theory: An Assessment of Cuba, Nicaragua and Grenada; Narratives of Resistance: Jamaica, Trinidad, the Caribbean; New Caribbean Thought: a Reader; Envisioning Caribbean Futures: Jamaican Perspectives, Culture, Politics, Race and Diaspora: The Thought of Stuart Hall and M.G. Smith: Social Theory and Anthropology in the Caribbean and Beyond. His first novel, Paint the Town Red, was published in 2003.
He chaired the Committee responsible for assessing the People's National Party's performance in the 2007 Jamaican general elections, the report entitled: "Building for Jamaica's Future: Unity, Philosophy and Organisation".

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