Politics of Survival and Change in Dominica, 17631973: An Interpretation of the Political Life Experience of Dominicans in the Colonial and Post-Colonial Situation

Abstract

This thesis on Dominica is the only study in the social sciences which deals extensively and exclusively with the life experience of Dominicans. The study has three interrelated purposes. It analyses and interprets the life experience of Dominicans as subjects of their own experiences rather than as objects or victims of colonial forces. It seeks to reveal to Dominicans that, despite their colonization, they have a positive identity of which they can be proud and which can be useful to them in the realization of their future aspirations. Finally, it argues consistently against more common metropolitan perspectives used in the analysis of Caribbean experience. The thesis attempts to accomplish these interrelated purposes by an examination of those significant activities in the Dominican life experience which have been directed towards human survival and change in the colonial situation. Specifically, the study shows how Dominicans themselves, beginning with the slave period, through the emancipation era, the creation of political organizations, right up to the Castle Bruce Cooperative Movement, have acted constantly on their own behalf in order to achieve the dual objectives of survival and change. Finally, given the emphasis of the thesis and because Dominica is probably the least studied Island in the British Caribbean, the study is considered a contribution not only to the understanding of Dominican political and social life, but also to Caribbean and general social science literature.