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The Caribbean ranks among the earliest and most completely globalized regions in the world. From the first moment Europeans set foot on the islands to the present, products, people, and ideas have made their way back and forth between the region and other parts of the globe with unequal but inexorable force. An inventory of some of these unprecedented multidirectional exchanges, this volume provides a measure of, as well as a model for, new scholarship on globalization in the region.

Ten essays by leading scholars in the field of Caribbean studies identify and illuminate important social and cultural aspects of the region as it seeks to maintain its own identity against the unrelenting pressures of globalization. These essays examine cultural phenomena in their creolized forms--from sports and religion to music and drink--as well as the Caribbean manifestations of more universal trends--from racial inequality and feminist activism to indebtedness and economic uncertainty. Throughout, the volume points to the contending forces of homogeneity and differentiation that define globalization and highlights the growing agency of the Caribbean peoples in the modern world. ... Read more

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Globalisation, Diaspora and Caribbean Popular Culture chronicles the emergence and metamorphosis across centuries, of a variety of Caribbean expressions, and documents the restructuring of social relations through expressive forms. The contributing authors use a wide variety of methodological approaches to give expression to the extraordinary contribution of the Caribbean to contemporary global culture. In the process they examine the relationship between the growth of the Caribbean diaspora and the globalisation of popular cultural forms from the region, arguing that the Caribbean has not been merely an importer but a producer and an exporter of popular culture.This volume breaks new ground in analysing the relationship between Caribbean popular culture and the world culture industry as well as the economics of the entertainment industry. As a book that is both theoretical and ethnographic, it will be appropriate for use at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in a wide range of fields including Cultural Studies; Tourism and Film Studies; Migration Studies; Race and Ethnic Studies; Sociology and Anthropology. ... Read more

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Written by a team of international contributors this work contains more than 200 entries on all aspects of literature. It will be invaluable for those studying Latin American and/or Caribbean literature and the Spanish/Portuguese languages. ... Read more

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In this brilliantly evocative ethnography, Francio Guadeloupe probes the ethos and attitude created by radio disc jockeys on the binational Caribbean island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten. Examining the intersection of Christianity, calypso, and capitalism, Guadeloupe shows how a multiethnic and multireligious island nation, where livelihoods depend on tourism, has managed to encourage all social classes to transcend their ethnic and religious differences. In his pathbreaking analysis, Guadeloupe credits the island DJs, whose formulations of Christian faith, musical creativity, and capitalist survival express ordinary people's hopes and fears and promote tolerance. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 3776 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Intended to provide a comprehensive description of the enterprise of education both within the United States and throughout the world. Articles offer a view of the institutions, people, processes, and products found in educational practice. ... Read more

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Reggae music is more than just steel drum bands on white sand beaches. Its history is rich with culture and evolution, helping to tell the story of Jamaica's past. Due to its depth and extensive coverage, this book is the most complete and up to date encyclopedia about reggae, mento, ska, rocksteady, and dancehall music on the market today. Ideal for reggae lovers and college students studying music, this encyclopedia is comprehensive for high school students and non-music students as well. From Bob Marley to Wayne Wonder, this easy to use encyclopedia contains over 700 entries. Indices in both the front and back of the book make navigating through entries extremely user-friendly.

Entries cover singers and songwriters, producers, record labels, and different styles of music that evolved from reggae. Moskowitz truly captures the history and evolution of Jamaican music in this extensive, illuminating encyclopedia, while all the while making it accessible to both high school and college students.

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For college studies: embracing all of Caribbean music history
David V. Moskowitz's CARIBBEAN POPULAR MUSIC: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF REGGAE, MENTO, SKA, ROCK STEADY AND DANCEHALLis perfect for college studies: while plenty of references have been written on the topic, none have embraced the full extent of Caribbean music history with an overall scholarly approach, providing annotations on figures ranging from Bob Marley to the drum and bass movement and the Flying Cymbal drumming technique. While most listings consist of capsule biographies of individuals and companies, CARIBBEAN POPULAR MUSIC includes all the background history necessary to fuel any report on the topic. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Countries and Their Cultures, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1094 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Covers the broad range of popular religious culture of the United States at the close of the twentieth century. Beliefs, practices, symbols, traditions, movements, organizations, and leaders from the many traditions in the pluralistic American community are represented. Also includes cults and phenomena that drew followers, such as Heaven's Gale and UFOs. ... Read more

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Excellent Overview...Current and Perceptive
This is an up-to-date and serviceable introduction to developments in politics, culture and social issues faced by this region with particular emphasis on the period from 1945. In order to understand the Caribbean experience it is important to look at its history prior to this last half-century to understand how Europe and the U.S. 'discovered', exploited, and imposed their values on its peoples. No new ground is broken in this area, but it is all good information - the original native tribes, the importance of the sugar trade, the use of slave labor from Africa, the use of indentured workers from Asia when slavery ended, the resulting multi-ethnic character of the population, the growing sensitivity of the U.S. to foreign influence in the region, U.S. willingness to strategically intervene, the Cuban issue, etc.

It is difficult to find current commentary on the Caribbean for the non-academic or for the tourist who wants to go beyond the best cruise line deals and the best reefs to snorkel. This short book does a good job on recent developments in politics, economics, literature, music, even sports (especially cricket). Occasionally the author's prose is flat (e.g. p.114 on Bob Marley's achievements or the closing sentences of the book, p. 136), but this is a minor editing matter. Mention is made of the growing interest of China in the region, especially with the U.S. distracted by engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan, but clearly Latin America's rich resource base will be their focus not the Caribbean. Tourism has become a powerful dynamic for the region and this book identifies some of the issues worth further discussion by future writers. While acknowledging Cuba's disdain for essential freedoms (viz. press, assembly, speech), Blouet believes that U.S. attempts to isolate Cuba "punishes" the entire region, because Cuba's population and natural resources make it a natural hub of economic activity for all of the islands. Without Cuba's participation economic development will continue to be reliant on U.S. and European economies. We can speculate that an opportunity for greater regional commerce and development will arise with the eventual change of leadership in both countries. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Very interesting!
I used this book as a source for a college paper about African American foodways.This book is fascinating and provided so much information on a variety of subjects, including original sources of "Southern" American foods, and preparation methods that have their roots in Africa and the Caribbean.I have not read all the essays in this book, as they did not all apply toward my particular topic, but I am very impressed with the editing, the selection of essays, and the topic coverage in the essays I did read.If you are interested in the ways African American cooking methods and preferences have changed in the past 100 years, I would recommend reading "The Food of a Younger Land," edited by Mark Kurlansky, along with this book."Building Houses out of Chicken Legs" by Psyche A. Williams-Forson is also excellent.

Interesting
I guess I had an appreciation for a writer who writes for the masses, no pretense.I relatively enjoyed this book.I appreciated some author's more than others.I am blaming it on style of writing.

My favorite contribution was Chicken and Chains by Pyche Wilson-Forson.I am interested enough to find the book and read it in its entirety.I also enjoyed Excavating the South's African AmericanHistory by Anne Yentsch.

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By investigating the harms routinely experienced by the victims and survivors of domestic violence, both inside and outside of law, "Everyday Harm" studies the limits of what domestic violence law can - and cannot - accomplish. Combining detailed ethnographic research and theoretical analysis, Mindie Lazarus-Black illustrates the ways persistent cultural norms and ingrained bureaucratic procedures work to unravel laws designed to protect the safety of society's most vulnerable people. Lazarus-Black's fieldwork in Trinidad traces a story with global implications about why and when people gain the right to ask the court for protection from violence, and what happens when they pursue those rights in court. Why is it that, in spite of laws designed to empower subordinated people, so little results from that legislation? What happens in and around courts that makes it so difficult for people to obtain their legally available rights and protections? In the case of domestic violence law, what can such legislation mean for women's empowerment, gender equity, and protection? How do cultural norms and practices intercept the law? ... Read more

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EVERYDAY HARM
An engrossing exploration of legal reform to address the problem
of domestic violence. Professor Lazarus-Black details domestic violence as impeded by everyday practices of law and courts. I found the individual case studies of battered women seeking legal protection most absorbing, especially in light of the pointed discussion of cultural and political change.
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Designed as a lively encyclopedia, this includes all the elements that constitute the heritage of modern Bahamians: historical, geographical, economic, political, social and cultural. Key events, institutions, customs and personalities are not just described but evaluated. Yet, as even a dipping will show, this A-Z is far from being entirely strait-laced. Apart from heroes and high-fliers there are plenty of eccentrics and even a few villains. Compiled by the premier historian of "The Bahamas" and four years in the making, this sparkling reference book is the distillation of research and analysis spread over half a century. Printed in colour and beautifully illustrated, it is aimed at both fact-seekers and browsers. It will interest and profit Bahamians, visitors and armchair travellers alike."Macmillan Caribbean A-Zs" are a comprehensive series of reference books that provide an invaluable and entertaining source of information to the countries that comprise the Caribbean region. Highly illustrated and in full-colour throughout, they are a unique 'one-stop' resource to the cultural heritage of a fascinating and richly diverse part of the world. ... Read more

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"Caribbean Currents" presents an engaging panorama of the rich and diverse musics of the Caribbean region. This expanded and updated edition of the award-winning book covers recent developments in the region's music, such as the emergence of reggaeton and timba and includes a new and extensive study of Jamaican dancehall. Among the other additions are twenty-seven illustrations. The authors cover the historical development and current forms of the musics of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Trinidad, the French Caribbean, the lesser Antilles, and their transnational communities in the United States and elsewhere. They also succinctly and perceptively situate the musical music styles and developments in the context of themes of gender and racial dynamics, socio-political background, and diasporic dimensions. Written in a style that is at once readable, entertaining, and scholarly, "Caribbean Currents" is an ideal resource for students, musicians, and general readers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A must have for musicians
We know that much of the world's contemporary is influenced by Africa and the Americas, but maybe you don't realized how much of the old music was influenced by colonialism, how Cuban music ended up in Baroque music of the 1600's, Chaconnes and Passacaglias for example. Basically this book has some really great stuff in it, it helps you get in touch with what colonialism did down there, Christopher Columbus was not so great, and at the same time connects you to a pretty vibrant, vivacious, and really soulful kind of music. I'm not even completely done with the book yet and I want to go there and live out some of the stories of this guy's travels, it's pretty damn cool.

"Cuban" currents: Cuban Music from Rumba to Reggae
Oh,... I am sorry, Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae.

This book has some good information; especially when Manuel situates the music within a broader socio-cultural background. However, if you want to learn about Puerto Rican music, read cautiously (see Manuel's "everything is Cuban" stance). Much of his information on Puerto Rico's music is wrong.

The fact that scholars have not produced a large, comprehensive series of studies on a culture (PR), although, this of course, is now changing, does not mean an author should blatantly speculate about many aspects of that culture.Where/what are Manuel's sources?

All You Need to Know About Caribbean Music...Great Reading!
Probably one of the best introductory books written on the history, evolution and development of Caribbean music.Professor Manuel covers, with enough in-depth analysis, the "roots" and history of themusic of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad,Suriname and other small islands.

The book is well written and an easyread, as well as being informative, giving the reader an overview ofCaribbean music.It is not all-inclusive of the "CaribbeanBasin"...it does not include the music of Central America, Mexico andVenezuela.Nevertheless it is a book I highly recommend to anyone that isinterested in obtainingan overview on Caribbean music from its beginningsto the different genres of today.

Excellent Caribbean Musical Journey
Enjoyed the scope and ambition of this book, which educates you well about the remarkable number of musical genres that have emerged from the Caribbean. Has a place on my "world music" shelf along with"World Music: The Rough Guide" and "The BrazilianSound." ... Read more

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Jamaica is known widely for its beautiful beaches and reggae music scene, but there is much more to this Caribbean country. Culture and Customs of Jamaica richly surveys the fuller wealth of the Caribbean nation, focusing on its people, history, religion, education, language, social customs, media and cinema, literature, music, and performing and visual arts. Jamaican Creole and the education system, which are not often discussed in volumes aimed at a general audience, are also examined in this volume. Students and other interested readers will find this volume indispensable for its detailed insight on the makings of modern Jamaica. ... Read more

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This innovative work presents a detailed introduction on spatial, socio-cultural and economic characteristics of the Caribbean city, followed by case studies of various cities in the Dutch, Hispanic, Francophone and Anglophone Caribbean. The book approaches these cities from an interdisciplinary perspective, incorporating approaches from Anthropology, Sociology, History, Political Science, Geography, and Literary and Cultural criticism. ... Read more

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The people of the Caribbean and the cultural vitality of the islands are some of the main subjects covered in this work. It focuses on a number of island nations and territorial dependencies in the region.The people are a product of many cultures - African, European and indigenous as well as Asian in many cases - and have, through the centuries, shaped the identity and destiny of the island nations in such a way that they have become some of the most fascinating human societies in the world.The cultural landscape of the Caribbean is simple yet complex. There is cultural uniformity in many cases because of the common history of most of the Caribbean islands as former British colonies. But there are also differences, some distinct, others subtle, even among these islands which have a common colonial history and the vast majority of whose people have a common African origin. Trinidad and Tobago stands out as the home of calypso, among many other things which make this island nation unique. But so do smaller island nations such as Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Turks and Caicos Islands and others. They all stand out in their own ways.There are also territories which are not independent countries but possessions of the United kingdom andthe United States; for example, the Virgin Islands with their separate identities and divergent historical paths, one group of the islands being British and the other American.They all have evolved separately to forge different identities in spite of the fact that many of them have a common cultural heritage. They also have many similarities even if some of them don't share a common history and cultural origins whose elements have fused to create what we know today as the richness and diversity of the Caribbean region which is one of the most interesting places and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.The cultural landscape of the Caribbean as well as the ethnic and racial diversity of its people is an interesting subject not only to scholars but to members of the general public many of whom are familiar with the islands because of the way they have been portrayed and glorified in films and songs through the decades as a tropical paradise.And in many ways, it is. ... Read more