Centring the periphery : chaos, order, and the ethnohistory of Dominica / Patrick L. Baker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baker, Patrick L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dominica--History.

Dominica.

Physical Description:

xx, 251 p. : ill.

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Buffalo : McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The concept of "centring" is used to mean "ordering the world," and Baker links this to ideas in chaos theory, which views order and disorder as mutually generative phenomena rather than static antinomies. Thus strategies to control disorder and create and maintain order may suddenly precipitate change. Baker's application of these theories to an island nation that has received little detailed attention in the past makes this a highly original work, as does his holistic, post-modern perspective. In addition to presenting a sensitive historical analysis, he confronts the dilemma of meaning in peripheral situations and the experience of dependency in the world system. Centring the Periphery is germane to understanding the majority of the world's people and makes a significant contribution to the study of society in developing nations.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Tables and Maps

Preface

Theoretical Questions

Indigenous Peoples and Their Contact Experience

European Discovery and Settlement

Formal Colonization: British Annexation, French Conquest, and Slave Revolts

Slavery and Emancipation

A Dominican Peasantry

The Rise of the Mulatto Élite

Capitalizing a Subsistence Economy

Democracy: Bringing Decision Making Home

Four Hundred and Eighty-Five Years Later: Independence?

Some Additional Facts on Dominica

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-240) and index.

ISBN:

0-7735-6439-X

OCLC:

929121329