Bittersweet Societies: A Critical Exploration of the Caribbean

Class Overview

The course aims to demystify the commonly held idea of the Caribbean as an idyllic, relaxing, and paradisiac site of beautiful beaches, mojitos, and piñas Coladas. Instead, it will delve into the life experiences of contemporary Caribbean people. It will begin with a historical exploration of critical processes that have shaped the cultures and societies of the contemporary Caribbean. In particular, we will pay attention to the imposition of colonialism and the subsequent development of the plantation economy in shaping the culture, race, gender, and class experiences of the inhabitants of the region. Furthermore, through the concept of creolization, we will examine the cultural manifestations that have articulated the array of defying practices against external and internal political subordination, imperialism, and all ways of racial and ethnic discrimination in Caribbean societies. These cultural practices include the emergence of complex syncretic religions, folkloric and popular music, carnivals, and literature. 

We will end the semester by studying two crucial issues concerning the contemporary Caribbean; migration and "disaster capitalism". The Caribbean has been a region of a constant movement of people since the time of Spanish exclusivism as it served as an initial platform to the more lucrative mining activities in Mexico and South America. In the post-colonial period, migration continued as it followed labor and economic opportunities according to the trends of global capitalism. Thousands of people from the Caribbean migrate from their homeland, transforming the places where they choose to live while simultaneously changing their own notions of Caribbean identities. It is for these reasons that this course will delve into the experience of the Caribbean diasporas that have settled in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Miami, New York, Canada, London, and elsewhere. In the last weeks of the semester, we will study the recovery efforts made in the Caribbean in the wake of Hurricane Maria. We will pay attention to the wave of austerity measures imposed by the local governments following the economic policies associated with what Noami Klein has coined as "disaster capitalism."

There are no prerequisites.