This volume collects new angles and perspectives on issues shaping the development of the Caribbean. Bringing together essays on regional integration, identity, and culture and focusing on foundational personalities and institutions in the region, this book opens up new lines of inquiry on twentieth-century Caribbean history. Essays examine popular perspectives of the West Indies Federation; the intersections of ideology and governance through key figures such as C. L. R. James and Rawson William Rawson; the socioeconomic context of Caribbean foodways; and Carnival as a tool of cultural diplomacy. Integration is a critical theme throughout. Pointing to the region¿s rich cultural and historical heritage, this book explores how Caribbean unification may provide a way forward for this patchwork of island territories facing the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Offers new perspectives on issues in Caribbean history and development

1. Introduction.- I. The Mechanics of Regionalism.- 2. The Masses Speak: Popular Perspectives on the West Indian Federation.- 3. Promotion of the West Indies Federation: The Federal Information Service, 1957-1961.- 4. Regional Integration and the Problems of Caribbean and National History.- II. Ideology and Governance.- 5. "The most striking West Indian creation between the wars": C. L. R. James, the International African Service Bureau and Militant Pan-Africanism in Imperial Britain.- 6. New Beginning Movement: Coordinating Council of Revolutionary Alternatives for Trinidad and the Caribbean.- 7. Sir Rawson William Rawson: Governor of Barbaos, 1869-1875.- 8. Challenging a "Strategy of Imperialism": Chaguaramas and the Quest for American Security.- III. Caribbean Society: Cuisine and Culture.- 9. "We are what we eat": The Place of Food in the Caribbean.- 10. Carnival Celebrations in Trinidad and Tobago and Abroad: Cultural Diplomacy in Action/Practice.