Politics of Identity in Small Plural Societies : Guyana, the Fiji Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago

People around the globe have found comfort and strength in mobilizing around culture and ethnic identities more than they have successfully organized around class. This book provides an ethnographic account of the politicization of ethnicity in small plural societies. Whatever else cultural and ethnic differences may contribute to society, in small plural societies, cultural differences can be exaggerated, exploited and intensified during political contests by both politicians and the electorate alike. What is at stake? For small, economically fragile societies, democratic survival - and sometimes even the state itself.

STACEY-ANN WILSONPolitical scientist serving as a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Education at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.