Indigenous
Peoples Specialty Group Selected Sponsored sessions, |
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Susan Austin, Syracuse University The power of place: the resurgence of Carib identity in Trinidad and Dominica In the last twenty years, there has been a resurgence of groups seeking to renew their indigenous identities and traditions in the Caribbean. From Taino communities in Puerto Rico to Carib communities in Dominica, nations formerly subsumed under a single nation-state identity are facing challenges to this homogenizing logic by indigenous groups. On islands like Dominica the quest for greater recognition and autonomy is relatively successful with Carib communities gaining control over land and a sizeable proportion of the ecotourism sector. In Trinidad, the Santa Rosa Carib Community is less successful in similar efforts to gain access to land and develop ecotourism projects. This paper examines the factors behind the resurgence of indigenousness by Carib communities in Trinidad and Tobago, its relationship to the forms of uneven development created by globalization processes and the reasons for the relative failure of this community to secure even minimal levels of autonomy from the Trinidadian state. I argue that while globalizing processes are fueling the renewal of indigenous identities of this Carib group, their failure to gain autonomy is linked to the local politics of place in organizing and negotiating with the state government. Unlike the Dominica Carib community, the Santa Rosa Carib Community contains fewer people who are unevenly distributed throughout Trinidad and therefore, lack the organizing skills within their community to have an effective political voice in Trinidad. The uneven nature of globalization processes affects people and places differently, whereby the interactions among people are contested through the politics of place. Keywords: globalization, indigenous peoples, identity, place, Caribbean Email: slaustin (at) maxwell.syr.edu
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