# Politics in an Island State: Wills O. Isaacs and Jamaica's Struggle for Development - Hardcover

by **Diane Austin-Broos** (Author)

Jamaica is  
most well-known for its popular culture, crime and violence. Government, the  
state, is viewed as a malign force. In **_Politics in an Island State_** noted  
anthropologist Diane Austin-Broos brings an alternative view of Jamaica, its  
culture and governance. This history of Jamaica, and more pointedly, the  
history of politics in Jamaica, is brilliantly told through the biography of  
Wills O. Isaacs. Never the leader of his party - the People's National Party -  
Wills was active in politics from the 1930s and was nonetheless a prominent and  
notorious figure.

Informative  
and entertaining, this biography of a "second-tier" political leader departs  
from the usual heroic style and addresses the challenges of a fledgling social  
democracy in the mid-twentieth century. Decolonization and the decline of  
sugar, the Great Depression and two world wars frame the challenges of the  
time. Flanked by rural-to-urban migration, unemployment and industrialization, Jamaica's  
struggles into the twenty-first century and the conduct of government - the  
successes, failures and foibles - are presented and viewed through a more  
nuanced lens.

Leaders shape history, though they seldom dictate its  
direction. Viewing history through their eyes affords a dynamic account of the  
structures and events that underpin a society's development. **_Politics in an Island State_** will  
find a ready audience with readers generally interested in the Caribbean, but  
even more so with sages - both academic and unconventional - of anthropology,  
history, foreign affairs, sociology, political science, development studies and  
political economy.

**Number of Pages:** 474

**Dimensions:** 1.19 x 9 x 6 IN

**Publication Date:** August 16, 2024

## Details

- **Price:** 97.2 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 97.20 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Politics in an Island State: Wills O. Isaacs and Jamaica's Struggle for Development - Hardcover

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