A Caribbean Identity: Memoirs of the Colonial Service

What is 'Caribbean Identity'? This amalgam of so many diverse elements and traditions springing from the complex history of the modern Caribbean is embodied in the person of A. S. Frankson.
Frankson's long and distinguished public service career was decisively shaped by the impact of Western culture through European settlement in the region, the historical background of slavery and indentured labour, native nationalism and 'black consciousness'. He played a key role within the British colonial system in Belize prior to its independence in 1981 and subsequently he exemplified modern post-colonial international idealism by pursuing an active career in the US Peace Corps, both in Belize and his native Jamaica.
Frankson explores the great and divisive issues of the Caribbean - slavery, colonialism, colour prejudice, colonial and post-colonial government, the growth of bureaucracy and even globalisation. In the manner of a modern Caribbean William Cobbett, conservative but radical and humane, he departs from much conventional post-colonial wisdom in pointing out the advantages of colonial government and even colonialism in its more benign forms, as displayed in the Caribbean. In the process he gives a rich picture of Caribbean life from childhood to old age and the emergence of a modern, post-colonial Caribbean world.
This is a story for all readers interested in colonial and post-colonial history and the vital question of identity in colonial societies.

1111421978
A Caribbean Identity: Memoirs of the Colonial Service

What is 'Caribbean Identity'? This amalgam of so many diverse elements and traditions springing from the complex history of the modern Caribbean is embodied in the person of A. S. Frankson.
Frankson's long and distinguished public service career was decisively shaped by the impact of Western culture through European settlement in the region, the historical background of slavery and indentured labour, native nationalism and 'black consciousness'. He played a key role within the British colonial system in Belize prior to its independence in 1981 and subsequently he exemplified modern post-colonial international idealism by pursuing an active career in the US Peace Corps, both in Belize and his native Jamaica.
Frankson explores the great and divisive issues of the Caribbean - slavery, colonialism, colour prejudice, colonial and post-colonial government, the growth of bureaucracy and even globalisation. In the manner of a modern Caribbean William Cobbett, conservative but radical and humane, he departs from much conventional post-colonial wisdom in pointing out the advantages of colonial government and even colonialism in its more benign forms, as displayed in the Caribbean. In the process he gives a rich picture of Caribbean life from childhood to old age and the emergence of a modern, post-colonial Caribbean world.
This is a story for all readers interested in colonial and post-colonial history and the vital question of identity in colonial societies.

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A Caribbean Identity: Memoirs of the Colonial Service

A Caribbean Identity: Memoirs of the Colonial Service

by A. S. Frankson
A Caribbean Identity: Memoirs of the Colonial Service

A Caribbean Identity: Memoirs of the Colonial Service

by A. S. Frankson

Overview

What is 'Caribbean Identity'? This amalgam of so many diverse elements and traditions springing from the complex history of the modern Caribbean is embodied in the person of A. S. Frankson.
Frankson's long and distinguished public service career was decisively shaped by the impact of Western culture through European settlement in the region, the historical background of slavery and indentured labour, native nationalism and 'black consciousness'. He played a key role within the British colonial system in Belize prior to its independence in 1981 and subsequently he exemplified modern post-colonial international idealism by pursuing an active career in the US Peace Corps, both in Belize and his native Jamaica.
Frankson explores the great and divisive issues of the Caribbean - slavery, colonialism, colour prejudice, colonial and post-colonial government, the growth of bureaucracy and even globalisation. In the manner of a modern Caribbean William Cobbett, conservative but radical and humane, he departs from much conventional post-colonial wisdom in pointing out the advantages of colonial government and even colonialism in its more benign forms, as displayed in the Caribbean. In the process he gives a rich picture of Caribbean life from childhood to old age and the emergence of a modern, post-colonial Caribbean world.
This is a story for all readers interested in colonial and post-colonial history and the vital question of identity in colonial societies.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781845115913
Publisher: Radcliffe Press, The
Publication date: 04/15/2008
Pages: 264
Product dimensions: 5.66(w) x 8.84(h) x 1.11(d)

About the Author

Alexander Stoddard Frankson was born in Jamaica in 1913 to a Caribbean family of mixed racial origin and trained as a teacher. He joined the British Honduras (now Belize) government civil service in 1937 as a School Supervisor. After further professional training and study at London University's Institute of Education, of which he is an Associate, and the London School of Economics he joined the British government's Overseas Colonial Service in 1961. He occupied senior administrative posts in Belize including those of District Commissioner, Assistant Secretary, Development and Permanent Secretary. He subsequently joined the Overseas Directorate of the US Peace Corps and was Director of the Belize operation, later returning to his native Jamaica as Deputy Director. He now lives in Belize.

Table of Contents

Origins
• Jamaica: Outpost of Empire
• The Early Years
• To Be or Not to Be: Belize's Uncertain Start
• Getting Acquainted
• Moving On
• World War II - On to Independence
• Slavery and Colonialism
• Peace Corps
• The Farmer
• In Retrospect
• Epilogue
• Commendations
• Bibliography

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