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

'Wilson's analysis demonstrates how in the permanency of scarce benefits and spoils, negative ethnicity endures as the best tool of the political elite. It is well argued, thoroughly documented, and helpfully comparative. It should be the last stop for anyone who wants to understand the politics of small states.'

Raymond Muhula, World Bank

'This is an original and significant book. It makes important contributions to the disciplines of political science, sociology, history, and anthropology, adding to and updating the scant literature on the politics of small states, specifically our knowledge of contemporary politics in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and the Fiji Islands. This book provides a riveting study of how elites and electorates manipulate ethnicity in pursuit of scarce benefits and spoils, and poses new questions and new paradigms for future comparative work.'

Marilyn Lashley, Howard University

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.