Ready or Not? Global Decolonisation and the Non-Sovereign Caribbean - Grace Carrington

Grace Carrington's current book project focuses on socio-political developments in non-independent Caribbean states, within the context of the wider global history of decolonisation.

School of History – Research Seminar Series

Non-independent territories today account for more than half the states in the Caribbean but regional and global histories of the twentieth century tend to exclude them from narratives of protest and change. However, there is much to be learned about the nature of decolonisation from these seemingly unconventional, non-independent states. Using the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Martinique, and Guadeloupe as case studies, Grace Carrington’s current book project argues that a focus on the processes of decolonisation in these non-sovereign states reveals features common to the global experience of twentieth century decolonisation. This comparative perspective shows how local, regional and global factors, including the Cold War, differing colonial policies, party politics, and protest movements shaped political outcomes in British and French territories.

With Barbados set to remove the Queen as head of state in November 2021, current debates about republicanism and reparations highlight the ongoing process of decolonising the Caribbean. Thus, a comprehensive account of decolonisation must also acknowledge the developments in nonindependent territories. No longer formal colonies, but having not become conventional independent sovereign states, these territories challenge our preconceptions about decolonisation and the so-called postcolonial world.

Dr Grace Carrington is a Research Fellow at the UCL Institute of the Americas and the Department of International Politics at City, University of London. She is a historian of twentieth century politics and decolonisation in the Anglophone and Francophone Caribbean. Grace is currently writing a book about socio-political developments in non-independent Caribbean states, within the context of the wider global history of decolonisation. She is also part of an interdisciplinary research team working on the AHRC-funded Visible Crown project. As part of this project, Grace analyses the relationship between monarchy, republicanism and anticolonialism in political debates across the Caribbean during decolonisation. Grace holds an MA in French and Spanish from the University of Edinburgh, an MSc in Empires, Colonialism and Globalisation from the LSE, and a PhD in International History from the LSE.

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