Caribbean Charisma: Reflections on Leadership, Legitimacy and Populist Politics

xvi, 264 pp. This original approach to understanding the nature of political leadership in the Caribbean analyzes the successes of seven Caribbean statesmen dating from the early days of decolonization. In a climate charged with a sense of national euphoria at the prospect of liberation from colonial tutelage, these leaders - Errol Barrow (Barbados), Fidel Castro (Cuba), Maurice Bishop and Eric Gairy (Grenada), Forbes Burnham and Cheddi Jagan (Guyana), Michael Manley (Jamaica), and Eric Williams (Trinidad) - seized the moment to varying degrees and in their own unique styles. This often involved the skillful manipulation of socially and politically constructed identities, which in turn conditioned populist, nationalist, class, and even racial appeals in galvanizing support.