One Response to “Gordon K. Lewis on Race, Class and Ideology in the Caribbean: A personal note and a cautionary tale, Norman Girvan”

• Cecilia Greene on June 30th, 2012 at 1:12 pm

  Professor Girvan,
  Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention, and, indeed, the attention of the general public. This is really sloppy and careless editing/publishing ““ and it is particularly concerning when there seems to be so much generalized amnesia about the incredible work that you and others did in the 1960s and 70s and beyond. While almost certainly unintentional, this kind of carelessness just feeds into this problem. It is regrettable that relevant programs at Caribbean universities often do not require students to familiarize themselves with that proud legacy, so that, instead, students regularly resort to U.S.-based theories of the neoclassical variety, and even when those theories do not work they choose to tinker with them rather than seek alternatives ““ not having been given the tools for a serious critique of all the neoclassical/neoliberal fluff in the first place. And so much of the new ” radical” thought encourages this idea that the foundational work is now passé or outdated. Caribbean students and students of Caribbean scholarship need to be aware of the classic and enduring status of Professor Girvan”™s piece, Aspects of The Political Economy of Race in the Caribbean and the Americas: A Preliminary Interpretation. This is no way to ensure this awareness. I suspect that Professor Gordon Lewis would turn over in his grave if he thought that his work was being used in any way, shape or form ““ unintentionally or not ““ to diminish yet further the already embattled legacy of indigenous Caribbean scholarship.

  Ian Randle Publishers and the editors of the Lewis volume need to take this more seriously! I say this without prejudice to the fantastic and very commendable work that IRP has done in its own right to bring Caribbean scholarship to published life. I echo your call for them to do the right thing and include a Corrigendum in current issues of the book. This call should be joined by all of us. Quite apart from any legal implications that might be involved, we all owe you this respect and recognition.

  Cecilia A. Green
  Associate Professor
  Department of Sociology
  Syracuse University
  Syracuse, NY 13244