Ethnopolitics and Power Sharing in Guyana: History and Discourse

This book on Guyana can serve as a useful guide at large for understanding the problem of governance, democracy and society in ethnically divided countries and how to create a framework aimed at solving the problem. From 1950 to the present Guyana has experienced the worst of ethnically divided societies: ethnic violence, authoritarian rule, democratic exclusion and the general politics of revenge. However, it has also experienced moments of ethic solidarity¿the ore, a 1955 nationalist movement that managed to hold the ethnic groups under the same electoral party, and the 1974-1992 anti-dictatorial movement whose success was premised primarily on ethnic solidarity. Finally, the ethnically segmented societies has created for itself the opportunities for power sharing, which holds out the promise for the success of the approach. "This book is an insightful and learned treatise on the problems of governance in a multi-ethnic state. Hinds delves in detail into the intricacies of communal conflict which bedevils the Third World." ¿Ralph Premdas, Professor of Public Policy, University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago. "David Hinds is on top of the literature about powersharing and applies it sensitively to the Caribbean in general and Guyana in particular. This book makes an excellent contribution to the literature." ¿Selwyn Ryan, Prof Emeritus, University of the West Indies. "This book speaks to the inadequacy of the political models of the plural societies in the Caribbean especially in Guyana and Trinidad. I think this work is timely and would be appreciated by students, scholars, policy makers and the wider public who are seeking constitutional advancement and looking for a solution to address ethnic tension." ¿Rodney Worrell, author of Pan-Africanism in Barbados and co-author with Horace Campbell of Pan-Africanism, Pan-Africanists, and African Liberation in the 21ST Century.