Priya Parrotta 
 historian & musician
for the earth

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one region, twelve histories,

centuries of experience in living together

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The Atlantic World continues to live with the burdens of its own past. Patriarchy, colonialism, and the degradation of people and land persist, and they have strained our attempts at living together. The Greater Caribbean in particular, which includes the islands bordering the Caribbean Sea, as well as the coastlines which frame the Atlantic Ocean, has been defined by its encounters with diversity.

 

The history of the Greater Caribbean testifies to the fact that, in unequal societies, the art of coexistence is a strained undertaking. However, through both intellectual and creative efforts, traditions have emerged in the region which decipher the complexities of diversity and injustice, and develop innovative approaches to bridging formidable divides. 

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This book weaves together a dozen such innovations. It explores the ways in which spiritual pluralism, cultural activism, and resilience in the face of complex social and environmental challenges have been born and nurtured on the islands and coastlines of the Greater Caribbean.

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From land politics, to student movements, to women's activism, this book conveys a wide array of stories and perspectives which respond to the region's persistent injustices. Taken together, they present a landscape of coexistence which is as multi-faceted and life-affirming as those who created it.

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The Politics of Coexistence has been cited in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia (2018), as well as in the Annual Bibliography on the Caribbean (General Studies section) of the Journal of Commonwealth Literature (2017). It is held in over one hundred libraries around the world, and has been taught and cited in doctoral courses and dissertations in Caribbean Studies.