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<p>This dissertation examines how the crisis of World War I impacted imperial policy and popular claims-making in the British Caribbean. Between 1915 and 1918, tens of thousands of men from the British Caribbean volunteered to fight in World War I and nearly 16,000 men, hailing from every British colony in the region, served in the newly formed British West Indies Regiment (BWIR). Rousing appeals to imperial patriotism and manly duty during the wartime recruitment campaigns and postwar commemoration movement linked the British Empire, civilization, and Christianity while simultaneously promoting new roles for women vis-à-vis the colonial state. In Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, the two colonies that contributed over seventy-five percent of the British Caribbean troops, discussions about the meaning of the war for black, coloured, white, East Indian, and Chinese residents sparked heated debates about the relationship among race, gender, and imperial loyalty. </p><p>To explore these debates, this dissertation foregrounds the social, cultural, and political practices of BWIR soldiers, tracing their engagements with colonial authorities, military officials, and West Indian civilians throughout the war years. It begins by reassessing the origins of the BWIR, and then analyzes the regional campaign to recruit West Indian men for military service. Travelling with newly enlisted volunteers across the Atlantic, this study then chronicles soldiers' multi-sited campaign for equal status, pay, and standing in the British imperial armed forces. It closes by offering new perspectives on the dramatic postwar protests by BWIR soldiers in Italy in 1918 and British Honduras and Trinidad in 1919, and reflects on the trajectory of veterans' activism in the postwar era. </p><p>This study argues that the racism and discrimination soldiers experienced overseas fueled heightened claims-making in the postwar era. In the aftermath of the war, veterans mobilized collectively to garner financial support and social recognition from colonial officials. Rather than withdrawing their allegiance from the empire, ex-servicemen and civilians invoked notions of mutual obligation to argue that British officials owed a debt to West Indians for their wartime sacrifices. This study reveals the continued salience of imperial patriotism, even as veterans and their civilian allies invoked nested local, regional, and diasporic loyalties as well. In doing so, it contributes to the literature on the origins of patriotism in the colonial Caribbean, while providing a historical case study for contemporary debates about "hegemonic dissolution" and popular mobilization in the region. </p><p>This dissertation draws upon a wide range of written and visual sources, including archival materials, war recruitment posters, newspapers, oral histories, photographs, and memoirs. In addition to Colonial Office records and military files, it incorporates previously untapped letters and petitions from the Jamaica Archives, National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados Department of Archives, and US National Archives.</p> / Dissertation

This document is directed toward those who have little knowledge about Trinidad, its people, the Carnival activities, and the Panorama competition. This research work should help summarize the evolution of steel drums while providing a transcription of a Panorama score for further scholarly study. The first part of this lecture document includes a brief history and evolution of Trinidad, its people, and musical developments through Carnival. The second portion reports and discusses field research with the Trintoc Invaders in preparation for the 1989 and 1990 Panorama competitions. The third part is a detailed analysis of Ray Holman's Panorama arrangement of "Life's Too Short" for the Trintoc Invaders using theme and variation as the formal structure. Information for this lecture recital document was gathered from written sources in Trinidadian libraries and field work in the Trintoc Invader's pan yard. The source materials: newspaper articles, magazine articles, and books were gathered from the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine and from the West Indian Collection of the Central Library in Belmont. In addition to these materials, interviews were conducted with some older panmen who participated in the very first steel bands. Documents, such as lists of steel bands in Trinidad and Tobago, Panorama results, and judging procedures were obtained from the Pan Trinbago headquarters in Port-of-Spain. Musical information was gathered by rehearsing and playing tenor pan with the Invaders Steel Band Orchestra located in Woodbrook and working closely with their arranger and composer, Ray Holman. Permission was granted to notate his arrangement for analysis and all rights are reserved.

The cacao swollen shoot disease of Theobroma cacao L. (cacao) is caused by Cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV; genus, Badnavirus, family, Caulimoviridae). The virus is endemic to West Africa, where it poses a serious threat to cocoa production. Despite efforts to control CSSV spread by replacement of infected trees with tolerant cultivars and mealybug vector management, the disease is widespread in West Africa. In Trinidad, leaf mosaic and vein-banding symptoms have been observed in cacao plants in the field since the 1940s, and recently at the International Cocoa Genebank (ICGT), a custodian of cacao germplasm resources. The strains A and B of the suspect Cacao Trinidad virus (CTV) caused the symptoms, and were thought to be related to CSSV, however, viral causality was not demonstrated, until now. To develop molecular detection methods for CSSV in infected plants, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of eight regions of the CSSV genome was implemented. The PCR results showed variable amplification frequencies of 19 - 42% at each region, for 124 isolates collected in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. Pairwise nucleotide (nt) analyses of the eight regions showed 66-99% shared identities, indicating that CSSV isolates exhibit extensive variability with respect to primer design. The results provided preliminary evidence for the existence of a CSSV complex consisting of four divergent species. The full length genome of 14 CSSV isolates from cacao determined using the Illumina HiSeq platform showed 70-99% shared nt identities. The pairwise nt identities placed CSSV sequences into a group of four distinct species, one of which represented a previously undescribed species. Moreover, the full-length genomes grouped phylogenetically with other badnaviruses and revealed two CSSV subclades with three types of genome arrangements; four, five or six open reading frames (ORFs). Predicted functional protein domains were conserved on each ORF. Two distinct, full-length genome sequences were determined using the Illumina HiSeq platform, from DNA isolated from cacao leaves exhibiting distinct symptoms in Trinidad. The sequences were validated by PCR-amplification and sequencing of overlapping viral genome fragments. Pairwise nt analysis indicated that each genome shared 52-62% nt identities with CSSV and other badnaviruses, suggesting that the two are distinct species. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the two sequences are not strains of the same virus, as supposed, but they represent two previously undescribed species in the genus, Badnavirus, and they have been named Cacao mild mosaic virus (CaMMV) and Cacao yellow-vein-banding virus (CYVBV). Despite sharing the same host and causing similar symptoms in cacao, CSSV, CaMMV, and CYVBV are phylogenetically-distinct species. The discovery of a CSSV species complex and the identification of three new cacao-infecting badnavirus species will support the development of molecular detection tools using the partial and complete genome sequences determined in this study. The ability to develop validated molecular tools for the detection of CSSV and related viruses, CaMMV and CYVBV, in cacao will aid quarantine efforts and safe movement of germplasm from the ICGT in Trinidad to cacao-growing countries, worldwide. Also, molecular diagnostics tools are expected to be useful in efforts underway to develop CSSV-resistant planting material for countries in West Africa, which are currently experiencing continued or new disease outbreaks.

This study is about informal institutions in informal finance and microfinance in Jamaica and Trinidad-Tobago. Informal institutions as understood in this study are unwritten social norms that cater to specific needs in the society, and can be indirectly captured and measured in their outcome. Informal institutions are deeply embedded in the socio-cultural matrix of a society. In the context of informal finance and microfinance, the outcome of the existence of informal institutions are the indigenous financial intermediaries like Roscas, community based lending, and individual financial brokers. The institutional theoretical framework of this study helps capture the institutional dynamics and the processes in informal finance and microfinance. The theoretical framework demonstrates the following: (1) Informal institutions exist in both informal finance and formal microfinance. (2) It exposes the interface between the financial intermediaries and the informal institutions that govern informal finance and microfinance through certain mechanisms like ‘joint liability’ and ‘social collateral’, which reduce information asymmetries and transactions costs. An implication is that informal institutions address the crucial issue of ‘moral hazards’. (3) The same informal institutions governing informal finance are being adapted and innovated by microfinance. Lending methodologies of informal finance are becoming embedded in microfinance. (4) Microfinance organizations are being transformed into formal financial intermediaries, thereby exposing the process by which informal institutions are also being formalized. (5) An empirical investigation of peoples’ needs, preference and benefits provides the evidence as to why they subscribe to informal institutions via the various financial intermediaries. The findings of this study provide some interesting insights: Firstly, models of financial services based on indigenous institutions have better chances of surviving than imported models. Secondly, informal institutions compete, coexist and even complement formal institutions in providing financial services to the economically active poor. Thirdly, microfinance has not just bridged the gap between formal and the informal finance; it is also becoming a catalyst through which informal institutions are slowly being formalized. Lastly, the client base’s needs, preferences and benefits account for the pervasiveness of informal institutions in informal finance and in microfinance.

Trinidad's history is both multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. Contemporary Trinidad society reflects this history; and many ethnicities and cultures can be found within Trinidadian culture. However, advertising media, I have found, usually does not reflect the total ethnic composition of Trinidad. Instead, a 'Brown', racially ambiguous, face is used as a brand ambassador. Viewing this phenomenon through the lens of women in media imagery, this work sought to investigate this phenomenon further.

Water quality and availability are important issues in many developing countries where portions of populations still lack access to potable water. Throughout the English-speaking Caribbean and parts of Latin America, households and businesses invest in water supply systems even when they are connected to and pay for water services from a private or state owned provider. Inconsistent supplies of water from the water companies have led many people to invest in storage tanks which, if operated correctly, can provide water throughout the day even when the supply from the main is low or zero. While these individual systems help to guarantee a more constant supply of water, they may impact water quality when it does reach the household tap. The tanks could become breeding grounds for vectors of human disease and may also affect the concentrations of bacteria, heavy metals and organics in the water. The goal of this research was to understand how households use water storage tanks and determine the effect of these tanks and the individual practices on water quality. Target plots were used to visualize linkages between water quality parameters and household surveys of localized water practices and perception on water quality. The study focused on three field sites: Siparia, Trinidad and Tobago, Region 4 Subset in Guyana, and Villa Litoral, Bolivia. Convenience sampling was used to administer surveys to households in the rural areas of Siparia (39), Region 4 Subset (40), and Villa Litoral (57). The Region 4 Subset is comprised of two rural areas, Mon Repos and Mocha, and Georgetown, the country's capital. Black, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) tanks and water storage drums are predominantly used in the field sites within Siparia and Region 4 Subset, while cement tanks, drums, and jerry cans are used in Villa Litoral. The average age of household water storage devices was 4-10 years in Siparia and Region 4 Subset, and 0- 3 years in Villa Litoral. These devices were found on various elevations to accommodate piped connection, indoor pumping, and rainwater catchment. Cleaning frequency of tanks in Siparia was every few months, while in Region 4 Subset it varied from weekly to every few months. In Villa Litoral 26.3% of the population surveyed cleaned weekly and 38.6% cleaned annually. Disinfection of water sources was practiced by 30% of residents in Siparia and 60% of residents in the Region 4 Subset. While disinfection was practiced, issues with frequency and correct dosage led to inadequate disinfection. Eighty-four percent of households in Siparia and 50% of households in Region 4 Subset disinfected on a monthly or quarterly basis. Of the households that did disinfect, the bleach and/or disinfectant used was allowed to mix for at least 30 minutes in 50% of households in Siparia and 91.6% of households in the Region 4 Subset. Disinfection was not practiced by the majority of households in Villa Litoral. With regards to health, 15% of households in Region 4 Subset and 40.4% in Villa Litoral reported recent waterborne illnesses among house members. Water samples were taken from households in Siparia (24), Region 4 Subset (40), and Villa Litoral (26). The majority of households in all three communities relied on piped water from their respective main pump. Those who were not connected to piped water relied on rain water. In the Region 4 Subset, 18% of samples tested positive for fecal coliform and 45% for total coliform. In Villa Litoral, 85% of samples tested positive for fecal coliform and 100% for total coliform. The majority of samples from all three communities exceeded the WHO guideline values for lead (0.01 mg/L) and iron (0.3 mg/L). This was most likely due to the material used in the household plumbing and distribution pipe infrastructure as these could leach. Five indicators (chemical and biological water quality, reach of risk, storage device, female involvement, and household belief) were conveniently projected on target plots to link the results from water quality assessments with reported household practices and beliefs. The greatest risk factors seen were poor water quality and household beliefs like the security of water storage containers and safety of stored water, perceived water description and pressure, and access to water safety media.

My reading of the figure of Adele, a woman with dementia, in David Chariandy’s novel Soucouyant: A Novel of Forgetting (2007), brings Giorgio Agamben’s biopolitical concept of “bare life” together with the notion of the subject in diaspora to theorize a new mentality that I call “bare mind.” The notion of “bare mind” addresses how cognitive imperialism creates a biopolitical state of exception both under forms of sovereign power and within a liberal regime of multicultural governmentality, while acknowledging the ways in which dementia, portrayed as the ‘forgetting’ of dominant knowledge regimes, reveals resistance to cognitive imperialism. / Graduate / 0352 / rebekah.ludolph@gmail.com

Academisch Proefschrift--Universiteit van Amsterdam, 2007. / Publication of book was made possible by a grant from WOTRO (Science for Global Development) of the NWO (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research) and AMIDSt (Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan and International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 279-298).

The main aim of this study was to discover and analyse the language attitudes of young Trinitarians between 15 – 24 years old who still live in Trinidad, the Beni area (Bolivia) towards the threatened minority language Moxo Trinitarian. Language attitudes are of importance because they can give us an idea of the present situation of a minority language. The method applied in the survey was direct, where the informants had to answer a written questionnaire first followed by an interview. We used the Likert scale as an instrument to measure the informants’ attitudes. The results of the study show positive attitudes towards the Moxo language. The main conclusions of the study were that the informants, in general, showed positive attitudes towards Moxo, indicating that the main use of the language is mostly in the privacy of their homes and with friends or to share secrets in front of them who are not Moxo Trinitarian speakers.