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Social Science General

Order and Place in a Colonial City

Patterns of Struggle and Resistance in Georgetown, British Guiana,1889-1924

by (author) Juanita De Barros

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Initial publish date
Feb 2003
Category
General, Cultural, South America
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780773524552
    Publish Date
    Feb 2003
    List Price
    $125.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780773570696
    Publish Date
    Feb 2003
    List Price
    $110.00

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Description

The elites saw the city's markets and streets as dirty, filled with dangerous non-white crowds. The poor saw these public places as sites of play and livelihood. De Barros shows how these opposing views set the stage for a series of petty disputes and large-scale riots. The "little traditions" of Georgetown's multi-racial and multi-ethnic urban poor helped create a creole view of public spaces, articulated in the course of struggle. By uncovering the popular cultural patterns that underlay much of this unrest, De Barros demonstrates both their place within a larger West Indian cultural paradigm and the emergence of a peculiarly Guianese ritual of protest.

About the author

Western Michigan University

Juanita De Barros' profile page

Editorial Reviews

"Order and Place in a Colonial City makes a valuable contribution to an understanding of a place often allowed to slip into the margins of both Caribbean and Latin American history. It is based on very thorough research in the relevant archives and libraries, particularly the repositories in Guyana, and as a result offers access to a great deal of original material of considerable interest to scholars in a range of fields." Barry Higman, History Program, Australian National University