Decolonization and Neocolonial Politics in British Jamaica

As the reparations struggle in the African diaspora continues to gain traction, it is critical to develop a greater understanding of its history in the Caribbean, which has remained at the forefront of demanding reparations for slavery from the British authorities. The Afro-West Indian Welfare League (AWIWL) was the first organization in the Caribbean to submit a written petition to the British Crown and Parliament for reparations for slavery. It also proposed to merge it with repatriation to Africa and the decolonization of Jamaica. Formed in 1938, the AWIWL viewed itself as derived from the movement started by Marcus Garvey and Amy Ashwood in Jamaica in 1914, but with critical departures from Garveyism to address reparations, repatriation and decolonization to create a stronger defense against neocolonialism. However, the AWIWL encountered Jamaica’s nationalist elite while envisioning an alternative decolonization that departed from the idea of a singular nation-state and the West Indies Federation, viewed by the AWIWL as aiding rather than prohibiting the neocolonialism of the former colonizer, the British imperial government

Colonialism · Decolonization · Diaspora · Nationalism · Neocolonialism · Parliament · Politics · Repatriation · Caribbean history, culture, and politics · Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies · Race, History, and American Society