{"product_id":"politics-in-an-island-state-diane-austin-broos-9789766409593","title":"Politics in an Island State: Wills O. Isaacs and Jamaica's Struggle for Development","description":"During the\u003cbr\u003edecades of the mid-twentieth century, Wills O. Isaacs was a prominent member of\u003cbr\u003ethe People's National Party. He was then, and remains, one of Jamaica's most\u003cbr\u003econtroversial figures; beloved by many and reviled by some both within and\u003cbr\u003ebeyond his party. Isaacs joined the People's National Party soon after its\u003cbr\u003eofficial launch in 1938. Quickly he became a leading nationalist, and a\u003cbr\u003estrategist within the PNP. Isaacs' early work was in union organization and in\u003cbr\u003ebuilding local constituency groups, including one intended to attract the\u003cbr\u003ecommercial class. Another, formed in downtown Mathews Lane, brought him\u003cbr\u003enotoriety. In later years, Group 69 was sometimes seen as a precursor to\u003cbr\u003eKingston's garrisons and the wars between constituencies allied to one or the other\u003cbr\u003emajor party. Isaacs' first elected position was on the KSAC council where he\u003cbr\u003eserved from 1943 to 1954. Elected to parliament in 1949, he held a Central\u003cbr\u003eKingston seat until 1967. In that year, he was elected to the rural\u003cbr\u003econstituency of St Ann North East and re-elected in 1972. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThroughout\u003cbr\u003ehis career, Isaacs was a nationalist and a social democrat who identified as a\u003cbr\u003esocialist. As a champion of the unemployed and the racially vilified, he\u003cbr\u003econdemned capitalism's social failures. He also condemned the market failures\u003cbr\u003einvolved in cartels and private monopolies. Consequently, he supported some\u003cbr\u003enationalization, especially of Jamaica's central services. Yet, he did not\u003cbr\u003eforeclose on capitalism and looked for a d?tente between classes. His main\u003cbr\u003etarget was totalitarianism, both of the right and the left, and of the various\u003cbr\u003enineteenth and twentieth century imperialisms. Isaacs' nationalist ire was\u003cbr\u003eraised equally by British treatment of African peoples of the trans-Atlantic, \u003cbr\u003eand by the fate of Europeans overwhelmed in turn by Nazi Germany and Stalin's\u003cbr\u003eRussia. He described the path of the PNP as one between \"the red shirts\" and\u003cbr\u003e\"the black shirts\".\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Diane Austin-Broos\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 9766409595\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9789766409593\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of the West Indies Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/26\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 474\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Diane Austin-Broos","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":45981046243583,"sku":"9789766409593","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_ae154873-989f-42a0-88e7-0c4fe32010a3.jpg?v=1722417581","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/politics-in-an-island-state-diane-austin-broos-9789766409593","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}