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This is a path-breaking analysis of the practice of international election observation in a Caribbean context which sheds light on the internal processes of democratisation as reflected in the practice of elections. It also enables the reader to understand the motives behind the assistance given by developed countries. Dr. Lisa Vasciannie evaluates the work of the Commonwealth, the Organization of American States, the European Union, CARICOM, and the Carter Center in elections in the Caribbean over a 47-year period. Most of these observer missions have taken place since the 1990s. She points out that international observers are used primarily in "vulnerable, non-powerful developing states", and the use of observers is not a generalised practice in international relations.

Rupert Lewis traces how Garvey's Jamaican formation shaped his life and thought and how he combated the British colonial authorities as well as fought deep-rooted self-doubt and self-rejection among Jamaican black people. Garvey's much neglected political and cultural work at the local level is discussed as part of his project to stimulate self-determination in Africa and its diaspora.

"Richard Hart's constant quest for political autonomy, decolonisation and regional unity has earned him a space in the annals of history as one of Jamaica's leading nationalist figures and as a vital contributor to the Caribbean integration movement. As a key proponent of social, political and economic transformations in the region, Hart fought arduously for trade unionism, political sovereignty and mass-based democratic political parties among other important issues which advanced the lives of Caribbean nationals. Hart's upper middle class upbringing and his status as a lawyer was never a deterrent to his championing the cause of the ordinary man. For his subversive political beliefs and radical stance against colonial powers, he was imprisoned by the British colonial government in the 1940s, expelled by the People's National Party in 1952, and branded a radical by those who deemed his beliefs rogue and detrimental to their interests in the Caribbean. Caribbean Reasonings-Caribbean Political Activism: Essays in Honour of Richard Hart offers some of the best assessment of the work of one of Jamaica's best politicians, activists and historians. Along with the critical reflection of his work, Caribbean Political Activism :Essays in Honour of Richard Hart also shows the struggles the Jamaican and Grenadian societies faced in the post-independence years of the 1970s and 1980s."--Page 4 of cover

This paper engages the U.S.-focused social equity literature and its ahistorical understanding of its pre-1968 intellectual histories. We use racial contract theory to highlight the epistemological necessity of a disciplinary reconsideration. We suggest that intellectual histories bound to an exclusively academic voice negate a fuller understanding of lived realities. By engaging the work of a Jamaican-born activist like Marcus Garvey and his significant inroads into 1910s and 1920s America, we create an updated historical understanding of social equity that challenges the disciplinary script.

AbstractThe social equity concept of American public administration traces its roots to the philosophies of John Rawls, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. We suggest such fixed positionalities limit what is knowable about social equity. This is due to their restricted considerations of America's racialized origins. By introducing Charles Mills' racial contract theory to the public administration discipline, we suggest that the assumed "social contract" at America's origins was racialized, was disconnected from its historical actuality, and was born of exploitation. Racialized epistemological foundations alter how the social equity concept is understood. The implications matter for our disciplinary understanding of social equity and its origins.