The Parish Behind God's Back: The Changing of Rural Barbados - Softcover

Gmelch, George; Gmelch, Sharon Bohn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1577662091 ISBN 13: 9781577662099

Publisher: Waveland Press Inc., 2001

Synopsis

In the eastern Caribbean the expression "behind God's back" refers to a place that is remote or far away. In this book, the authors look at the changing face of village life in St. Lucy, Barbados' northern and most rural parish. What they find are people whose lives are fully connected to the outside world. One of the first things any visitor to the island notices are youths in baseball caps and T-shirts sporting the names and logos of American teams. Switching on the television, it is easier to find an American sitcom than a Caribbean program. In conversation, it soon becomes apparent that nearly every villager has a relative living overseas and that many have themselves traveled to New York, Toronto, and London. And all Barbadians are aware that the health of their economy depends on decisions made beyond their shores. The Parish Behind God's Back is informed by the authors' research and experiences directing an anthropology field school in Barbados since 1983. The book begins with an introduction to the island and parish, followed by history and macrolevel description of the island economy, before turning to the local scene--patterns of work, gender relations, lifecycle, community, and religion. The perspective then widens to look at the global forces that most directly affect local people's lives--television, tourism, and travel. An appendix describes how North American college students were changed by living in St. Lucy.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

"Beautifully written, this book deals with all the big issues of our time--slavery, colonialism, migration, tourism, and globalization." -- Robin Isserles (City University of New York)

"A sensitively written account of modern rural Barbados . . . that places the local community within historical as well as national and international contexts." -- Jerome S. Handler (Virginia Foundation for the Humanities)

"Besides being lively and well-rounded, The Parish makes strategic use of comparisons to U.S. culture so that students are also learning about themselves. . . . It presents an excellent frame of reference for considering the costs as well as the benefits of modernization, U.S. style." -- Katherine Browne (Colorado State University)

"Provocative. A path-breaking study of a rural parish in which the authors have expertly distilled the essence of Barbadian life." -- Trevor Marshall (University of the West Indies)

" . . . a live tableau of a complete island society, throbbing often with its frustrated hopes and always with a total awareness of its position in time and space." -- John Wickham, former Barbadian senator and columnist for The Nation

From the Back Cover:

"I am impressed with the clear prose and significant issues raised by Gmelch & Gmelch. The concern for history and the transformations from the slave trade to tourism and globalization make for a relevant text in my classes. The appendix--Lessons from the Field--is inspired and opens a productive avenue for my students to evaluate the central method of cultural anthropology." -- Uzi Baram, New College of Florida

About this edition

• Publisher: Waveland Press Inc.
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1577662091
• ISBN 13: 9781577662099
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256