The Impact of the Cold War on the Caribbean

Introduction

The discourse of this paper is guided by the desire to see people within the region educate themselves about the events in history which ultimately impacted and led to the formation of trade unions and political parties. Many people in the region today do not know or even appreciate the labour movement history and how it has shaped the political, economic and social landscape in the Caribbean. The information acquired from this research could also be used in educational programmes to educate people of the region about the impact of the Cold War (Leftist Ideology) on our Labour Movement and Political Parties as we know them today. It is from this back drop that reference must be made of the historical background of this paper would try to look at some of the events in the British Caribbean from the 1800’s to the first half of the 1900’s. Of specific interest emphasis would be placed on the events which took place during the Cold War era in countries like Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana and Grenada.

Research Questions

This research report seeks to answer the following research questions:

1. What conditions existed within the Caribbean contributed to the adoption of the Leftist Ideology during the Cold War era?

2. What were the effects of the Leftist ideology to the political movement and Labour Movement within the Caribbean?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Study Design

A qualitative approach was adopted for this research paper. The qualitative research approach is one which “systematically gathers information about a particular person, social setting, event, or group (i.e. a case) to permit the researcher to effectively understand how it operates or functions” (Saunders et. al. 2007 ). To be more specific, a narrative research design which is a qualitative research tool was adapted for this study. The narrative research design is used primarily to highlight “experiences as expressed in lived and told stories of individuals” (Saunders et....