Negotiating Relief and Freedom: Responses to Disaster in the British Caribbean, 1812-1907

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Negotiating relief and freedom is an investigation of short- and long-term responses to disaster in the British Caribbean colonies during the 'long' nineteenth century.

It explores how colonial environmental degradation made their inhabitants both more vulnerable to and expanded the impact of natural phenomena such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. It shows that British approaches to disaster 'relief' prioritised colonial control and 'fiscal prudence' ahead of the relief of the relief of suffering. In turn, that this pattern played out continuously in the long nineteenth century is a reminder that in the Caribbean the transition from slavery to waged labour was not a clean one. Times of crisis brought racial and social tensions to the fore and freedoms once granted, were often quickly curtailed.

Reviews

Negotiating relief and freedom provides a thorough and rich study. Webber introduces a more profound concern with the political, economic, and social dimensions of rebuilding society in the wake of disaster.
Rasmus Christensen, New West Indian Guide

Author Bio

Oscar Webber has been previously temporarily employed at the University of Leeds, The London School of Economics and has held a research fellowship at the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of London