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\"When Grameen Bank was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, microfinance was lauded as an important contributor to the economic development of the Global South. However, political scandals, mission-drift, and excessive commercialization have tarnished this example of responsible development. Politicized Microfinance insightfully discusses these negative developments while providing a path towards redemption. In this work, Caroline Shenaz Hossein explores the politics, histories and social prejudices that have shaped the legacy of microfinance in Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad. Writing from a feminist perspective and via individual interviews, focus groups, historical analysis, ethnographic methods and participant observation, Hossein offers multiple solutions that prioritize the needs of marginalized and historically oppressed people of African descent. A must read for scholars of political economy, diasporas studies, women's studies, as well as development practitioners, Hossein deftly argues for microfinance to return to its origins as a political tool, fighting for those living in the margins.\"-- Provided by publisher.

When Grameen Bank was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, microfinance was lauded as an important contributor to the economic development of the Global South. However, political scandals, mission-drift, and excessive commercialization have tarnished this example of responsible or inclusive financial development. Politicized Microfinance insightfully discusses exclusion while providing a path towards redemption. In this work, Caroline Shenaz Hossein explores the politics, histories and social prejudices that have shaped the legacy of microbanking in Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad. Writing from a feminist perspective, Hossein’s analysis is rooted in original qualitative data and offers multiple solutions that prioritize the needs of marginalized and historically oppressed people of African descent. A must read for scholars of political economy, diaspora studies, social economy, women’s studies, as well as development practitioners, Politicized Microfinance convincingly deftly argues for microfinance to return to its origins as a political tool, fighting for those living in the margins.

This study focuses on the making of African bark-cloth in the Caribbean and the use of plant fibers and pigments in the production and care of clothing for members of the colonized population. The material artifact of interest in this study is lace-bark, a form of bark-cloth, obtained from the bark of the lagetto tree found only in Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti. The fibres of the lagetto bark were removed by hand and dried, and the end result resembled fine lace or linen that was used by enslaved and freed women in Jamaica to make clothing as well as a substitute for manufactured lace. Although lace-bark is derived from the bark of a tree, it is different from other forms of bark-cloth. For instance, unlike most bark-cloth, the bark of the lagetto tree was not beaten into malleable cloth. The scientific name for the lace-bark tree is Lagetta lagetto; however, common names and spelling vary across regions. The author argues that a vibrant cottage industry based on African bark-cloth and lace-bark developed in Jamaica in response to economic conditions, and the insufficient clothing enslaved Africans received from their enslavers. Women dominated this industry and it fostered a creative space that allowed them to be expressive in their dress and simultaneously to escape, at least temporarily, the harsh realities of the plantation. The subjects of this study are women of African ancestry living in Jamaica from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century. By the late seventeenth century, a bark industry had developed in Jamaica that was responsible for producing exquisite bark material that was widely popular. The laghetto tree was known in Cuba as the Daguilla, and in Haiti as bois dentelle.

Previous work discussing Black beauty has tended to concentrate on Black women's search for white beauty as a consequence of racialization. Without denying either the continuation of such aesthetics or their enduring power, this book uncovers the cracks in this hegemonic Black beauty. Drawing on detailed ethnographic research amongst British women of Caribbean heritage, this volume pursues a broad discussion of beauty within the Black diaspora contexts of the Caribbean, the UK, the United States and Latin America through different historical periods to the present day. With a unique exploration of beauty, race and identity politics, the author reveals how Black women themselves speak about, negotiate, inhabit, work on and perform Black beauty. As such, it will appeal not only to sociologists, but anyone working in the fields of race, ethnicity and post-colonial thought, feminism and the sociology of the body.

In a time of persistent uncertainty, fragile eco-structures, the politics of populism, and limits in institutional leadership, The Caribbean on the Edge acts as an analytical roadmap to a challenging era of globalization for the countries on the edge of history in the Caribbean, those often at a policy standstill pondering which way and how to turn. Winston Dookeran traces ideas that have evolved in development and diplomacy over the last decade to identify the path for new analytical leadership. The Caribbean on the Edge deeply engages the political issues involved in development, governance, and diplomacy. Examining various schools of thought that influence policy choices, The Caribbean on the Edge discusses new approaches and risk factors that are aligned with the current realities in the region. Above all, this book is about the development of a new mindset that will usher in a radical shift in thinking, policy, and practice in order to unlock the paralysis of a Caribbean on the edge.

The 1960s and 70s were decades of solid growth rates for Latin America and the Caribbean region as a whole. This changed in the 1980s, when the growth rate of output per capita fell to negative values and its volatility increased notably. However, Latin America’s economic growth became positive again in the 1990s, with truly remarkable turnarounds in Argentina, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Peru. This recovery was driven in most cases by large increases in the growth of total factor productivity, reflecting the initial benefits from the process of economic reforms initiated in the 1990s. Economic Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean analyzes whether economic reforms have been beneficial to growth in the region. In doing so, it recognizes that growth is driven by a variety of factors – in some cases poor growth is due to insufficient structural reforms (e.g., low trade openness), in others to inappropriate stabilization policies (e.g., exchange rate overvaluation), and still in others to negative international conditions (e.g., growth slowdown in industrial countries). It is obvious but still correct to say that identifying the problem is the first step towards the solution. This book contributes to this effort by examining the growth performance of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, explaining the underlying sources of their economic growth, and designing a strategy for further growth.

This book brings together authors from different institutions and perspectives and from researchers specialising in different aspects of the experiences of the African Diaspora from Latin America. It creates an overview of the complexities of the lives of Black people over various periods of history, as they struggled to build lives away from Africa in societies that, in general, denied them the basic right of fully belonging, such as the right of fully belonging in the countries where, by ch.

Racism and discrimination are among the factors perpetuating the persistent disparities within the Canadian health sector and related social and community services. Addressing issues of racism in Canada is crucial to reducing the mounting mental health disparities that subsequently impact the psychological well-being of diverse groups of people, particularly racialized and Black individuals. While some research has been conducted on mental illness-related stigma, very few peer-reviewed studies have attempted antistigma interventions to address mental health disparities in Black families and communities in Canada. This study aims to generate critical knowledge to reduce mental health disparities and mental illness stigma experienced by Black families and communities and engage them in cocreating a best-practice model to guide policy and programming. Our study intends to engage individuals living with or affected by mental illness, service providers, and community leaders in Black communities who are interested in stigma reduction activities and advocacy in Ontario, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), including Durham and York Regions, London, Ontario, Brampton, and Ottawa. Informed by population health promotion approaches, critical race theory, and an intersectionality framework underpinned by social justice principles, this mixed methods study will engage individuals of Caribbean and African descent in 5 cities in Ontario. We will use online self-reported surveys with Black individuals (335/431) to assess depression, anxiety, stress, mental health knowledge, racial discrimination, and mental health stigma. We will also engage Black individuals (40/431) and service providers and community leaders (16/431) in focus groups and individual interviews (10/431). Results from the survey and focus groups will inform concept mapping activities with cross-sector leaders, decision makers, and community advocates (30/431) to cocreate a best-practice model to improve mental health outcomes in Black families and communities. Quantitative data will be analyzed using descriptive and inferential analyses through SPSS (IBM Corp). Qualitative data will be transcribed verbatim, and NVivo software (Lumivero) will be used for data management. We will apply Braun and Clarke's framework of 6 phases in thematic analysis. As of September 2024, the study has received ethical approval in Canada. We have completed data collection for phase one of the study and plans are far advanced to start recruitment for phases 2 and 3. Results from the study are expected in the last quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. This project will generate a novelty of knowledge to contribute to effective ways of addressing mental illness stigma and promoting mental health literacy in Black families and communities and other vulnerable populations. In addition, the knowledge gained from this study will be taken back to Black communities to empower affected individuals and their families. DERR1-10.2196/66851.

It is commonly assumed that Caribbean culture is split into elite highbrow culture-which is considered derivative of Europe and not rooted in the Caribbean-and authentic working-class culture, which is often identified with such iconic island activities as salsa, carnival, calypso, and reggae. InCaribbean Middlebrow, Belinda Edmondson recovers a middle ground, a genuine popular culture in the English-speaking Caribbean that stretches back into the nineteenth century. Edmondson shows that popular novels, beauty pageants, and music festivals are examples of Caribbean culture that are mostly created, maintained, and consumed by the Anglophone middle class. Much of middle-class culture, she finds, is further gendered as \"female\": women are more apt to be considered recreational readers of fiction, for example, and women's behavior outside the home is often taken as a measure of their community's respectability. Edmondson also highlights the influence of American popular culture, especially African American popular culture, as early as the nineteenth century. This is counter to the notion that the islands were exclusively under the sway of British tastes and trends. She finds the origins of today's \"dub\" or spoken-word Jamaican poetry in earlier traditions of genteel dialect poetry-as exemplified by the work of the Jamaican folklorist, actress, and poet Louise \"Miss Lou\" Bennett Coverley-and considers the impact of early Caribbean novels, includingEmmanuel Appadocca(1853) andJane's Career(1913).