Envisioning the Future using the Dreams of the Past

Abstract

In this paper, the connection between the ways in which history in the Caribbean is written and understood, and between revolutionary move- ments and thought today in the Anglophone Caribbean, are explored. It is argued that it is not possible to achieve a decolonized Caribbe- an, a necessary condition for the inclusive development of the region, when histories of revolution and development remain thoroughly steeped in colonial biases and imbalances of power. Through examining the colonial context of knowledge production and consumption while also acknowledging that the past is often used as a model for the future, it is concluded that a focus on writing decolonized histories is essential to imagining a decolonized future in the Caribbean.

Keywords

• decolonization in the caribbean
• historiography
• decolonization historiography
• decolonizing development
• caribbean historiography