Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez - Decolonial Perspectives on Entangled Inequalities

Decolonial Perspectives on Entangled Inequalities

Europe and the Caribbean

Edited by
Encarnacin Gutirrez Rodrguez and Rhoda Reddock

To Kari Polanyi Levitt

European by birth, Canadian by citizenship and residence, Kari Polanyi Levitt experienced Trinidad and Tobago and by extension the Caribbean as her cultural and ideological home. Her career and intellectual contribution has been uniquely international and at the same time decolonial. Her intellectual contribution to the field of economics of development centred on the critique of the persistent coloniality of the global economy, a fitting example of which were Caribbean plantation economies. Her love for the culture and people of Trinidad and Tobago has been a driving force behind her advocacy for meaningful national, social and economic transformation for over five decades.

We were honoured that Kari could join one of our workshop sessions in Trinidad and Tobago in 2018. In many ways her spirit has guided us in this EuropeanCaribbean collaboration, that is, this book. With humility and love, we dedicate this volume to her.

CONTENTS

Encarnacin Gutirrez Rodrguez and Rhoda Reddock

Kari Polanyi Levitt

Rhoda Reddock

Encarnacin Gutirrez Rodrguez

Andreas Langenohl

Norbert Ebert

Dylan Kerrigan

Shelene Gomes and Scott Timcke

Sue-Ann Barratt

Shirley Anne Tate

Andreea Racle

Marah Theuerl

Tyehimba Salandy

Sebastian Garbe

Lisa Doppler

We would like to thank the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Office) for enabling the intellectual exchange between the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Justus Liebig University (JLU), Giessen, Germany. Without their generous support, this book would not be a reality.

Two consecutive workshops organized at JLU and UWI fostered our inspiring discussions. We would like to thank the administrative and academic teams at each university. At JLU, Manuela Schmidt for her support and cordiality; Ceren Trkmen for her conceptual and organizational skills in creating an environment for discussion; Sebastian Garbe for his support throughout and in the last editing stage of this volume, which has been of inestimable value; and Andreea Racle for her continuous support. A big thanks goes also to the student assistants at JLU Sultan Aksoy, Taemoor Cheema, Hayat Sheekhosman, Daniel Heinz and Johann Erdmann for supporting the workshop in Giessen and the last steps of the editing process. We are also grateful to iek Tanl and Daniel Heinz for their support with the Research Network Queer, Decolonial Feminisms and Cultural Transformations (QDFCT) at Giessen and the International Academic Exchange Office at JLU, particularly Julia Voss and Sigrid Jost for their institutional support and Ansgar Nnning from the JLU Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC) for his opening remarks at the JLU workshop. Further thanks go to Barbara Dralle of the JLU International Office, Encarnacin Gutirrez Rodrguez, Andreas Langenohl, Reimer Gronemeyer and all the JLU colleagues for their support in enabling Rhoda Reddocks DAAD-funded Visiting Professorship at JLU in winter 201819 and Encarnacin Gutirrez Rodrguez for making her stay an enjoyable one.

At the UWI, we would like to thank colleagues who were part of this exchange as well as members of the workshop planning committee: Maarit Ford, Dylan Kerrigan, Sue Ann Barratt, the staff of the Office of the Deputy Principal, Gabrielle Hosein of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, Jessica Byron of the Institute of International Relations and Keisha Serrette of the Campus Housing Office. Special thanks go to John Ramnanan of the UWI Bursarys Project Office for his unfailing support and facilitation. Without the support of research assistant Tori Sinanan and her parents, the JLU teams stay at UWI would not have had the smoothness and success that it did. We would also like to thank Ari for taking care of us. Very big thanks also go to Rhoda Reddock and Dean Arlen for their wonderful planning and hospitality in making sure that the JLU team experienced the marvellous corners of Trinidad.

Thank you, Gerard Holden, for your meticulous editing support in getting the chapters into shape. We are very honoured and grateful for Dean Arlens front-cover design Entanglements created especially for this volume. An immense thank you to Shirley Anne Tate for linking JLU with UWI.

Finally, to the many others whose names are not included here our deepest appreciation goes out to you.

Encarnacin Gutirrez Rodrguez and Rhoda Reddock

The chapters in this volume represent the output of a transnational collaboration between Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany, and the University of the West Indies,

These questions were discussed in the course of two workshops, which took place in Giessen and St. Augustine during 201718. In both workshops, social science scholars, in particular from anthropology, sociology and gender studies, participated and contributed to the establishment of a CaribbeanEuropean Research Network on Local Entanglements of Global Inequalities (CELEGI). Accordingly, this volume sets out to understand the local face of the legacies and effects of the global historical and contemporary processes shaping economic and political disparities. The volume proposes an analysis of these processes by revealing local specificities, but also common global traits. Before we present the chapters in more detail, we will engage with the methodological and theoretical framing of this volume.

Global Entangled Inequalities: A Methodological Perspective

The methodological focus of entanglement

In Trinidad and Tobago, by analysing them through the prism of global dynamics of social, political and economic inequalities.

EuropeanCaribbean Decolonial Dialogues and Beyond

When we deal with research on global inequalities, against inequality.

The question why the Global South

Engaging with broader debates on imperialist rent (Amin , 136) of these Caribbean economists: The guiding line of their research was independent thought and Caribbean freedom. Independent thought requires border thinking for the simple reason that it cannot be achieved within the categories of Western thoughts and experiences.