IR3084
Cultivating Empire: Plantations, Liberation and Ecology in the (Post)colonial Caribbean
2025-2026
30
15
SCQF level 9
2
Academic year(s): 2025-2026
SCOTCAT credits : 30
ECTS credits : 15
Level : SCQF level 9
Semester: 2
Planned timetable:
The Caribbean is central to understanding world politics. It is often understood through perspectives developed in and through knowledge holders in colonial centres. This module will turn to Caribbean thinkers who have written extensively about their region’s struggles against centuries of colonialism, imperialism and capitalism, and about its attempts to mould coherent societies from the divided plantation economies that remained after independence. It will connect these histories to the international community’s current state of climate precarity. Students will examine how Caribbean thinkers and leaders navigated empire, fought for liberation and confronted the ecological and economic systems that shape their fortunes. The module will, first, chart a history of Caribbean thought. It will then examine how the region’s development trajectories overlap and connect with those in Latin America, other parts of the 'Third World', and colonial centres in Europe.
Pre-requisite(s): Before taking this module you must pass IR2006
Weekly contact: A 2h seminar (x11 weeks)
Scheduled learning hours: 22
Guided independent study hours: 270
As used by St Andrews: Coursework = 100%
As defined by QAA
Coursework: 100%
Re-assessment: Examination = 100%
Module coordinator: Dr Y A Collins
Module teaching staff: Dr Ariadne Collins
Module coordinator email yac1@st-andrews.ac.uk