In this academic masterpiece, the authors carefully probe the processes by which social and ethnic problems (competition between Indians and Africans) impact on politics in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, two multi-ethnic societies. Profs Ann Marie Bissessar (Behavioural Sciences) and John Gaffar La Guerre (emeritus, UWI) display their scholarly expertise and skill in examining the mechanics of political power–how the "mechanism of ethnicity" determines "critical outcomes" in the two pluralist societies.
They discuss similarities and differences between the two societies. The book is thoughtfully written and makes several insightful and salient points on ethnicity. It amply discusses and illustrates some of the problems of governance in multi-ethnic states although it is short on solutions.As the authors stated, the study has as its principal objective an examination of the morphology of the race factor in relation to political alignments and realignments in the two plural societies.
The authors demonstrate a profound knowledge and understanding of ethnic concepts and they utilise extensive and copious documentary notes to supplement their analysis. The book is a welcoming addition to the academic literature on endemic political problems associated with ethnic conflict between Indians and Africans in both societies.