Completed shortly before Walter Rodney's assassination in June 1980, A
History of the Guyanese Working People, 1881-1905 provides an original,
well-informed, and perceptive contribution to the historiography of
nineteenth-century Guyanese society. This comprehensive examination
encompasses the history of African and Asian immigration into Guyana,
the interaction of ethnic groups, the impact of British colonialism,
economic and political constraints on the working class, and the social
life of the masses.
Rodney argues that the social evolution of the Guyanese working people
has been guided by specific material constraints and extremely powerful
external focuses from Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America. He
emphasizes the destructive fragmentation of the working class along
ethnic, political, and social lines, encouraged by the legacy of
slavery, postslavery immigration, legal distinctions between various
classes of labor, and the economic bases of the society. in contrast to
the well-defined middle and upper classes, the working people appeared
divided, disorganized, and leaderless. Rodney's account ends in 1905,
when the hardships and frustrations of the masses exploded into
violence.
A History of the Guyanese Working People, 1881-1905 will stand alone
as a landmark study of the profound social upheaval that characterized
Guyanese society in the years following emancipation. Anyone interested
in the problems of underdeveloped nations, labor control, and the
after-effects of colonialism and imperialism will appreciate the
significance of this work.
