Publisher's Synopsis
This work offers empirical evidence and theoretical insights into the behaviour of the ethnic factor in the developmental experience of one Third World country, Guyana. The book consists of two parts. Part I traces the evolution of the communal strife underscoring the role of zero-sum aspects of the inherited electoral and parliamentary system as well as the pursuit of private ambition by the new national leaders. In the end, a rigid ethnically bipolar state became a reality eventuating in virtual civil war, the rigging of elections, and the seizing of the state by one of the communally-bound parties. Divided, the state could hardly undertake effective programmes of development. Part II consists of critical reflection and systematic analyses of the ramifications of the Guyana data in relation to the issue of political, economic and social development. The final chapter examines the options available for the resolution of the ethnic strife not only in relation to Guyana but to other multi-ethnic states similarly caught in the vice of communal conflict.
