Borders and Marxist Politics in the Caribbean: An Interview with Earl Bousquet on the Workers Revolutionary Movement in St. Lucia

Abstract

In this interview, Earl Bousquet, a founding member of the Workers Revolutionary Movement (WRM) in St. Lucia, reflects on the period of progressive left activism and Marxist movement building during the 1970s and 1980s in the Caribbean. The interview focuses on his conceptualisation of socialism in the Caribbean, the history of radical politics in the 1970s and reflections on the Grenada Revolution (1979-1983). This historical interrogation was central to laying the foundation for discussing border imperialism in the region. Bousquet describes his first-hand experiences of applying Marxism-Leninism as a political model to the situation of St. Lucia and the wider English-speaking Caribbean and the pitfalls of orthodoxy in attempted carbon-copy application of scientific socialism. He emphasizes the need for Caribbean solidarity among progressives and the constant review of the effectiveness of “creative application” of social and political theory.