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David A. Vivian, Visiting Assistant Professor of French Language and Culture, Soka University of America

The colonial legacy lurking beneath economic unrest in the French Caribbean

Martinique Caribbean France Guadeloupe United States
Members of the French union CGT Martinique perform a go-slow protest on the ring road leading to the airport in Fort-de-France, on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, on Oct. 15, 2024. Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images)

For weeks, the French Caribbean island of Martinique has been the site of at-times violent protests over high living costs and worsening economic conditions. And Martinique isn’t alone; in the neighboring French island of Guadeloupe, striking workers stormed the control room of a power station on Oct. 26, 2024, causing a blackout that led to a government-imposed curfew.

Media coverage of the unrest has often focused narrowly on the immediate economic causes. But there is a much longer backstory to the protests, one that takes into account social and political inequality and the lasting legacy of colonialism in the French Caribbean.

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