Name: Shameka Matherson

Course: Caribbean Civilization

Book Report

The book “Stuart Hall” written by Annie Paul is based on the life experiences and

work done by Stuart Hall along with the impact he had on the world. The book belongs to the

Caribbean Biography Series which is published by the University of the West Indies Press.

the series focuses on persons who have made major contribution to Caribbean life through

their work. It contains one hundred and forty-five pages which are divided into eight chapters

that are dedicated to Stuart’s progressions through life and work along with the impact he

created in his journey. The author Annie Paul, lives in Jamaica where she works at the

University of the West Indies Campus as the head of the Publications Section at the Sir

Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies. She is the associate editor of Small

Axe, a journal of cultural and political criticism which was published in Jamaica and the

editor-in-chief of PREE, a digital platform of Caribbean Writing. Stuart Hall was a Jamaica-

born British sociologist, writer and cultural studies pioneer, who was born in Kingston,

Jamaica on February 3, 1932 and died in London on February 10,2014 at age 89. He left

Jamaica by winning the “Rhodes Scholarship” which gave him the opportunity to attend the

Merton College at Oxford University in England to study literature but learnt about culture,

race and pre-colonialism as his interest shifted due to the social and political environment

around him. Hall is known for writing numerous influential articles relating to politics, race,

diaspora, culture and other subjects. He also contributed significantly to the development of

Cultural Studies. In Annie Paul, “Stuart Hall”, Caribbean History and Revisionism plays an

important role in the life, work and impact of Stuart Hall. Caribbean History can be defined

as crucial eras and social issues lived and faced by Caribbean People while Revisionism in
terms of history is the reviewing or re-interpreting of history from a new perspective.

Caribbean History and Revisionism is reflected in Stuart Hall’s life and work in various the

themes through the book. These themes include colonialism, colourism, Caribbean

integration and feminism.

Firstly, the theme colonialism was portrayed heavily in the book. Kohn and Reddy

define colonialism as a practice of domination, which involves the subjugation of one people

to another. Colonialism has been prevalent in the Caribbean for years due to the European

control over the region. This occurred in the Caribbean for so long because it proved to be

quite beneficially to Europe, economically and strategically. The theme of colonialism

occurred throughout the book abundantly. This can be seen in the book where it was stated

that Hall was born in an era where, “Jamaican society was still staggering to its feet from a

history of enslavement and colonial subjugation” (Paul 7). This shown that the effects of

colonialization were still prevalent in the society he grew up hence it would have shaped his

lifestyle and way of thinking. A second piece of evidence is where Paul highlighted that

Jessie Hall, Stuart Hall’s mother was obsessed with her husband and children adhering to the

ritual and protocols of “that are befitted an upper-class Jamaica family aspiring to whitness”

(10). Hall was born to a middle-class family to “mixed parents” meaning of black and white

descent. His mother believed that striving to mimic the behavior and rituals of Europeans was

the way to live and gain success as she viewed Europe has their mother land and saw her

family as having a higher social class than black people. This was one reason why she was so

happy when Stuart got the Rhode Scholarship as She could now be more closely affiliated to

Europe as her son would be studying there (Paul 30). Colonialism was also seen in Hall’s

education as at Jamaica College where he gained a secondary education, curriculum they

followed mimic that which was talk to English students and almost no local content was

taught (Paul 20). This curriculum followed was taught to students who were someday
expected to talk over from the British, allowing the country to continue under colonization

even after the British left. According to Lemonius, during British colonialism in Jamaica, the

system imposed sociocultural and structural constructs on the local people as well as used

oppressive forces such as the development of classism to create division so that they could

remain in control (Lemonius 79). This was visible in Stuart Hall’s earlier years as the

colonial ways was taught to him at home and school. The early teaching of the colonial ways

to Hall showed how the Caribbean History influenced his life as he was experiencing the

issues being faced by the Caribbean people during the colonial period. The theme of

colonialism also shows how revisionism came in to play in his early years. As Hall would

rebel against his mother’s teachings and would try to spend more time his paternal family

home as this side of the family was of black descent hence, he could enjoy the black culture

that was striving in this household, the same culture his mother was desperate to keep her

family from. Colonialism also resulted in Stuart Hall loses his cultural identity as he had to

adapt the way of the British instead of celebrating and appreciating his Jamaica culture. His

rebellion of this colonial way of life is what shaped him in the socialist he became.

The second theme highlighted in Annie Paul’s Book was Colourism. Colourism can

be defined as a form of discrimination based on a person’s skin tone within the same racial

group. It can be said that colourism exist because the social classism and structures which

were forced upon the local people during colonialism. Colourism can be seen throughout the

book as it played a large part in Stuart’s life when he lived in Jamaica. An example of this in

the book is where is stated on how proud Jessie Hall was of her fair complexion as having

light skin was a great prize and it automatically made her higher up the social ladder (Paul 8).

Another section in the book, highlighted how Jessie did not like to visit her in laws as acted

as if she was of a higher class visiting the poor because her skin was lighter (Paul 11). She

felt entitled and did not appreciate the staff who worked for her as she saw herself as superior
as society treated persons with lighter skin with more respect and class. (Paul 11). Colourism

was also seen from Jessie when she refused to let her daughter have a relationship with a med

student because his complexion was too dark hence her daughter was of higher class than him

and could not marry someone of a lower class (Paul 25). Even though her actions her

daughter to have a mental breakdown, Jessie did not care as preserving the light skin tone

within her family was important. The magnitude of colourism during this era can further be

according to an article called “Marrying light’: skin colour, gender and marriage in Jamaica,

c. 1918–1980”, children of African descent were encouraging to marry people of lighter

complexion as it was a way of moving up the social ladder and becoming closer to the

“whites” of society. (Altink 206). With colourism playing a great part in society, Hall was a

part of the privileged group has he had come from a brown family meaning they had some

influence and status in society. This helped him in getting into an influential secondary

school that allow him to win the scholarship to go to England which his were his life work

stated. Being so privileged in Jamaica, when Hall arrived in England, he realized that though

he was considered brown, meaning close to white in Jamaica, in England he was just as black

as everyone else and this cause him to start rethinking about what he had learnt about skin

colour and class. This would play into revisionism as he was now re-evaluating all the social

norms that made him of a higher class in Jamaica. Even today colourism has not change

much in the Caribbean and this is the reason why skin bleaching is so widely done in the

region as it is still believed that the lighter your skin is the more successful and higher on the

social ladder you will be.

The third theme that can be found in Annie Paul’s Stuart Hall is Caribbean

Integration. Caribbean Integration is the process by which two or more Caribbean countries

agree to operate and work together closely in order to achieve stability, peace and wealth. In

the Caribbean today, integration among the island usually occur through the Caribbean
Community or CARICOM. The idea of Caribbean Integration came about with idea that as

one entity the Caribbean countries will finally be economically and politically stable enough

to stand against European powers. The theme of Caribbean integration is portrayed in the

book where in arriving at Merton College, Hall found himself creating friendships with a few

other Jamaican students along some students from Trinidad. (Paul 33). The book also

highlighted that Hall became a part of a group West Indian group known as the West Indian

Society (Paul 33). The society looked forward to the day when each island would be

independent and self-governing. The group created a space where debates were held

regarding the independence and future of the Caribbean and where they dreamed of the

Caribbean becoming a federation of the West Indies Islands (Paul 34). Surrounded by west

Indians who shared the same dream, Hall found himself becoming loyal to the society to

which he was a part of. Along the development of this loyalty, he started to embrace his

identity as a West Indian and not just a Jamaican. This aspect of Caribbean integration is

Hall’s life speaks to revisionism as he had now begun to rethink and reshape his identity as

not only a Jamaican but as a West Indian. This new identity allowed him to better stand up

and stay strong with his fellow West Indians in the journey of integration. Paul stated that in

1958, the Hall’s dream of the West Indies Federation finally came through and their motto

was “to dwell in unity” (39). The failing of the federation affected Hall greatly as his political

allegiance was more to the federated government than to Jamaica but due to the failure his

regionalist tendencies were severed and his urge to return to Jamaica decreased further. This

resulted in Hall focusing more on literature degree which in the future would aid him in being

an excellent writer. In an article by the World Bank, it was said that the Caribbean regions

has a lot of potential for growth, and it would be possible if regional integration could be

established as it would allow cost “sharing and risk pooling which would give rise to more

stability in the region for the small economic” (Chapoy and Bartels-Bland) This was exactly
what Hall and his colleagues had hoped the federation would accomplish before it crumbled.

This theme highlight revisionism as re-evaluated his views to support the greater good for the

region even though the idea failed to accomplish what was expected.

The last theme that was seen in the book was feminism. According to McAfee, the

word feminism came about to describe the politically movement which occurred during a

time when women could not exercise their rights. In the book it was made clear that Hall’s

wife, Catherine was involved in the feminist movement and a strong feminist. Dispute being

married a feminist, Stuart Hall realized that he too had overlooked the struggles that women

faced like his male colleagues. Also, the fact that he worked with a few feminists on the

“Cure for Marriage” Hall was surprised that these issues still got pass him (Paul 95). As the

feminist movement began to grow, Hall began to sympathize more with his sister who felt

obligated to taking care of their parents and brother (Paul 92). He soon realized that it was not

only the colonial teachings that made her feel the need to comply, but it was also because of

gender. Due to his ignorance, Hall decided that he was not competent enough to lead the

Birminghan Center and decided to step down (Paul 93). This led to him staying a job at the

Open University which lead to his pioneering work in sociology. Stuart Hall’s lack of

knowledge and awareness regarding feminine issues could be a result of his growing up in a

man dominated society where women are mostly ignored. It was the increase feminist

activism within the center that he operated that made Hall re-examine himself and realized

that he was not aware of the issues and bias being faced by the opposite gender. This would

show how revisionism played a part as he was able to reevaluate himself and step down from

a position which he could not fully serve. With the feminist movement slowly shattering the

glass ceiling, Stuart Hall began to understand somewhat the reasons behind his sister’s

decision about how she should live her life.

 In my opinion, the book Stuart Hall written by Annie Paul was a well written piece of

literature. She was able to capture the essence of Hall life by highlighting situations and

experiences that lead to him accomplishing his work and life values. I, personally did not

enjoy the book and this might be due to it being my first time reading a biography. The book

however was very beneficial as it highlighted some of the issues which were faced by society

during the period of colonialism. Even though was well written, some bias can be seen by the

author, where she tried to make it seem that Hall was not completely ignorant about feminine

issues as he has work alongside them for a project. I think Annie Paul was trying to excuse

the fact that Hall did not relate much to Feminism even though his wife was a Feminist

because he lived in a man dominated society which benefited him. Overall, the book is a

good read and I would recommend it not only to sociology students but all academic student

to given them an understanding of how the society we live in today came about.

In conclusion, it can be said that Caribbean History and Revisionism has influenced

Hall’s lifestyle and work. This was shown using various themes present in the book. These

shaped Hall’s way of thinking and allowed him to question society and not just accept what

was present to him hence allowing him to become the great academic pioneer he was.
 Reference

Altink, Henrice. “‘Marrying Light’: Skin Colour, Gender and Marriage in Jamaica, C. 1918–

1980.” The History of the Family, vol. 24, no. 3, 5 Mar. 2019, pp. 608–628,

10.1080/1081602x.2019.1582433. Accessed 24 Mar. 2021.

Chapoy, Christelle, and Emily Bartels-Bland. “Caribbean Countries Can Benefit from More

Regional Integration, World Bank Says.” World Bank, 29 Mar. 2017,

www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2017/03/29/caribbean-benefit-regional-

integration-world-bank. Accessed 23 Mar. 2021.

Kohn, Margaret, and Kavita Reddy. “Colonialism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Fall

2017 Edition).” Stanford.edu, 2017, plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2017/entries/colonialism.

Lemonius, Michele. “‘Deviously Ingenious’: British Colonialism in Jamaica.” Peace

Research, vol. 49, no. 2, 2017, pp. 79–103. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44779908.

Accessed 24 Mar. 2021.

McAfee, Noëlle. “Feminist Philosophy.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Metaphysics

Research Lab, Stanford University, 2018,

plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminist-philosophy/#WhatFemi. Accessed 24 Mar. 2020.

Paul, Annie. Stuart Hall. 2020. Kingston, The University of the West Indies Press, 26 June

2020, pp. 6, 100.