Today, when we think of Thatcherism and the birth of neoliberalism, the new economic order Margaret Thatcher helped install, we think of striking miners, yuppies and riots from Brixton to Toxteth. But Thatcher’s vision for change stretched beyond a domestic project. Too often we think of Thatcherism separately from the global context in which it arose. There is a pre-history to Thatcherism and the wider ideology of neoliberalism, one that takes place in the aftermath of decolonisation in what was once called the British West Indies. With conversations about decolonising our institutions becoming more prominent, it's important to remember that Thatcherism simply wouldn’t have triumphed in the UK without the defeat of another political vision then emerging from what was once among Britain’s most lucrative colonies: Jamaica.
In Britain, the countries we assume have histories that are tightly bound with our own usually include the likes of the USA, Germany or France. But prior to independence, the island of Jamaica had been under British control for nearly 300 years. The Kingdom of England gained the island of Jamaica as part of the 1670 Treaty of Madrid, over three decades before the Act of Union would create the modern British state, making Jamaica part of Britain from its very inception.
Today, the island is one of the most popular destinations for Britons holidaying outside Europe, with almost a quarter of a million British nationals visiting every year. Yet, its history remains largely unknown, even among the people who go there to enjoy luxury cruises or five-star beach resorts. Holiday companies sell Jamaica to Britons as being a distant, tropical paradise, not a country whose political and economic fate has been intimately connected to our own for centuries.
