In Ryan Cecil Jobson’s contribution to the “Race & Capitalism” series, histories of colonialism, enslavement, and indentured labor in Guyana provide a key frame for understanding current perceptions and complex politics of its oil boom. Jobson chronicles past alliances and divisions among Guyana’s workers along racial lines, and argues that the infusion of oil revenue may exacerbate current racial tensions while principally enriching multinational capital to the detriment of most Guyanese.
