Overview

The Portuguese in Business in Guyana 1835-1935: A History of Entrepreneurship, Expansion and Diversification is a groundbreaking study of the entrepreneurship of the Portuguese immigrants in that country. This book examines the entrepreneurial ventures by the Portuguese as well the expansion and diversification into new enterprises. This book chronicles the growth and development of prominent Portuguese-owned businesses in Guyana (then British Guiana) and assesses the impact of the Portuguese merchants on the colony. It's an in-depth documentation of the Portuguese merchant community, new information is presented on the stages of growth of entrepreneurship from the 1830s, female Portuguese entrepreneurs, partnerships, insolvency, successes, naturalization and movement into the politic arena. These are examined in light of the economic challenges of the post-emancipation period and into the 20th century. This body of work is therefore a tremendous contribution to the scholarship on the Portuguese in Guyana and the wider Caribbean. It acts as a revisionist work on the Portuguese immigrants in the 19th century and new information is presented for the 20th century. When paired with the re-examination of the views expressed by previous writers, this book has resulted in what promises to be a new dimension of the business history of Guyana.

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9781738083749

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Reviews

Acclaim for The Portuguese in Business in Guyana 1835-1935""This contribution is substantial. Dr. Joanne Collins-Gonsalves' book advances our knowledge, understanding, and complexity of the Portuguese business experience in British Guiana-its regional and international networks along with its influential engagement with the colony's social and political system. It focused a sharp light on Guyana's crucial post-emancipation century-a century that brought fundamental changes in the colony's social, political, and commercial life. Changes that continue to influence contemporary life in Guyana. Specifically, this work is a substantial and pioneering contribution to Guyanese industrial history. It goes beyond the specifics of Guyana and contributes to the granularity needed in the contemporary discourse about the post-colonial condition in Guyana and the wider Atlantic World. This book met and exceeded the promise."" Professor Vibert Cambridge, Professor Emeritus, Ohio University""It is a work of a rare breadth, Dr. Collins-Gonsalves uses an impressive number of primary sources. She analyses the growth, challenges, actions, struggles and other aspects of the Portuguese business community in urban colonial British Guiana. It is a great continuation to the classic work on the Portuguese of Guyana by Sister Mary Noel Menezes and should be made available to the scholarly community and to anyone interested in the history of Guyana and on wider social, economic and ethnic-racial dynamics in the Caribbean. No book that I know of covers this precise topic."" Professor Cristiana Bastos, University of Lisbon""This focus on Portuguese business and entrepreneurship is a welcome addition to our understanding of the collage which led the creation of modern-day Guyana. It provides a comprehensive and in-depth look at the Portuguese as well as their contributions to the commercial and business sectors and ultimately Guyanese society. Not only are the key factors in their transition from indentured servants to merchants in this critical period in the emergence of modern-day Guyana identified and analyzed, but ethnicity and gender are incorporated into the framework established."" Dr. Heather Cateau, University of the West Indies, St. AugustineDr. Joanne Collins-Gonsalves PhD (History), is a Fellow, Royal Historical Society (UK) and Managing Director of the Historical Research International Inc. (Canada).

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