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At the 41st Sir Winston Scott Memorial Lecture, former Barbados scholar and current Rhodes Professor of Imperial History at King's College, London, Dr. Richard Drayton, addressed a capacity audience at the Frank Collymore Hall. Speaking on the topic, "The Time of Sovereignty: the History of Political Independence and its Future", Drayton weaved back and forth through history to show not only Barbados' progress since the pre-Independence era, but also how the legacy of colonialism still impacts the island and its people 50 years after Independence.
Highlights from Dr. Drayton's presentation
On the meaning of Independence:
“Independence is not a date, but a process and a project of self-emancipation, for which democratic command of the state was the means, but not the end.”
On the legacy of colonialism:
“Many of our citizens, despite having the right to vote and even to sit in parliament, or serve in the Civil Service, have no sense of ownership, or of a duty of care towards the land and sea, the state, or the law.”
On the 2007-2009 financial crisis:
“But the blow of the global economic crisis of the 2007-9 created a very sticky wicket for the economic batsman, and they have had to play continual crisis management in unprecedentedly difficult global conditions.”
On the limitations of being a small open economy:
“Finance Ministers have tended to discover that they have no magic powers.”