Archaeologies of instability: Order and disorder in colonial Barbados

Abstract

Instability can be experienced and observed in myriad forms including the social, economic, political, familial, mental, and environmental. Some forms of instability register in the depths of an individual’s psyche while others are blatantly observable on the physical landscape. Archaeologically, an analysis of the unstable necessitates an approach that operates on multiple scales, from intimate domestic experiences to broader realms of coloniality. This article addresses how “poor white” tenants in Barbados experienced instability on the plantation landscape. As the occupants of peripheral acreage, they coped with an unstable physical environment prone to destructive rockslides. Derided as socioeconomic outcasts on an island defined by sugar and slavery, “poor whites” largely lacked economic stability. Despite colonial efforts to ameliorate “poor white” conditions and impose order, tenantry residents along the island’s east coast developed their own strategies for coping with their precarious circumstances. On the other hand, the presence and actions of the “poor whites” draws attention to the fragile state of the underlying principles of colonial rule that sought to project an air of order and stability.