MAURITIUS/TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, 1992: Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean and Mauritius off of Africa are both poly-ethnic island-states with large population segments of Indian origin. Brought to British islands colonies, particularly plantation colonies, during the British colonial indentureship scheme from ca 1840 to ca. 1910, the Indians were in both societies politically marginal until the electoral reforms of the post-war years. There are similarities and differences in the situation of Indians in Trinidad and Mauritius. Thomas Hylland Eriksen, the author of this lengthy and informative article, compares the respective positions of Indians in the two nation-states, paying particular attention to the relationship between the wider socio-cultural contexts of daily life and national politics.
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