"It is not uncommon for scholars and policy makers to assume that small and dependent states must follow the lead of great or middle powers. But is this always the case? Drawing on the increasingly influential Gramscian approach to international relations, this book shows the ways in which marginalized social forces in Jamaica were mobilized against the hegemonic practices emanating from the global political economy. Persaud emphasizes the counter-hegemonic cultural activities of these forces, as well as the attempt of the Jamaican government to form a global "trade union of the poor.""--BOOK JACKET.