The Mauritian Paradox: Fifty years of Development, Diversity and Democracy

Ramtohul, Ramola · Eriksen, Thomas Hylland

Apr. 2018 · University of Mauritius Press

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Speaking of Mauritius as an economic miracle has become a cliché, and with good reason: Its development since Independence in 1968 can easily be narrated as a rags-to-riches story. In addition, it is a stable democracy capable of containing the conflict potential inherent in its complex ethnic and religious demography.

This book brings together some of the finest scholarship, domestic as well as foreign, on contemporary Mauritius, offering perspectives from constitutional law, cultural studies, sociology, archaeology, economics, social anthropology and more. While celebrating the indisputable, and impressive, achievements of the Mauritian nation on its fiftieth birthday, this book is far from toothless. Looking back inevitably implies looking ahead, and in order to do so, critical self-scrutiny is essential, to be able to learn from the mistakes of the past.

The contributors raise fundamental questions concerning a broad range of issues, from the dilemmas of multiculturalism to the marginal role of women in public life, from the question of constitutional reform and the continued problem of corruption to the slow destruction of Mauritius’ joy and pride, namely the beauty and purity of its natural scenery. Taking stock of the first fifty years, this book also looks ahead to the next fifty years, giving some cues as to where Mauritius can and should aim in the next decades.

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Ramola Ramtohul is Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Gender Studies at the University of Mauritius. She has published on gender and politics, citizenship, higher education and elite migration in Mauritius. Ramtohul has received research awards from the University of Cape Town, American Association of University Women, University of Cambridge and University of Pretoria and is currently co-editor of Journal of Contemporary African Studies. Thomas Hylland Eriksen is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo. He has done research on Mauritius since the 1980s, and has published books and articles about ethnic relations, national identity and cultural dynamics in Mauritius. Eriksen has also published in a number of other fields, and is a well-known anthropologist.