The history of the Chinese communities in the British West Indies has not garnered much academic interest due to scholars subconsciously viewing such significance as based on population scale, distance from China, and nation-state-centered perspectives. This study aims to present new images of China’s modern history, analyzing the British West Indies’ Chinese community from the 1880s to the 1970s and the diaspora Chinese figures of the community who had a significant impact. Class and transnationalism of overseas Chinese in between multiple empires will be the main discussions in the presentation of this study.

Setsuko Sonoda, PhD (the University of Tokyo, 2007) is a Professor at the College and Graduate School of International Relations of Ritsumeikan University, Japan. Considering historical and sociological studies on Chinese in the Americas as her lifework, she has conducted archival and fieldwork in various places in East Asia and the Americas.