If you read this blog you know that I’m co-founder and President of PathLight International. Right now the effort of PathLight is focused on the small Central American country of Belize. I’ve written about “Why Belize?” in a previous blog if you are interested.
The Making of Belize, by Anne Sutherland, is a book I read nearly 10-years ago. But I felt it was good enough to read again, and I’m glad I did. The basic idea of the book is that Belize may be the truly first post-modern nation and the first country that has a population that is largely transnational. Looking back over the last 10-years since the book was published, Sutherland’s insights and predictions are largely accurate (with a few glaring exceptions, but that’s understandable).
Sutherland is an anthropologist, so there are sections that are truly insightful about the Belizean society. Of course, she dabbles in politics, religion, and any number of other topics where her insights become more anecdotal than reliable. But overall she does an excellent job of describing Belize as it was in the late 1990’s.
If you are interested in the country of Belize, then this is well worth reading.
