Neocolonialism in Jamaica: History, practices, and resistance
“The imposition of structural adjustment programs in the Third World since the 1970s has been characterized as a war against the poor, a process of [neo] recolonization” (Turner, 1994: 37). This statement is particularly applicable to the country of Jamaica. The island has been susceptible to a variety of neocolonial acts including the presence of multinational corporations, structural adjustment programs, and loan organizations that have sucked Jamaica’s economy dry. This neocolonial presence has devastated the population in more ways than one. It is apparent that neocolonialism has had and continues to have a large impact on society as a whole in Jamaica. This
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Profound development began in 1660 when, after a five-year struggle against the Spanish crown, the British won power. There was a significant rise in population under British control. Their system allowed the colony to prosper as they gave new European settlers land to cultivate sugar cane and cocoa. “The European planter has been described as a machine for making money” (Waters, 1985: 22). The purpose of this colonial economic system was to provide raw materials and goods for the Mother Country. In addition, a general consumer market was developed to send wealth to Europe and allow for capital accumulation, all for the benefit of the colonizers.
Slavery represents an important part of Jamaican history and the cultivated dominant atmosphere. For one, plantations highly depended on slave labor to maximize profit margins. Between 1655 and 1808 one million slaves were forcefully brought to Jamaica (Waters, 1985: 21-23). Persaud (2001: 72) suggests, “the plantation system, the totality of institutional arrangements surrounding the production and marketing of plantation crops, has seriously affected society in Jamaica”. In other words, the slave mode of production was a crucial factor in the establishment of Jamaica’s structural society. “Jamaica’s class structure today reflects its history as a colonial plantation society and its beginnings of industrial development
Like many other aspects of the Jamaican way of life, colonialism has shaped the way the media in Jamaica functions, but the country has managed to maintain large elements of its culture.
1. The main contours of English Colonization in the 17th century were Protestant motives to strike Catholicism, along with solving England’s social crisis. With the rumors of the Spanish Empire’s atrocities reaching England, one motive to colonize the America’s was to strike the Catholics, and save the natives from captivity (Foner 51). This shows an interesting aspect of the English Colonization: the English allowed their people to go colonize just to strike the opposing religious country. Along with this, England sending emigrants over solved their social crisis. Because of England’s growing population and economy, the amount of peasants in cities grew. This is because of landlords using land for sheep, which kicked out peasants from their land (Foner 51-52). England hoped that some people of the lower classes would then go to America: to be out of the big cities where important people were, while still helping England in it’s economy.
The Spanish and New England Colonies from 1492 to 1700 were significantly similar in terms of the economic base in which the colony was set upon. People may say that the two colonies were different because with the Spanish colonies, it was about conquering as much land as possible and sending the gold and silver that was found in the New World back to Spain, while the Puritans of the New England colony had no economic ties to their home country. The similarity in the two colonies comes after the Puritans had the conversion from “God to Cod” where the community wanted to have less religion and more of an economic based system where the colonists could make money in the trade businesses such as furs, artisans, fishing, and in the shipment process. Another similarity is that both of the colonies wanted to make as much money as possible in order to become a bigger, more successful colony. Both colonies ended up shipping world wide through their mother country along with other colonies under the control of the mother country. The similarity occurred because both colonies ended up sending money or goods back to their mother country. In addition, another similarity occurred when both of the colonies used agriculture to achieve the economic aspects. With the New England had tobacco and the Spanish colonies had the sugar plantations in the West Indies. The similarity occurred because both colonies found out that big money could be made on the cash crops that were wanted around the world.
“Many went in hopes of creating a profitable agricultural economy,” (Page 17.) The goal for the Spanish and English when colonizing new land was to increase and grow their economy whether it was agricultural or trading with others around. The economic development of the English was unsuccessful in finding valuable metals, gold, and silver luckily, they were successful in agricultural and trading. On other the side the Spanish were determined to find gold and silver which they succeed, they didn't do much trading, agriculture which lead them to waste wealth easily. The economic decisions the Spanish and English made throughout colonization affected their economic development.
From the mid seventeenth century to the late eighteenth century, the English colonies in the Chesapeake Bay area and in Barbados experienced a fluctuating level of prosperity, the wealthy inevitably dominating the economic scene. These colonies, while ultimately different in their methods of success, possessed the same goal of continuous prosperity and their existence allowed England to ascend to the rank of world power.
Early 1600s would be the beginning of our colonial advancement as england decided to start sending people to the budding colonies. As King James sent peasants, annoyances, other religions, prisoners, and nobles to create the colonies. The english government had heavy involvement as it was needed to support the colonies and it sent a constant supply of ships coming in to deliver provisions and materials. At the time there were around 3 main colonies and in all of them there was a strong binding loyalty to England.
My story takes place in Montego Bay, Jamaica the time is at midnight. It is a very beautiful island. It is south of the Caribbean island Cuba. The island has nice, quiet beaches. The food is very good and spicy. They have goats walking on the streets of the island. It also is the third largest island in the Caribbean it has pretty blue mountains and the people are really nice. Jamaica is a very pretty tropical island. The houses on the island are nice and pretty on top of the mountains. It has nice sunshine in the morning and afternoon and they have nice rain forests too. You feel a good cold breeze on the sandy beaches on the island if you walk closer to the blue water coming up on your legs and feet. Jamaica has a rich island culture.
The economic affairs of the 16th to 17th century England – a period where England experienced extreme population growth – encouraged the migration of more than half of the English population west across the Atlantic . In addition to its population’s growth, England was amid a civil war and a revolution during 1642-1660, that consequently propagated waves of political and economic refugees, finding their way to the Caribbean, to escape from the nation’s civil conflicts . Taking note of the ways in which dominant European powers – Portugal and Spain – conducted forms of active exploration and exploitation of the New World. Distinctly, for the reasons of, accumulation of land, wealth, and political power through means of exploiting its colonies resources. Virtually, England sought to mimic the Spanish economic success in their own Caribbean exploits. In contrast to the ways in which the Spanish pursued their own economic goals. The English economic success, relied on private companies to carry out commercial and colonial efforts . To emphasize, this meant that private men and companies secured the right from the crown to claim and settle islands in the Caribbean. Notably, these private men and companies’ advantageous socio-economic status, consequently began to formulate the make-up of the social stratification in the English colonies. Where social stratification refers to the persistent patterns of social inequalities within a society. Essentially, the colonies operated on
In a quaint little village tucked away on a beautiful Caribbean island, lays the seaside town of Runaway bay. A town filled with deep rooted culture on an island filled with welcoming natives. The pleasant vibes of reggae music and Rastafarian culture flow from the hills to the sandy shores. This island rich with tropical fruits and spices is located in the heart of the Greater Antilles. History tells that the enslaved island once known to its natives as “Xaymeca”, has come a long way in becoming the independent nation known today as Jamaica. In the Sea of many islands known as the West Indies, Jamaica stands peaceful, welcoming tourist and expanding rapidly. From an early age my passion for the island and its culture
Jamaica is a tropical island, located in the heart of the Caribbean Sea. Around the coastlines are beautiful beaches with crystal clear blue-green water. In some respects, this is the majority of what people know about Jamaica. In this orientation text you will better understand Jamaica’s history, the people who live there, the many different religions, geography, and governments that have ruled the land.
Situated in the context of Jamaica’s colonial past, Black provides a meaningful foundation for the discourse of debt and development in Jamaica. In so doing, she asks her audience—most likely intended for young and well-off U.S. citizens—to think critically about tourism in developing countries and the effects of U.S. international involvement. Throughout this expose of exploitative U.S. involvement, Black highlights the resilience of those suffering from IMF reforms. The film uses juxtaposition to blames the IMF for the deteriorating situation in Jamaica. In one scene, Black shows the U.S. hypocrisy of forcing Jamaican to lower tariffs while flooding their market with highly subsidized powdered milk. Subsequently, Black cuts to an interview with a representative from the IMF who continues to justice these policies despite realities on the ground. Moreover, the film questions the Western assumption that its current economic model is the best. To be sure, the U.S. has not always pursued a global integrated economic platform. For many years, the U.S. was highly isolationist as it industrialized and built up national
Columbus discovered Jamaica on May 5, 1494, one year after he heard of the existence of the island. However, the true history of Jamaica begins with the African-Jamaican people who came to the island twenty years after the English took control from the Spaniards. The history of Jamaica can be broken up into different time periods, which were defined by watershed moments or events. Jamaican history begins with the establishment of the native islanders called the Tainos who inhabited the island for hundreds of years before the discoveries of Columbus. (JNHT 1)
Colonialism has been viewed and interpreted from multiple perspectives. Both the coloniser and the colonised are said to have benefitted therefrom. While on the one hand it is considered abject exploitation by the coloniser to fill his coffers, on the other, the routine by-products of colonisation were of absolute benefit to the colonised. The four century long period of colonisation that gripped the world is one of the most oft debated and scrutinized periods of human history. In the period beginning sixteenth century AD, trade and commerce through the sea route became a means of expanding markets in many countries. Great Britain, France, Belgium and Portugal were amongst the pioneers in taking their wares to countries far away, like Africa and Asia. One early form of colonialism that was thrust upon the colonised country was economic exploitation.
The book entitled “Beyond Massa - Sugar Management in British Caribbean, 1770-1834”, was written by Dr. John F. Campbell, a lecturer of History at the University of the West Indies (Trinidad). The book provides a revisionist perspective of managerial strategies used on the sugar plantations and outlines how important the relationship between the enslaved and the plantation managers are, to maximize production. Sugar was depicted as the main source of commodity during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the book focuses mainly on the Golden Grove planation, in Jamaica to highlight this. This plantation was owned by an absentee owner Chaloner Arcedekne, however, it was managed by his close friend, Simon Taylor. Dr. Campbell narrows
With the arrival of the 1980’s, Jamaica saw accelerating inflation, falling output, a severe foreign exchange crisis, and political and social tensions.