Abstract In this article the writer discusses American patterns of shaping public support for policies that are often little understood in their foreign contexts. The writer looks at developments in the Caribbeanregion influenced by U.S. policies upon which most economies and governments depend. The writer maintains that the politics of language in the Caribbean reflect marketing features familiar to most North Americans and that the politics of language also involve a strong American role in shaping all matters of economic planning and development and diplomatic relations. The writer concludes that most Caribbean countries have dual economies of growing gaps and no solution in sight for enlarging under-classes apart from the symbols of the stability orientation in more enforcement development and security, more incarceration or other punishment, all factors manipulated in different ways by American interests.
Outline:
Introduction
Selling to the Caribbean The Caribbean as Sold
The PoliticalLanguage of Stability
The Politics of Language and Caribbean Criminality
Discussion
Conclusion
From the Paper "There is a growing media role in all processes of tourism in the 21st century led by the imperative of selling a particular rendition of The Caribbean as tropical paradise that is in competition with various other paradises of the kind that are in development. Air distances between North America and the Caribbean no longer guarantee simple equations of choosing Nevis over Florida or Antigua over Arizona for air-miles and other incentives make South America, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia more accessible. Obviously, the way in which Caribbean countries are marketed to North Americans and Europeans obscures often severe socioeconomic troubles borne by the poorest classes. Tourism depends on an impression of local happiness and especially indications of the stability that visitors expect when buying what is often a vacation package. Consumers ask about present crime levels in Jamaica in particular aware that the economic slump of the later 1990s has escalated violent drug-related crime."
The paper discusses the drug problems of the people of the Caribbean and the drug trafficking that goes on there. It also deals with the dangers that drug trafficking causes to other countries and their people.
3,650 words (approx. 14.6 pages), 5 sources, 2001, $ 101.95
Abstract This paper is about the drug trafficking problems of the Caribbean. The author examines the Caribbeanregion as a long standing area where illegal substances have been grown and sold. The people are poverty stricken and sell drugs as a means to make money. The author looks into the Caribbean's climate and location which make it an ideal place to grow and sell drugs. The people are able to transport drugs to other countries through the use of planes, boats, etc. The paper goes on to discuss how this poses as a threat to all countries because it makes drugs available which leads to drug problems for their citizens.
From the paper:
"The Caribbean is known for its agriculturally equipped weather conditions, which makes for most islands to be very fertile. Many farmers in the Caribbean grow drugs as part of their produce to earn more money. They can then sell the illegal substances to islanders, tourists, and then ship the rest off to be sold to other countries? citizens. This poses as a threat to the health of all people who are able to buy drugs as a result of drug trafficking in the Caribbean. It also poses a threat to governments because they have to use their funding on programs to educate citizens about the dangers of drugs as well as rehabilitate those citizens that are addicted to drugs and suffer from drug abuse."
Abstract This paper examines the Caribbean culture and at how its dynamic polyglot, diverse nature - and its ability, and even willingness, to accommodate different cultures and ethno-social traditions - has actually made it vulnerable on a number of profound levels. It explains that the Caribbean nations have shown a marked inability to throw off the cultural, linguistic and educational encrustations of the European nations which took over the region generations ago and which re-shaped their new fiefdoms in ways that effectively did away with pre-European values, codes, religions and dialects. The paper also looks at how many Caribbean young people attend English or French schools and prepare themselves for entry into a "global village" that is controlled by the very ethno-racial groups which turned their own lands "upside-down" in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. In essence, the paper shows that by looking at the fragmented nature of the Caribbean world and by looking at the impress of foreign language upon its peoples and formal structures, a region is revealed that has lost much of its ability to marshal its forces against external imperialistic forces. The writer believes that the Caribbean must start doing a better job of privileging its indigenous traditions and dialects or it will finally, ineradicably, lose them forever.
From the Paper "Many observers are of the view that the Caribbean is a melting pot; that it is a place wherein European and non-European types "creolize" and thereby shed their different historical-national identities in favor of one that is "West Indian" in nature. This argument, however, has been vigorously challenged by others who assert that the Caribbean is really a collection of different regions which have their own unique, distinctive features. Simply put, while there may be regional similarities vis-a-vis food, music, dance, dress and a host of other elements, there are many more (or at least as many more) differences as there are similarities (Allahar, p.1-2). Simply put, Allahar appears to be to arguing two things: firstly, West Indian/Caribbean is diverse; secondly, despite this diversity, the region has certain societal features that distinguish it from other regions and which bind together its disparate elements."
Tags:language, education, ethnicity, religions, dialects, West, Indian
Abstract This essay in Caribbean thought is in two parts. The first part is a critical discussion of the "disappearance" of the caste system and the peaceful relations between Muslim and Hindu in Caribbean contexts. The second part of this paper is a critical analysis of the "invisibility" of Indian and south Asian identity in Caribbean theory and discourse
Abstract This essay is a study of the island of Jamaica. It gives an historical overview of its discovery. It details Jamaica's social, political, and economic situation and describes the main factors that effect its situation. This paper also examines the adjacent Caribbean islands and their present day situations. It gives an historical overview of the discovery of the Caribbean and the part the British and Japanese have played in the Caribbean's history.
From the Paper "Early in the sixteenth century, Spaniards landed on, and claimed, the island of Jamaica. Previously inhabited only by Arawak Indians, the island, located along the ocean route connecting the Old World to the New World, soon became a way station for Spanish galleons and a marketplace for slaves and goods from many countries. Along with the Spaniards, it was home to British citizens as well as multinational buccaneers and entrepreneurs.
"According to Daniel J. Seyler, in his contribution to Countries of the World, "Jamaica's story is one of independence that began in the seventeenth century with the Maroons, runaway slaves who resisted the British colonizers by carrying out hit-and run attacks from the interior. Their 7,000 descendants in the Cockpit Country have symbolized the fervent, sometimes belligerent, love of freedom that is ingrained in the Jamaican people as a result of both their British tutelage and their history of slavery. Independence came quietly, however, without a revolutionary struggle, apparently reflecting the lasting imprint of the British parliamentary legacy on Jamaican society" (Seyler 1991)."
This literature essay compares two stories written by Caribbean women authors, and discusses these in relation to women's oral histories and traditions in Caribbean cultural contexts
2,650 words (approx. 10.6 pages), 8 sources, 2002, $ 97.95
Abstract This literature essay compares two stories written by Caribbean women authors, and discusses these in relation to women's oral histories and traditions in Caribbean cultural contexts. Referring to the post-colonial and feminist theory, the author of this paper analyzes women's writing as a reflection of traditions with story-telling, women's "voice," and histories that are particular to women and Caribbean culture.
Abstract This paper attempts to show the errors made in generalizations of Caribbean families. The paper talks about how one Caribbean family is discussed using North American or European models that may not suit Caribbean societies. The paper also points to generalizations that emphasize the lower-class Afro-Caribbean family as somehow typical.
From the Paper "Models of male marginality and female domesticity have to do with ideas of power, sexuality and gender, in different kinds of Caribbean families. The result of different ideals for men and women has been assumed to create a big gender gap in Caribbean cultures. These are said to have shaped the nature of the family quite strongly. In the past, errors have been made in comparing Caribbean families to those in North America or Europe, or by assuming only one or two models of how the Caribbean family might be different. "
Abstract This paper reviews the unique structure of the Caribbean family, as the matrifocal character with "male marginality" often left an impression of "dysfunctional" family. This essay looks at some of the characteristics of this structure and how the matrifocal and male marginality emerged from issues of power, sexuality, gender roles and economic circumstances. This essay examines these factors and explain how each of them affected the current structure of Caribbean family. The Caribbean family has been the focus of extensive research since 1940s. Our understanding of the Caribbean family has improved significantly since these early beginnings.
Abstract The paper looks at two points about Indo-Caribbean people and the Indo-Caribbean culture. The first question discusses the historical, racial, social and cultural implications of the field-song "Oh Maninga." The second looks at two contributions to the study of Indo-Caribbean culture by women, specifically writing and cultural transmission.
From the Paper "The song "Oh Maninga" illustrates a small part of the world of the Indo-Caribbean indentured laborer. The song shows a part of the world that was not frequently seen or discussed in historical literature until recently. Patterns of race and class, gender and culture can be seen in this song. Until the last few decades, people have not been interested in the people who worked in the Caribbean as indentured servants in horrible conditions for little compensation. Part of this is due to the racism inherent in the dominant western culture where those writing the history were not interested in the stories of the poor, especially not the women or otherwise powerless."
Abstract This paper discusses a Caribbean family structure and women's power vis-a-vis men. The paper also discusses matrifocal emphasis observed in many Caribbean families, but also the sway of stereotypes, and as these are constantly disproved in a varied and international Caribbean population.
From the Paper "Historical Challenges to Patriarchy in Caribbean Families. Introduction Patriarchy has been plain the many Caribbean families but historical factors also produce different presentations of masculinity, and a profound matrifocality as varied forces. This paper refers to a variety of sources to introduce the Caribbean family as often different from the so-called nuclear family that once prevailed in North America, or elsewhere in the West, as discussed by Luxton. (1995). One finds great variety in Caribbean families, and also, patterns alluded to that indicate a distinctive Caribbean history."
Abstract In this paper, the cultural contributions given by women in Indo-Caribbean history relate directly to the resistance movements that were part of the slavery and indentured servitude they labored beneath. The writer discusses that the identity of Indian women that worked on the plantations, a remarkably small minority to men in the Caribbean, were not the dainty females that modern historiography might impart, but women able to fight alongside men in times of revolt.
From the Paper "The basis of indentured servitude of the capitalist agenda of the ruling European parties in the Caribbean reflect the general aspects of slave labor that made places, such as Guyana, a racially divided place. The basis of race and historiography can determine why sugar cane cutters in Guyana suffered, as we hear within the song "Oh Maninga", as sung by Neisha Benjamin. These relate the historiographical commonalities that represent the capitalist agenda to conduct low wages and tyrannical ruling by the sugar cane managers."
Abstract This paper explores how the institution of slavery affects the present day outlook of many Caribbean citizens. The experience of colonization and enslavement is considered in terms of Caribbean identity, attitudes, culture and behavior. A review of literature in this field is presented.
From the Paper "The importance of the institution of slavery in the history of the Caribbean region needs little introduction. However, in the present, one finds vestiges of the enslaved, as opposed to the descendants of slaves, in a region where history has a strong influence over identity, attitudes, culture and behaviour. Matters of how colonial societies stamped metropolitan cultures on their members have been fully discussed by Frantz Fanon in the French case. (Black Skins, 1967) Arnold Itwaru has written on how colonial hangovers do continue, encountered by people of Caribbean origin, yet again, in the Canadian setting. (1994) The influence of imperialism is very long."
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that Quebec is unique within English-speaking North America because it is a large, self-contained geographical region that is characterized by a strong, if no longer overwhelming, French-speaking presence and by a culture that is still informed by Roman Catholicism. With this in mind, the writer looks at how the religious and political ties of eighteenth century Quebec (Upper Canada as it was known then) into a distinctive cultural region that remains distinctive even today. In so doing, the paper emphasizes how religion became a means of producing a society that was highly hierarchical even by the standards of its time - and how politics reinforced these unbending class cleavages. The writer explains that to understand why Quebec today is different from its Anglo counterparts, one must understand how religion and politics worked together more than two hundred years ago to create the French Canada of today.
From the Paper "During the seventeenth century and, by all accounts, into the eighteenth century, as well, these religious orders sought to convert the indigenous peoples to the Roman Catholic faith. As an example of just central the Roman Catholic Church would be to eighteenth century French Canada, it is instructive that the priests actually pre-dated the farmers or habitants who would later be charged with trying to make the inhospitable lands of the area yield sustenance fit to maintain a thriving colony. Be that as it may, one should not be left to think that Roman Catholic French Canada in the eighteenth century was entirely under the sway of the Church and its stern injunctions; to wit, while the people of Lower Canada were, by and large, devout and pious, there were never as many priests around as the Church would have liked and creeping secularism was always a threat to the social fabric."
Abstract This research paper discusses poverty in the Caribbean. It discusses causes and cures. It explains the origins of poverty, income inequality, government intervention and future prospects for curing this problem.
From the Paper "The Caribbean Islands include; Anguilla, Antigua, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyanan, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Saba, St. Barthelemy, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, and the U.S Virgin Islands. Some of these islands are playgrounds for the ultra-wealthy and yet poverty exists on almost every one of these island nations."
Tags: poverty, caribbean, causes, effects, changes, government policy, UN role, redistribution of income, unemployment, underemployment, social and cultural change, income inequality
Abstract This paper focuses on the 'physical arts' found in the popular culture of the Caribbean. Specifically, this paper argues that pop culture was and is a form of transgression against external control - specifically European control. Of especial interest, the paper looks at Haiti, for in Haiti - thanks to Aime Cesaire - an appreciation developed for how culture could used as a means of breaking the shackles of European control.
From the Paper "When one assesses popular culture in a Caribbean nation such as Haiti, what becomes apparent is that popular culture is far more than a means of cultural expression; it is, in a very real sense, a tool of defiance - a mode of transgression. This paper will focus upon the use of popular culture throughout the Caribbean as a way of breaking the shackles of European, colonial oppression. In particular, special emphasis will be placed upon Haiti, for this small nation is an especially good example of how a vigorous popular culture can work to ensure freedom and the perpetuation of racial and cultural distinctness."
