DOCSLIB.ORG

Speech, Orientation, and Gender

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Speech, Orientation, and Gender A University of Sussex DPhil thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details Gender, Faith, and Storytelling: An Ethnography of the Charismatic Internet Anna Rose Stewart Doctoral Thesis for the Department of Anthropology: School of Global Studies University of Sussex September, 2012 Statement of Original Work I, Anna Stewart, affirm that the work contained herein is original and my own. I hereby declare that this thesis has been and will not be submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signed Anna R. Stewart UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX ANNA ROSE STEWART, DOCTORAL THESIS GENDER, FAITH, AND STORYTELLING: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE CHARISMATIC INTERNET SUMMARY Although early predictions that an emerging ‘cyberspace’ could exist in separation from offline life have been largely discarded, anthropological studies of the internet have continued to find notions of ‘virtual reality’ relevant as individuals use these technologies to fulfil the “pledges they have already made” (Boellstorff, 2008; Miller & Slater, 2001: 19) about their own selfhood and their place in the world. There are parallels between this concept of ‘virtual reality’ and the on-going spiritual labour of Charismatic Christians in the UK, who seek in the context of a secularising nation to maintain a sense of presence in the “coming Kingdom” of God. The everyday production of this expanded spiritual context depends to a large extend on verbal genres that are highly gendered. For women, declarations of faith are often tied to domestic settings, personal narratives, and the unspoken testimony of daily life (e.g. Lawless, 1988; Griffith, 1997). The technologies of the internet, whose emerging genres challenge boundaries between personal and social, public and private, can cast a greater illumination on this inward-focused labour. This doctoral thesis is based on ethnographic research in four Charismatic Evangelical congregations and examination of the online practices of churchgoers. I have found that the use of the internet by Charismatic Christian women fits with wider religious preoccupations and patterns of ritual practice. Words posted through Facebook, blogs, Twitter, and other online platforms come to resemble in their form as well as their content Christian narratives of a life with meaning. v Acknowledgements The past several years have been in no way stress-free, but I can at least say that they have been enjoyable. There are many people that I need to thank for this. This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council whose generous support is very gratefully acknowledged. The Christian friends and acquaintances that I met through this work proved to be excellent company and always cared how I was doing on a level that was more fundamental than my fieldnotes. I am grateful to them for this, and for the extraordinary lengths gone to to ensure that I felt welcome whenever I arrived at any gathering and free to participate to any extent that I would feel comfortable. I would like to thank in particular the five women whose stories I focus on in the later chapters of this thesis. All of them took the time out of their lives to speak with me, in some cases at great length over several meetings, about the content of their blogs and their Christian lives. I realise that most of my informants would hope that any newcomer to their church would find the same welcome, help, and hospitality that I enjoyed. Still, one of the luxuries of writing this thesis is that I get to take this time to acknowledge acts of kindness that are no less remarkable for all that they are routine. Thank you. Also notable for their routine kindnesses are my supervisors, Simon Coleman and Jon Mitchell. Both have read, thought about, and commented on many tens of thousands of words on my behalf. I don’t know how any of this could even have been thought about vi without Simon’s frankly mystifying reserves of knowledge, time, and energy, and his generosity with all three. I’ve also been extremely fortunate to have the benefit of Jon’s clear thinking and understanding guiding my work. A great deal of the shape and sense that follows came out of discussion with him. By helping me manage this sprawling task Simon and Jon have made everything outside of it easier, and I am so grateful to them both. Friends in the department of anthropology and School of Global Studies have shared with me their own thoughts on the experiences of graduate school and fieldwork as we went through them. Special thanks goes to my students in The Anthropological Imagination and my colleagues Evi Chatzipanagiotidou , Martin Webb, Maya Unnithan and Dimitris Dalakoglou. Teaching for the first time was a really rewarding experience thanks to their guidance and good humour. Before I started this work I attended university in Southampton. Carol Davis, Nick Rayner, and Jeff Vass encouraged me to pursue doctoral study. I remain enormously grateful for their infectious enthusiasm for anthropology and for their support. My parents, Nora and Malcolm Stewart consider interest in the world to be of spiritual value, and spiritual life to be endlessly interesting. There is of course a lot of them about this. Patricia and Roger Pearce had already overwhelmed me with their welcome years before I started here. I am so glad to be part of their family too. vii My siblings, an already large group that has been extended through love and marriage, are easily my favourite people to be around, and continue to provide a constant source of late nights and laughter. I’m extremely lucky to have a family that are such good friends. THKR guys. Thanks also to my nephew Theo for helping me to secure the tent against Sheep Man and Heart Frog. Ben Pecover has been a really fantastic friend over the past five years. Since his move to America his thoughtfulness and superlative company are very much missed, I look forward to seeing him over there. More recently, Nicola Rickwood has reminded me that Saturday morning really is the best time of the week. Two holidays with Melinda Gibson and Charlie Blightman provided a break that felt like coming home. And of course the final thank you is for Dave Pearce. A doctorate, in my experience, is a long instruction in the lesson that we rarely get things right the first time. I’m fortunate beyond words to have in my life a daily reminder that sometimes, miraculously, we do. This thesis is dedicated with love to my mother, who provides her own sunshine, and to Dave, who makes everything light. Contents A Note on Translation 1 Introduction 2 Charismatic Christianity 4 Speaking Women 12 Structure of the Thesis 17 Chapter 1: Maps and Methods 21 The Charismatic Field 21 Studying the Christian Internet 24 Strange Campaigns 28 Shoreline Church 37 Emmanuel Evangelical Church 39 Living Grace 41 Jubilee Church 42 Circulation 45 Reception 49 Chapter 2: Speech, Orientation, and gender 55 Introduction 55 Practice and Field: An Evening at Alpha 56 Making the Inside 59 The External Voice 63 Gendered Terrains 68 Men of the World: Preaching 72 Words from the Heart: Women’s Teaching 80 Fields of Distinction 87 Chapter 3: Writing Self Online 91 Introduction 91 Continuous Selves: Katie 93 Blossoming Faith 97 Textual Orientation 100 Leah and Justify 104 Uncertain Positions 109 Coherence 112 Chapter 4: Moments of Presence 116 Introduction 116 Fran 118 Patricia 123 The Lonely Walk 127 The Flesh Made Word 132 Embodiment 141 Chapter 5: Restoring the Self 145 Introduction 145 Identity in Christ 146 Gabby 148 The Heart 153 Proximity and Distance 158 The Narrative and the Network 163 Narrative 168 Conclusion: Having Meaning 171 Introduction 171 The Life of Meaning 173 Coherence 179 Embodiment 183 Narrative Circulation 190 Gender, Faith, and Storytelling 205 Glossary 209 Christian terms 209 Internet terms 216 References 219 1 A Note on Translation In this thesis I present an ethnographic account of internet use among Christians living in the UK. A peculiar task for the English-speaking ethnographer in this context is to translate words that the non-Christian would recognise from standard English into the shifted lexicons of Christianity. Christians themselves are acutely aware of the confusion and alienation that their unfamiliar dialect can cause for non-Christian and newly Christian listeners, and seek to minimise what is often termed “Christianese” in proselytising encounters and the public ritual of preaching. It should also be noted that the use of terms such as “worship” or “Grace” may shift depending on the context of the speech and particularly on the particular stream of Christianity in which it is used. Words may therefore not retain the same meanings from church to church, and will certainly shift depending on wider contextual factors. These terms are, however, widely used in general conversation among members of the churches I have visited and have relatively stable meanings. Throughout this thesis I have rendered these words in italics, and their ‘native’ meanings are elaborated in more detail in the glossary (pp. 186-193). Unless specified, all Biblical references are taken from the New International Version of the Bible, the translation that is most widely used by members of the churches in this study.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Particulars of Claim in the Supreme Court Of
    PARTICULARS OF CLAIM IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE OF JAMAICA IN CIVIL DIVISION CLAIM NO. 2010 H. C. V. BETWEEN HAROLD BRADY CLAIMANT A N D HONOURABLE BRUCE GOLDING DEFENDANT 1. The Claimant is and was at all material times an Attorney-at-law and the Senior Partner with the law firm Brady & Company in the jurisdiction. 2. The Defendant is and was at all material times the Prime Minister of Jamaica and Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party. 3. The Claimant was called to the Jamaica Bar in 1979 and for over 30 years he has been one of Jamaica’s most eminent and established Attorneys-at-law. The Claimant started his legal career as an Associate in the law firm Dunn, Cox and Orrett, after which he left to start his own firm – Brady & Company- and from that time until now, the Claimant has been senior partner of this distinguished law firm. The Claimant has also been a devout and dedicated member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) for many years and a member of that organizations highest decision making body outside of its Annual Conference, the Central Executive from 1993 and remains so to this day. The Claimant also represented the JLP as its candidate in the Constituency of South East St. Andrew in the 2003 and 2007 General Elections. Page 2 of 9 4. The Claimant has had a long and distinguished legal career characterised by excellence, social responsibility and service to the citizens of Jamaica. As an Attorney-at-law and a senior member of the JLP, the Claimant has established contacts within the legal, business, social and political circles of Jamaica and internationally and was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1990 and a member of the Law Society, and a member of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association.
    [Show full text]
  • Non-State Actors in Jamaican Economic Policy
    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2011 Non-state Actors In Jamaican Economic Policy Matthew W. Jarrett University of Central Florida Part of the International Relations Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Jarrett, Matthew W., "Non-state Actors In Jamaican Economic Policy" (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 1749. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/1749 NON-STATE ACTORS IN JAMAICAN ECONOMIC POLICY by MATTHEW W. JARRETT B.A. Florida Atlantic University, 2009 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Political Science in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2011 ©2011 Matthew W Jarrett ii ABSTRACT The relevance in understanding local dynamics or political culture is that as Neuman has pointed out, many traditional theories have not taken them into account and have thus failed in explaining political occurrences in the lesser developed world. For example as she has stated, “domestic factors” have not been considered into “systems theories”. (Neuman, 1995, p.16) On this basis, it is necessary to point out these local factors, and furthermore, the role of non-state actors within the realm of internal dynamics, since international relations theory also aims to understand the formation and motivation behind economic policy.
    [Show full text]
  • French Elections: Workers Win Big Victory -Pages 2, 7
    MAY 22, 1981 75 CENTS VOLUME 45/NUMBER 19 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY/PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE FRENCH ELECTIONS: WORKERS WIN BIG VICTORY -PAGES 2, 7 '· The plan Solidarity to slash with miners' strike workers' wages -PAGE 5 -PAGE 4 Black party leaders denounce FBI disruption -PAGE 12 In Our Opinion VOLUME .45/NUMBER 19 MAY 22, 1981 CLOSING NEWS DATE-MAY 13 United States, and around the world will be work force and an incredibly expensive substi­ U.S. workers & encouraged by this victory, which shows it is tute for personal retirement savings." possible for the workers to throw out right­ This reflects the bosses' mentality in a French elections wing capitalist governments. nutshell. As long as we produce profits for The May 10 election of Fran~;ois Mitterrand Mitterrand's election will give encourage­ them, they recognize that it is unfortunately as president of France is a victory for working ment to workers and peasants in the colonial necessary to provide us with some kind of people. and semi-colonial world, too. The French So­ wage-as long as we don't win "excessive" The Socialist Party candidate defeated in­ cialist Party is a member of the Socialist Increases. cumbent President Valery Giscard d'Estaing International, which opposes the brutal junta If we can't work any more, however, they by 52 to 48 percent. in El Salvador. Mitterrand is a member of the think we should be thrown on the scrap heap The French franc immediately plummeted. Committee for the Defense of the Revolution in like· a used-up machine.
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc.Jamaica: Forty Years of Independence
    Revista Mexicana del Caribe ISSN: 1405-2962 [email protected] Universidad de Quintana Roo México Mcnish, Vilma Jamaica: Forty years of independence Revista Mexicana del Caribe, vol. VII, núm. 13, 2002, pp. 181-210 Universidad de Quintana Roo Chetumal, México Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=12801307 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative 190/VILMAMCNISH INTRODUCTION ortyyearsagoonAugust6,1962Jamaicabecamean F independentandsovereignnationaftermorethan300 hundredyearsofcolonialismundertheBritishEmpire.Inthein- ternationalcontext,Jamaicaisarelativelyyoungcountry.Indeed, incontrasttothecountriesinLatinAmerica,Jamaicaandthe othercountriesoftheEnglish-speakingCaribbean,allformercolo- niesofGreatBritain,onlybecameindependentinthesecondhalf ofthe20thcentury.UnliketheirSpanish-speakingneighboursthere- fore,noneoftheseterritorieshadthedistinctionofbeingfound- ingmembersofeithertheUnitedNationsorthehemispheric bodytheOrganisationofAmericanStates. Thepurposeofmypresentationistopresentanoverview,a perspectiveofthepolitical,economicandculturaldevelopment ofJamaicaoverthesefortyyears.Butbeforedoingso,Ithinkit isimportanttoprovideahistoricalcontexttomodernJamaica. SoIwillstartwithabriefhistoryofJamaica,tracingthetrajec- toryofconquest,settlementandcolonisationtoemancipation, independenceandnationhood.
    [Show full text]
  • Research Commons at The
    http://waikato.researchgateway.ac.nz/ Research Commons at the University of Waikato Copyright Statement: The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the thesis. WHEN CITIZEN POLITICS BECOMES UNCIVIL: Between Popular Protest, Civil Society and Governance in Jamaica. BY HUME NICOLA JOHNSON Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications, University of the West Indies, Jamaica Master of Science in Government, University of the West Indies, Jamaica A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE & PUBLIC POLICY THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO NEW ZEALAND DECEMBER 2006 ‘Hungry men and women have a right to call attention to their condition and to ask of people fulfilment of promises made to them so as long as they do so without using violence’. Rt. Excellent, Sir Alexander Bustamante, Trade Unionist, National Hero, and first Premier of Jamaica, 1938. ii Abstract _________________________________________ This thesis focuses on the problem of incivility within the domains of citizen politics and civil society by exploring the proclivity for popular protest in Jamaica and the intersections between popular citizen protest, civil society and governance in this context.
    [Show full text]
  • Democracy in the Caribbean a Cause for Concern
    DEMOCRACY IN THE CARIBBEAN A CAUSE FOR CONCERN Douglas Payne April 7, 1995 Policy Papers on the Americas Democracy in the Caribbean A Cause for Concern Douglas W. Payne Policy Papers on the Americas Volume VI Study 3 April 7, 1995 CSIS Americas Program The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), founded in 1962, is an independent, tax-exempt, public policy research institution based in Washington, DC. The mission of CSIS is to advance the understanding of emerging world issues in the areas of international economics, politics, security, and business. It does so by providing a strategic perspective to decision makers that is integrative in nature, international in scope, anticipatory in timing, and bipartisan in approach. The Center's commitment is to serve the common interests and values of the United States and other countries around the world that support representative government and the rule of law. * * * CSIS, as a public policy research institution, does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this report should be understood to be solely those of the authors. © 1995 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. This study was prepared under the aegis of the CSIS Policy Papers on the Americas series. Comments are welcome and should be directed to: Joyce Hoebing CSIS Americas Program 1800 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 Phone: (202) 775-3180 Fax: (202) 775-3199 Contents Preface .....................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Ideology and Educational Aims: the Case of Jamaica By
    IDEOLOGY AND EDUCATIONAL AIMS: THE CASE OF JAMAICA BY Joseph A. Walker, Ph.D. College of the Bahamas Oakes Field Campus ABSTRACT This research is basically a descriptive Predicated partly on-this criticism of the study. Its purpose was to determine the prevailing education in Jamaica, and extent to which the aims and policies of partly on a firm commitment to ~ social­ education under the Jamaica Labour Party istic ideology of economic and educational (J.L.P.) differed from the aims and policies organization, the Manley government (the of education under the People's National People's National Party) on the advent of Party (P.N.P.). It was anticipated that, its reascension to political power in 1972, given the differing self-proclaimed ideolog­ asserted its intent to seek political, ical cleavages of the J.L.P. (capitalism) economic, and educational development and the P.N.P. (socialism), there would be through socialistic means. The Jamaica marked differences in their educational Labour Party, its predecessor, on its aims. The analysis revealed, however, that ascension to political power in 1962, had, if there .were ideological difference, these in contrast, chosen to seek political, were not easily detected from the rhetoric economic, and educational development of their educational aims. The differences largely through capitalistic means. observed were largely in terms of emphasis and in the particular means and priorities The purpose of this paper, therefore, is designed to achieve their statt;d obj ectives. to examine the impact of these political decisions on the educational system of INTRODUCTION Jamaica from 1960 to 1980.
    [Show full text]
  • Einaudi Serials Inventory
    Einaudi Serials Inventory Title Volume/No. Year Pais Notes 1 1999 Index of Economic Freedom 1999 2 4 Años de Revolución Perú 3 7 Días del Perú y del mundo 1976 4 A Descriptive List of Research Papers and Theses 1954 5 A Foreign Affairs Budget for the Future 2008 The American Academy of Diplomacy 6 A Guide to the American Bicentennial from 1975 Encyclopedia Britanica-Two Hundred Years of Liberty 7 A Lot to do: A Report Card on Education in Central 2007 America and the Dominican Republic 8 A Mandate for Leadership Project Issues 2000 2000 9 A Plan for Fully Funding the Recommendations of 1987 The National Bipartisan Commission on Central America 10 A Rand Note 1983-1985 11 A Report by Managing Global Insecurity 2008 12 A Report on a Survey in Ecuador on Standardization 1972 and Measurement services in support of industrialization goals 13 A Short History of Kingston Part 1 1976 14 Academia Las palomas de San Jerónimo XIII Festival 15 Adventure and Hope: Christians and the Crisis in 1983 Central America 16 AEI Foreign Policy and Defense Review 1985 17 AFFARI ESTERI Revista Trimestrale 1973 18 Agreement Between the United States of America 1974 and Peru 19 Alexis de Tocqueville Institution Cuban in Transition 1999 20 Alianza Centroamericana para el Desarrollo 1998 Sostenible 21 Alternatives for Canal Administration 1987 22 Amazonia - Photography Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars 23 America in the 1970's 1970 24 America Latina 3 1975 25 American Opinion - The Matter of Felipe Pazos, Peril Vol.V, No.6 1962 An Informal Review in Mexico 26 American Public Opinion and U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • In Contemporary Jamaica There Are Two Major Political Parties
    Rex McKenzie The Party & The Garrison Aug 2005 Introduction This work is intended to be a scholarly contribution in the area of Caribbean Political Economy. It is premised on the notion that the peculiar history of Jamaica, the slave plantation origin through to the colonial, neocolonial and post colonial forms of economic organization tend to the formation and reproduction of the total institution as a system of social organization.1 RT Smith in the original application of the Goffman concept of the total institution to plantation society describes it as a bureaucratically organized system in which blocks of people are treated as units and are marched through a set of regimented activities under the close surveillance of a small supervisory staff. 2 With regard to the social system and the corresponding social relations causality is assumed to flow from the political system and the political culture. In the post independence period (after 1962) patron-client relations between the state, its institutions and sections of the urban poor emerge as the defining social relationships of the social system as a whole. But these relationships are rooted in the history of the island with the relationship between the plantation owner (or his representative) and the slave exhibiting similar pronounced patron-client features. In my formulation the post independence emergence of the garrison constituency is construed as part of the historical imperative toward culturally familiar total institution forms of social management. Figueroa 1 The idea of the total institutions comes from Goffman’s 1960’s work on Asylums. In it small socially recognizable groups drive a larger group in through the production process in a very regimented and differentiated manner.
    [Show full text]
  • The Transnationalization of Garrisons in the Case of Jamaica Michelle Angela Munroe M Munroe [email protected]
    Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 11-13-2013 The aD rk Side of Globalization: The Transnationalization of Garrisons in the Case of Jamaica Michelle Angela Munroe [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI13120610 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the Comparative Politics Commons, and the International Relations Commons Recommended Citation Munroe, Michelle Angela, "The aD rk Side of Globalization: The rT ansnationalization of Garrisons in the Case of Jamaica" (2013). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 996. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/996 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida THE DARK SIDE OF GLOBALIZATION: THE TRANSNATIONALIZATION OF GARRISONS IN THE CASE OF JAMAICA A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in POLITICAL SCIENCE by Michelle Angela Munroe 2013 To: Dean Kenneth G. Furton College of Arts and Science This dissertation, written by Michelle Angela Munroe, and entitled The Dark Side of Globalization: The Transnationalization of Garrisons in the Case of Jamaica, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Ronald W. Cox _______________________________________ Felix Martin _______________________________________ Nicol C.
    [Show full text]
  • Jamaica Country Report BTI 2008
    BTI 2008 | Jamaica Country Report Status Index 1-10 7.65 # 21 of 125 Democracy 1-10 8.55 # 18 of 125 Market Economy 1-10 6.75 # 37 of 125 Management Index 1-10 5.71 # 42 of 125 scale: 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) score rank trend This report is part of the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) 2008. The BTI is a global ranking of transition processes in which the state of democracy and market economic systems as well as the quality of political management in 125 transformation and developing countries are evaluated. The BTI is a joint project of the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the Center for Applied Policy Research (C•A•P) at Munich University. More on the BTI at http://www.bertelsmann-transformation-index.de/ Please cite as follows: Bertelsmann Stiftung, BTI 2008 — Jamaica Country Report. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2007. © 2007 Bertelsmann Stiftung, Gütersloh BTI 2008 | Jamaica 2 Key Indicators Population mn. 2.7 HDI 0.72 GDP p.c. $ 3,817 Pop. growth1 % p.a. 0.5 HDI rank of 177 104 Gini Index 45.5 Life expectancy years 71 UN Education Index 0.79 Poverty3 % 14.4 Urban population % 53.1 Gender equality2 - Aid per capita $ 14.7 Sources: UNDP, Human Development Report 2006 | The World Bank, World Development Indicators 2007 | OECD Development Assistance Committee 2006. Footnotes: (1) Average annual growth rate 1990-2005. (2) Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM). (3) Percentage of population living on less than $2 a day. Executive Summary In October 2002, the People’s National Party (PNP), under the leadership of Percival J.
    [Show full text]
  • Big Game, Small Town Clientelism and Democracy in the Modern Politics of Belize (1954 to 2011)
    Big Game, Small Town Clientelism and Democracy in the Modern Politics of Belize (1954 to 2011) Dylan Gregory Vernon A thesis submitted to University College London in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Caribbean and Latin American Politics from the Institute of the Americas, University College London 2013 Declaration I, Dylan Gregory Vernon, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in my thesis. Dylan Gregory Vernon 2 Abstract Presenting Belize as an illustrative and critical case of clientelist democracy in the Commonwealth Caribbean, this thesis explores the origins of clientelist politics alongside the pre-independence birth of political parties, analyses its rapid expansion after independence in 1981 and assesses its implications for democratic governance. Based on qualitative research, including interviews with major political leaders, the thesis contends that, despite Belize’s positive post- colonial reputation for consolidating formal democracy, the concurrent expansion of clientelism, as both an electoral strategy and a mode of participation, ranks high among the worrying challenges affecting the quality of its democracy. Although intense party competition in a context of persistent poverty is central to explaining the trajectory of clientelism in Belize, the Westminster model of governance, the disappearance of substantive policy distinctions among parties and the embrace of neoliberal economic policies fuelled its expansion. Small- state size and multi-ethnicity have also been contributing factors. Even though the thousands of monthly dyadic transactions in constituencies are largely rational individual choices with short-term distributive benefits, the thesis concludes that, collectively, these practices lead to irrational governance behaviour and damaging macro-political consequences.
    [Show full text]