Value Assertion and Stratification: and Marriage in Rural : Part I Author(s): Michael M. J. Fischer Source: Caribbean Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Apr., 1974), pp. 7-33, 35-37 Published by: Institute of Caribbean Studies, UPR, Rio Piedras Campus Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25612588 . Accessed: 18/10/2014 17:56

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VALUE ASSERTION AND STRATIFICATION: RELIGION AND MARRIAGE IN RURAL JAMAICA

* Michael M. J. Fischer

PART I

Introduction

The following article is intended as a note towards two continuing research themes, one substantive and one methodological, in the study of the meaning and social uses of religion (and ideology or culture in general). Substantively, it is concerned to describe the role of religion in a small rural Jamaican community, paying attention to the ways religion is used to separate people as well as to bind them together. Marriage is given a similar secondary attention: mar riage, being a religious sacrament, interdigitates the sphere of family and kinship with that of religion; but even more centrally, marriage is the classic subject of discussion in the Caribbean literature on the articulation of norms or expressed values with actual behavior, a subject central to religion as well. These substantive concerns raise several theoretical and methodological issues. First of all, the debates over plural society (M.G. Smith et al. versus R.T. Smith et al.) and common value orientation (Parsonians versus Marxists) in the Caribbean seem to have become overly gen eralized, dogmatic and insensitive to social options as presented to

* Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University. This article is based on three months fieldwork, July-September 1968. Financial support came from an NIMH Predoctoral Fellowship (5-F01-HM-35, 70-72) and a research assistantship in the University of Chicago Family under the direction of Professor T. Smith. Further Study " Raymond ethnographic details and inter view material may be found in my Opposite Sets and Selected Masques from a Rural Jamaica Point of View" (1969 unpublished), on file in the Library of the Department of Anthropology of the Univer sity of Chicago, and in the Library of the Institute of Social and Economic Research of the University of the West Indies. The second part of this article will be published in a later issue.

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individual participants. Already in classical sociology (Marx, Weber) the relation between objective and subjective socio-economic position an versus (viz. Klassen sich Kassen fiir sich) was seen as an empirical ly changing mode of social integration. Evaluation of such modes of integration require not merely analytic categories (classes, cultural sections, subcultures, etc.), but elicitation of native conceptualization and consciousness, and this latter need not be as static as too often (for political purposes) are the former. For instance, the issues of racial polarization and class conflict in the Caribbean are forms of cons ciousness which can be mobilized or defused according to the changing states of the economy and political organization. To take a seemingly clear case, it is a commonplace critique of Guyanese politics to note that racism is currently on the increase due to the competition for scarce jobs and that while class consciousness remains blunted because of the racial directions into which this competition is channelled, the continued deterioration of the economy is tending towards a sorting of civil service (including Government controlled business enterprise) interests versus estate labor, small farming and small business inte rests. The emphasis on the trends ?increase? and ?tending? is an important element of changeable reality which often gets lost in sociological analyses. It is, in part, as a step towards working out these problems of evaluation that this article is intended. The community to be described was studied in the summer of 1968 and was observed to divide itself through religious behavior into two classes, a phenomenon which paralleled a number of the empirical descriptions both of sectarian histories and of the place of different religious groups in industrial and agricultural settings in the U.S.A., and which therefore fit the sociological theories of Max Weber as developed by Ernst Troeltsch, H.R. Niebuhr, Bryan Wilson, and others. These theories stressed two things: a) the correlation between type of religious group and socio-economic position of the members; fe) the differential efficacy of different forms of sect organization for socio economic mobility. The methodology of the 1968 studywas informed by the concerns of the University of Chicago Family Study (under the direction of Professors R.T. Smith and D.M. Schneider) to elicit from participants in any social system under investigation the range and articulation of their modes of conceptualizing their social universe. This methodology required that one observe how people utilize such statements as ? must not live in sin? rather than merely relating such statements directly to theological formulation of Calvin, Luther, Wesley, et al The result is to meld an outsider's perspective of sociological organization with an insider's perception of meaningful options and barriers, a step closer to Weber's ideal of Verstehen

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(rather than his constructive or ?ideal type? Verstehen).1 By empirical ly eliciting participants' understandings one can engage in a dialectical correction of analytic ideal types so that they are made more realistic without losing their explanatory utility. To reiterate, the following ?analytic ethnography? is intended as a demonstration and further step in this dialectic. This methodological procedure incidentally aids another theore tical issue: the definition of religion. ?Religion? as a technical term has never been adequately defined for reasons quite similar to the reasons consensus has not been achieved on the ?existance? or identification of classes, subcultures, etc. The two traditional polar ? ? definitions of religion may be represented by Spiro and Geertz. Spiro gives the ?substantivist? approach, which defines religion in terms of particular doctrines and institutions, a typical formulation, which however is still quite narrow: ?I shall define "religion" as an institution consisting of culturally patterned interaction with culturally postulated superhuman beings? (1965: 96).2 At the other pole is the approach which equates ?religion? with ?the conviction that the values one holds are grounded in the inherent structure of reality?, thus making of the religious perspective an all-inclusive, self-confirming system in which ?the world-view (notions of how reality is put together) is believable because the ethos (the way things are done) which grows out of it is felt to be authoritative; the ethos is justifiable because theworld-view upon which it rests is held to be true? (Geertz 1968: 97-98). The tension between these two poles is the central problematic issue of this article; that is, the tension between the relatively easy identification of churches, balm-yards, pocomania, , etc., and the relatively difficult identification of what people ?really believe? and why they behave the way they do. The resolution suggested is a model of differential usage of religious symbolism by different socio-economic status groups and classes, a model which metaphorically fits Levi Strauss' image of symphonic variations on similar themes,3 but one which demands sociological (and social-psychological) explanations

1. Weber was concerned with meaning to actors as part of social explanation, but conceded the great difficulty in achieving such understanding. As a stop-gap for the immediate needs of social evaluation and political action, he proposed one construct ?as if? ideal types. ? ? 2. He thereby excludes the more gnostic forms which regard the terms and their symbols ?,? ?Spirit,? ?Ormazd-Ahirman,? etc., as allegorical ?yantras? and ?mantras? (visual and verbal aids to meditation) expressing relations of self-society-universe. 3. Cf. the chapter headings of his Le Cm et le Cuit. Ogden notes that when one plays music backwards (as became possible with the invention of the phonograph) one can recognize that ?musical is reversal really a variation and not a mere inversion.* Ogden, Opposition: A Linguistic and Psychological Analysis, p. 38.

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rather than remaining content with describing systematic formal variations. This article is organized into several sections beginning with a preliminary Vocational analysis? and a consideration of social strati fication; then follows a consideration of two religious styles, followed by a brief parallel consideration of marriage; finally the conclusion considers some conceptual difficulties.

Location

The relevance of economic and geographic ecology to the thesis scene? of this article extends beyond the common-sense ?setting of the and tying of the argument to a concrete example. It is the framework a) within which stratificationpossibilities are defined (themix between small farms and estates, between tertiary and primary sectors, and thus between modes of wealth distribution, and mobility), and b) within which cultural systems operate to define, to justify, and to criticize theway things are.Where society is differentiatedby ?wealth?, ?interests?, etc., that is, in all ?compIex societies,? one should expect the differentiated portions to define their society and existence differentially.Much of the debate over whether the ?English speaking a Caribbean societies? may be called ?plural societies? boils down to of cultural disagreement over whether such differential usages symbols are ?different cultures? or are variations within a single cultural as are not intended to serve system.4 In so far the polemics political over ends,5 the debate is little more than a useless disagreement typo

% % 4. One must keep in mind that Jamaica is about 76.8 Black; 16.9 Afro-White, Afro-Indian, are neither and Afro-Chinese; 5.5 % Indian, Chinese and Syrian; and 0.8 % ?White.* These labels or ?black? versus ?white? is an cultural strictly racial nor strictly cultural. ?Negro? important but as V.S. dichotomy (with the mediate categories of brown, Chinese, Indian, Syrian), Naipaul were socialized colonial to divide complains about West Indians in general, they by slavery ?people dark black* into the whites, fusty, musty, dusty, tea, coffee, cocoa, light black, black, (1962:68). as or darker than And within this finely graded series (people are always described being lighter direction of conflict is the speaker or other referent person), as Naipaul says, the strongest against ? sense and the darker of the lighter colours: ?Race in the of black against brown, yellow white, in that order ? is the most important issue in Jamaica today.* a as of three ?cultural 5. Two political possibilities follow from the painting of society composed sections* (?white,? ?brown,? ?black?) which are three ?incompatible* ?institutional systems* (M.G. ?the Smith 1965:88) in ?continuous ideological conflict* (Ibid., 171) and which only coexist through section a monopoly of power by one cultural section* (Ibid., 86), that cultural being numerically has been able to minority group suppressing a ?massive subordinate section [which] only express It is that itself politically by riots, rebellions, and the like* (Ibid., 171). illuminating although M.G. Smith derives his concept of ?plural society* from Furnivall's description of Java and Burma, Africa he takes as his epitome of the ?plural society* the apartheid system of South (1965: Chapter would fuse 4). Thus instead of Furnivall's economic conclusion that the plural society eventually a into towards a unified economic system (or in Geertz' evocative language, develop from ?hollow? ? a ?solid? structure 1965), M.G. Smith comes to a political thesis: ?Structural changes involve strain and changes of sectional relations and cannot develop except under conditions of maximum as a unit at stake* instability in which the continuity of the social system is clearly (1965:308);

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logies. Since even the most extreme proponents of the ?plural society* thesis agree that the ?cultural sections? operate within a single political system and, to a certain degree, a single economic system (M.G. Smith 1965: Chapter 7), the substantive issue becomes one of assessing the degree and manner (rather than the existence or non-existence) of differentiation.6 In the case of the community considered here, the differentiation begins historically and geographically with the plantations and eman cipation of colonial days. The community, in St. Thomas Parish, is located in the hilly interstices of the sugar-estate plains of south-eastern Jamaica. As such it exemplifies the ?two-tier? economy in much of Jamaica where the lowlands are occupied by large-scale commercial agriculture and the hills by small peasant agriculture. Historically, this settlement pattern got its start during the slavery period when slaves were allowed to establish their own ?provision grounds? above the sugar lands; with emancipation large numbers of freedmen withdrew into the hills and made the two-tier economy permanent. Airy Castle, thus, is located along the northeast slope of a ridge separating the southern coastal plain from the Plantain Garden River Valley. The ridge is of Tertiary limestone throughwhich streams degrade rapidly,making the slopes quite steep and thus of marginal use to the industrial agriculture of the estates. (The estates can grow coconuts on the steeper slopes but collection of the coconuts must then be by horse and mules). The steepness of the slopes also channels roads and most modern traffic. Airy Castle lies on one of the two major roads between (the political and functional capital of St. Thomas) and (the capital of ), the other being along the coastal plain further east and circumventing the hilly ridges. Three miles in either direction fromAiry Castle along this road are two small towns, Bath and , both in the lowlands.

?changes in the social structure presuppose political changes, and these usually have a violent form* (Ibid., 91). Given this ?model? of society, two political paths are indicated: 1) if one is oriented towards egalitarian democracy, revolution is called for; 2) if one is oriented towards maintaining the status quo, vigilance must be paid the strengthening of repressive institutions. The problematic unproved premise is that the existing kind of social interaction does not lead to any cultural or social integration. The flexible fine discriminations of the ?native? classificatory system mentioned in Footnote 4, for example, are overridden in M.G. Smith's superimposed trichotomy. 6. M.G. Smith is certainly correct to object to the non-operational tautology ?no society can exist without a minimum sharing of common values* but he gains little by rewriting the issue as an equally non-operational dichotomy: ?The critical issue is the presence or absence of such norma tive consensus between these strata, and reliance on forceful regulation rather than on shared common norms to maintain the unit.* (1965:xi). (What is ?forceful?? What is ?shared common norms?* Whether or not unequal education opportunities, for instance, are described as being repressive to the disadvantaged depends on the charity of the analyst, his evaluation of intent and change: but only the fact itself and its consequences are sociologically important unless additional data is supplied about intent and change). He is on firmer ground when he says ?we shall have to find ways of identifying, demonstrating and measuring consensus ... the key questions here concern the levels and conditions of stability, the degree of functional coherence, and the structural variety ...? (Ibid., xii).

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Airy Castle itself is a residential community? both in the sense of being externally dependent upon, rather than a centre for, services and employment; and in the sense of the distinction made by Airy Castle people between the living space of the ?district? and the ?bush? where the main food-producing plots are located. People grow food stuffs in their yards, but the bulk of the peasant holdings are away from the Strassendorf, on the tops of the ridges on both sides of Unity Valley (the valley between Bath and Port Morant) and even in the Blue Mountain foothills on the far side of the Plantain Garden River. Many of the residents also engage in wage labour in the surrounding estates and towns. Clustered at either end of Unity Valley are more than six fair-sized estates: to the north are Little Ramage, Eastern Potosi, and Western Potosi; to the south are Clifton Hill, Stokesfield, and Bowden. (Western Potosi, Stokesfield, Bowden, and three other estates have a common owner; Little Ramage and Eastern Potosi are owned by the same family and managed by the same man). In the community there are nine grocery and rum shops, but the nearest markets are those of Bath and Port Morant, and the main weekly market is in Morant Bay. The only other services located in the community are a post office, three churches, a primary school, an (a junior secondary school is planned), and infants school which a office. also is supposed to serve as a library and monthly doctor's The is mobile: of 50 respondents representing 50 population fairly ? differenthouseholds (or 251 people about a third sample) only 20 But had been born in Airy Castle, and only 38 in St. Thomas. only 7 had lived in Airy Castle less than 5 years and thirtyhad lived there a amount for at least 20 years. The explanation seems to be fair of residential circulation in eastern St. Thomas characteristic of econo of networks mically depressed labourers in search wage labour; kinship have contacts and become wide enough spread so that individuals a of When land or work potential home bases in variety places. steady is secured they stay put and begin to improve their housing. (The run shacks for the most grades of housing from bamboo destitute, to wooden cottages, to cement houses). Renting wooden cottages is not uncommon and is a positive factor in allowing mobility. The economically depressed status of this population is well not to detailed enough known to all familiar with this region need demonstration. The economic dilemma is a national problem, indexed by highly visibleTphenomena such as high emigration rates, decreasing to acreage per peasant, increasing government subsidies agricultural fre sectors, unequal distribution of conspicuous commodities, high a 20 quency of strikes, swelling of urban slums, percent unemployment so on. The island is an rate (unofficially 25 percent), and basically industrial and endeavours in agricultural land, but both peasant

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agriculture are insecure. The problem for the peasants is one of declining acreage per person as the population grows. The 4,411 square mile island has a current population of 1.9 million with an annual natural increase per thousand of 29.7; emigration, a traditional outlet, has been curtailed by restrictive legislation, especially recently in Great Britain. Of the adult labour force, 35.3 percent is engaged in farming (contrast 5 percent in the U.S.) and 60 percent of the total population is dependent on the soil for their livelihood. Small farmersmake up 71 percent of the farming population (average acreage is 1.8) but control only 12 percent of the land; 56 percent of the land?the best land? is controlled by 0.7 percent of landowners. (Figures taken from B. Floyd, 1968). A second problem for the small farmer is a poor return on his crops. Old farmers complain that it is just not worth it to grow bananas for export in small quantities any more; mangoes and breadfruit often just fall and rot, there are so many. This is a problem for large-scale industrial agriculture as well:* the world market has an oversupply of tropical produce (except perhaps for pimento which Jamaican estates are now planting; and except perhaps for preserved perishables such as canned mangoes, ackee, breadfruit, etc., which might be promoted in the American market but would require industrial development). The insecurity of world market prices has been endemic for over a century: the nine teenth century saw the usurpation of the sugar-cane market by beet sugar; the opening of the Suez Canal destroyed the early transport advantage over the East Indies; and disease epidemics have periodically added to planters' worries (the latest being the current ?lethal yellowing? of coconut trees which began in the western part of the island and systematically moved across the north coast; attempts to isolate and identify the virus have failed though it appears the Malayan dwarf coconut is immune and is being quickly planted on the St. Thomas estates). The two major export crops are sugar and bananas. Sugar suffers from a world market price which is not remunerative and Jamaican farmers are dependent on the Common wealth Sugar Agreement which may collapse if and when Britain enters the European Economic Community (and a second advantage may collapse when the U.S. re-establishes relations with Cuba). Although sugar could be produced more efficientlyby stabilizing the labour force the Government has been forced to oppose full rational ization for fear of massive unemployment. Similarly, bananas are marketed in Britain under protection from Latin American producers, but even so the Windward Islands and Jamaica between them have created an oversupply.

* These comments are written in the ethnographic present of 1968.

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There are, of course, a variety of agricultural programmes under taken by the Government of Jamaica to relieve particularly the small ? farmer, but also to advise the middle-sized and larger farmer Land Settlement Schemes, rehabilitation efforts in erosion problem areas (e.g. the Valley), a Farmer's Production and Livestock Improve ment Scheme, and an Agricultural Marketing Corporation. But there seems to be a large-scale uncertainty as to general agricultural policy: should industrial agriculture be promoted or should a solid peasantry be promoted? Given market prices per produce unit and the efficiency of large-scale economy the former might be indicated; but given ? ? overpopulation and world oversupply of tropical produce, perhaps the latter. This is not the place to go into development strategies. Encourage ment of foreign industrial investment, a better return on bauxite mining and alumina production, are central concerns of the Govern ment of Jamaica. The point here, quite simply, is that the situation inwhich rural find themselves is one in which, to paraphrase ?a man a frequent Jamaican phrase, it is difficult for to help himself to get ahead.? If continuing population growth, declining acreage per peasant, and so oversupply of labourers for seasonal and task hiring, on, contribute to themobility of the population, another kind of mobility services. The is encouraged by the parish or regional organization of sense creation of a nationally organized economy in this is often or to glossed as a developmental process from ?closed,? rural, ?open,? or urbanized, communities. What is of immediate importance, however, is the current degree of dispersion of everyday activities and the The most concise consequent reference-groups for social behavior.7

7. One is tempted in discussions of reference-groups to invoke ?native modes of classification.* demons Semantic usages generally have strategic or manipulable potential rather than being simple as tratives and therefore can only have an ambiguous relation to such questions degree of ?closed one and classification community* frame of mind. If, however, conceives both ?regional organization* such for a as processes or modes of social interaction, one can try to ?freeze? semantic usages the two kinds of particular time and place. At the ?closed community? end of spectrum classificatory to a of how one can tell to which procedure might be adduced. First, the response survey question as class a person belongs was quite poor. Only a few people mentioned such indices skin colour, was an on not able to having a large house or car. More typically there emphasis really being other. Thus one man tell except by knowing the person as members of the community know each asked if could tell class said simply: ?I know the poor people in the district;* and when he people's are show it.* Another in Kingston replied, ?No, I couldn't tell; some people wealthy and don't ? estate said, ?You can only tell the white Holinshed, Mr. Dick, Mr. Jones, Mr. Jackson [local ? is owners] otherwise can't tell the rich from the poor.* Secondly, in identifying people there the retains the label a rigorous classification by birthplace, and anyone from outside district stranger* no matter how long he resides in the district. People born in another district will say of themselves even after residing in their present locale 10 or 20 years, ?I am a stranger, here,* here and will identify themselves by the parish of their birth (I'm from Clarendon, but I've lived a into the 30 years*). ?She is a stranger* is a typical response about person who has married or community and is a self-explanatory reason for not knowing her genealogy other background. Down the parish* is another typical phrase for ?outside of this district* and beyond my knowledge. Two colourful terms for ?stranger? reinforce the Parish ?boundary-awareness?: strangers are called

This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Sat, 18 Oct 2014 17:56:49 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions CARIBBEAN STUDIES / VOL. 14, NO. 1 15 way of indicating this might be in terms of central place hierarchy which would classify Airy Castle as a ?quarternary rank? central place.* But more illustrative of the spread in social reference-frames may be a spelling out of some of the ?spatial interactions?. For instance, in contrast to traditional notions of peasant immobility, one can look at such everyday activities as place of employment, visiting, schooling, and shopping; or medical, legal, police, and religious services.9 Thus people living in Airy Castle travel daily towork as far away as Bachelor's Hall or the Plantain Garden River estate (field wage labour), Dukenfield (sugar refinery),Bowden (wharves), Morant Bay

?blue-foot? (possibly one who ?footed? it over the Blue Mountains, the northern parish boundary) and according to Cassidy (1960:153) are said ?to drink Yallahs water* (the Yallahs River being the eastern boundary). Towards the ?open society* frame of mind, three other modes of classification might be put forth. First is the term ?bush? which properly refers to non-residential wild land or land in which peasant plots are made. More loosely it also refers to areas without modern amenities; thus Airy Castle residents call places like Sunning Hill ?bush* because they lack electricity or paved roads. Secondly, the method of classifying people by physical characteristics is often, as J. Pitt-Rivers points out (1967:543), a way of coping with the expanding frequency of meeting strangers as the open society grows at the expense of the closed society: one is forced to rely on visual cues such as skin colour, beards, clothes. Thus beards come to mean Rastafarian, unattached young Kingston = male = thief, black = poor, uniform middle class. Thirdly, a similar method is the questions asked of a newcomer such as ?what is your mission?* and ?what is your denomination?* The first question has a curious colonial or military ring as if every newcomer had been dispatched by some ?higher-up.? The second question is a technique which greatly impressed Max Weber (1906), visiting the United States around the turn of the century, as a way of appraising an unknown individual's credit rating (in a commercial sense) and creditability (in a moral sense) by placing him through self-declaration within the known rules of social control of a known organization. 8. Thus, as mentioned above, it is a collection unit for community living, a minimal unit for grocery and rum shops; it has a primary school, post office, three churches, a barely functioning 4-H club, an even less functioning library, and a monthly doctor's stop. Three miles in either ? ? direction along the main road are tertiary rank central places Bath and Port Morant having police stations, markets, gas stations, a court house (Bath) and tax office (Port Morant). Morant Bay provides a secondary rank central place, and Kingston, of course, is the primary central place in the country. It is intriguing that the tertiary level centres (Port Morant, Bath, Golden Grove, Whitehorse) should appear to be approximately equidistant from one another, suggesting that further analysis might be given to the relations between markets and their service areas. The hexagonal geometry of central place theory is a conceptual procedure similar to the geometry of polarity (Ogden 1929) in being based in mathematical simplicity and comprehensiveness: the most efficient packing form given the radii of cost-profit ratios and assumptions of economic rationality. 9. Note that this description of regional organization (treating 'degree of reintegration*' as a processual variable) is significantly different from the 1956 picture given us by M.G. Smith of the rural Jamaican community in the early 1950's (1965: chapter 8). He described a pattern of dispersed ?isolated units of solidarity* below town or village level but above family level (?hamlets? in traditional terminology); and based his characteristization of their fundamental ?isolated solidarity* on four of data: types he asserted that visiting was limited to kin or close neighbours, that people were unfamiliar across community boundaries, that wakes or nine-night rituals were intra-com munity rituals demonstrating ?community solidarity with the bereaved,* and that communities to a were, large extent, endogamous land holding units. On all these counts Airy Castle today scores far less well as a unit of isolated solidarity. It is of interest that, writing contemporaneously with F. as we Smith, Henriques noted, have, the ?extreme mobility of the population* pointing out that it is the middle class which is the most stable (1967:163-4). Part of the clue to M.G. Smith's des cription is his presumption that there are no integrating processes in the Jamaican social structure (cf. fn. 6), and thus he can argue that ?selection of the village as the locus of branches of national organizations and development efforts tends to bypass the large number of persons who do not live in but live in villages, dispersed the communities round about them* (1965:192-3). His profoundly static view fails to take into account the ?centrifugal? effect of centrally placed services, and the fact that human are not simple beings plants rooted to the soil in which they are born.

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(clerical workers, secondary school students); and some may even travel frequently into Kingston, as in the case of higglers. Illness requires one to go to the Princess Margaret Hospital in Morant Bay, or to Hampton Court. For police protection one must go to Bath. People from at least as far as Sunning Hill have bank accounts in Morant Bay. The opening of a Barclay's Bank Agency in Port Morant in the summer of 1968 caused some confusion for people used to travelling to Morant Bay to take care of several errands at once., only to find that their accounts had been transferred to Port Morant on the assumption that that would be closer and more convenient; but since Port Morant lacks other services, decentralization proved to be a mixed or to Morant blessing. To buy meat one goes to Port Morant better yet as Bay. Youngsters have good friends and kin in such places Sunning Hill, Port Morant, and Morant Bay. Older folk are quite knowledgeable about all of Unity Valley, being able to enumerate such things as who lives in what houses and who their parents were. Many of them went to school either in Bath or Port Morant before the construction of area is in the Airy Castle School. Today the secondary school for the both Morant Bay, and a vocational school is in Port Morant; providing a area. meeting places for young people drawn from wide a There The geography of local religion follows similar pattern. to a circuit are three churches in Airy Castle, each of which belongs circuit not serviced by a minister. The churches of the only support ties and each others' a single minister, but maintain fellowship support Less are the balm frequent money-raising rallies. openly displayed the yards, faith-healers and magicians dispersed throughout country areas. Burial side. These draw people from quite wide organizations also draw their members from large areas.

Social Stratification

So much then for an external description of the ?economic and of Castle. We now turn to the internally geographic ecology? Airy The first reference datum is the forceful perceived social stratification. to a social way in which all respondents attempt impress upon for real researcher their material poverty and lack of opportunity improvement. were In an initial get-acquainted-cum-census survey,10 questions

or 251 ? about a third sample. By sex 10. Fifty respondents representing 50 households people seven were under 25, and 28 were over 50. 18 were male, 32 female. All were at least 19 years old; more than 6 of four had none whatsoever, and twelve By education, only four had years schooling; the is a count: had less than 4 years of schooling. By occupation following rough

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asked relating to people's perceptions of opportunities available to them and to their children. The overwhelming response was that times are hard and that it is up to the national government to improve things. It seemed that people who were succeeding in upward mobility were more likely to state that improvements were being made in Jamaica. Many people admitted that improvements had occurred in some abstract sense, but stressed that their own position had not improved. One woman who repeated several times that the question naire and the anthropologist were a ?bunch of foolishness? (i.e., it should be patently obvious to any idiot what is wrong with Jamaica) insisted over and over on variation of the following sentiments:

?No progress: no land room, no money; you can't get no work to get no money; no help. Money is the head of all, and land room* No help in this district at all. Nothing is done: come election, promises but nothing done. The richer man is living and the poorer man is down. No progress. This Airy Castle district down all the time; we don't have a person to look over this district directly. Poor is a big crime. Jamaica is a nice place but you want help. Jamaica want help with money, land room.?

Five major questions were raised in the survey. The first straight forwardly asked whether in the respondent's opinion there was more opportunity today than there had been twenty years ago. There was a relatively even split between affirmative and negative responses to the question itself, but this was overwhelmed by a chorus of complaints that whatever slight improvements there may have been, things were bad, especially for the ?poor black man.?n The second question expanded this theme by asking how one best gets ahead in Jamaica today. While things like education were generally mentioned, the consensus again was the complaint that the poor black man does not get ahead. The form of the question was ?which of the following is

? ? ? assist, bailiff ? 1 farmer 14 shoemaker 1 higgler 3 ? ? ? ? quarantine guard 1 labourer 7 butcher 2 fish vendor 1 ? ? infants teacher ? 1 shopkeeper 4 mechanic ,? 1 hairdresser 1 ? ? ? ? ex-school teacher 1 carpenter 3 clerk 1 dressmaker 1 ? ? ? ? unemployed domestic 2 unemployed 1 headman 2 housewife 5 simgle woman ? support unknown 6 11. Of those responding in the affirmative (28), the most frequent reason given was that more educational facilities exist today. Others mentioned economic developments (more factories, banks, and ?more jobs for coloured people*), the advent of electricity in Airy Castle, better transportation, and ?more freedom*. Four people who gave a qualified ?yes? answer said: a) Things are better for some people, especially JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) members. b) Things are better for the upper classes but not for the poor. c) Things are better for people who get land in the Settlement programmes. d) Things are better but they are still hard and the youth more wicked. Reasons given for negative responses (18) were: Jamaica is not ruled properly, the cost of living has risen, there is no work and young people are idle, overpopulation, and it is hard to get and save money.

2

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the most important: education, having money, race, hard work, knowing the right people, other?. Only one person was able to do a ranking, and she did it this way: <

Others simply said: ?Well, that's the trouble now, there's really no way to get through?; or ?Don't know because can't get no money to can do nothing?; or ?Those who can get work get ahead?. Significant in terms of Jamaica's development ideology was that 31 of 40 respon dents who gave a positive response indicated that ?education? was was very important. But more significant to the theme of this article that while ?race? was not mentioned at all although it was in the list read to the respondent, two people added to the list ?faith in God?.12 on A third question focused further attention economic possibili one like to ties: a series of queries were posed on occupations would or one have, one would recommend to someone just leaving school, would like one's eldest son to have. Responses to the latter two questions ran:

doctor, nurse.15 factory job.4 teacher. 9 trade (carpenter, mason, clerk. 5 painter, mechanic) ... 14 lawyer. 4 engineer. 2 minister. 2 chauffeur.2 4 government job (post- domestic. ... mistress, inspector) 9 merchant, conductress, ... 1 each soldier, police. 4 tailor, dressmaker.

to it was to the individual. Very many people refused choose, saying up But even in stressing individual circumstances, individual preferences,

mentioned 12. ?Hard work* was stressed by 7 people; ?having money* by 12. Several people one ahead if there social conditions rather than personal qualities as prime determinants: could get were more

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?Domestic is the second way; the first way is to get education. If I had a son I would send him to school and see what he is made of. If he can't go farther in school, I would send him [to] some trade he would like.?

Recommended occupations with reasons were: ? Lawyer ?Because I want him to get enough money and he will be able to me in life.? ? help Mason ?You get enough work; a big man can hire you.? ? Mechanic ?Because everyday you have new designs of cars and trucks and people buy them and they break down and is not everybody knows mechanics ? Doctor ?Is payable concern.? Doctor, Lawyer, ? Engineer ?Earn plenty money.? ? Domestic ?Because plenty things and the domestic science now send you far away.? Domestic ? ?Is better than field work.? Doctor ? ?Want the child to raise its head.? ? ? Engineering ?You gain some experience in your brain learn to angle; have to use your brain to get ? through.? Trade ?You are better off than the casual workers, you'll be able to demand more pay than casual workers.*

Occupations not recommended were:

? Shopkeeping ?No, too much credit carrying and too much worrying. I would be glad if I could get out of it right now.? are ?Things dear and you don't get your mo ney back when you stock.? ? buy Farmer ?No one can make so much livelihood out of farming.? ? ?Couldn't tell him farming not enough land room.? ? Higgler ?It wouldn't suit a young girl: you have to deal with too much different ? people.* Coconut reaper ?Too hard work.? ? Fish vendor ?No, because it would be too poor; I would cry ifmy grandson or granddaughter would become a fish vendor now.?

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Many people stressed that they did not get a chance to get ahead was no one because there to help them, the family was too poor to send to a them learn trade. A number of women mentioned that they had been sent to learn sewing but could never take it up because they could not afford a sewing machine. The fourth question asked who the most and least respected people in Jamaica are, and again the tide of response was the reflexive ?we the poor-? are despised and downtrodden. Thus responses to the ?least respected? ran (categories supplied by res pondent) :

Poor.16 Blacks, Negroes.17 Coolie, Indian. 1 Idle, unemployed, bad character, uneducated . 6 No response.10

But note the following kind of discrimination:

A: What sort of people do you think are the most highly regarded in Jamaica today? D: The white, because I would say we are in the minority. A: The minority? D: Yes, the minority, because we are poor. A: Um ...Who is most poorly regarded in Jamaica? D: The black. L: There is colour discrimination by the white against the black as we said before. A: But aren't there very few whites left in Jamaica? L: The ?black whites* discriminate against the poor blacks.

A common phrase used to describe and indicate why the poor are not well regarded is ?the poor man can't help himself?; also simply, ?they don't have anything?. Reasons for answering ?blacks? or ?Negroes? were: ?because they are poor?; ?we are the small people, the poor, we have no capital.? ?Poor? and ?black? are labels of denigration which have as their cultural opposites (or polarities) terms such as ?rich?, ?white?, ?big people?, ?higher class?, ?opposite sets*.18 The categories respondents suggested as the ?most respected* people in Jamaica were the following:

13. The term ?opposite set(s)? is an intriguing one. The best explanation of its use was given as by a school teacher who pointed out that the poor classify everyone else opposite classes or opposite sets to themselves; thus there is the dichotomy poor/non-poor or the have-nots/haves. The political elite also uses such a dichotomy to emphasize its distinctiveness from the middle class in an attempt to ward off criticism and increase political support and unity. The philological question of the term's derivation is less clear. The most likely derivation is from the ?set-dances? organized by admirals of the British fleets in Kingston: an Admiral of the Blue superceding an Admiral of the Red in the Jamaica station, both gave balls one Christmas which had the effect of dividing Kingston society into moieties. ?From thence the division spread into other districts; and ever since, the whole island at Christmas is separated into the rival factions, of the Blues and Reds {the Red representing also the English, the Blue the Scots), who contend for setting forth their

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Whites. 12 Rich, financial people, those who have money, property owners, aluminium owners, big people. 7 Upper sets, opposite sets, higher class. 3 Government officials and politicians. 3 Professionals (teacher, minister, doctor, police). 3 Middle class. 1 Non-blacks, coloureds, browns. 5 Blacks . 3 Farmers. 2 Foreigners. 1 Intelligent, educated, able Christian. 3 No response. 6

Representative reasons for selecting these categories were: ? Upper sets, etc. because ?They can find the money.? ?They have the money.? ? Foreigners ? ?They bring in money, build factor ies, do well.? ? Government officials ? ?You have to go to them for help; they don't come to you.? ?Them set over us.? ?They are running the country.* Browns, coloureds, ? non-blacks ? ?They get more opportunity, than we can get in our own country.* ?The coloureds have more business, give more attention to education.* ?Even the Chinese are looked upon more than us: they are doing all the importing; we depend on them.* ? ? Whites ?The white people are idolized be cause they have money.* ?The old colonial feeling hasn't gone out of most of us yet.? ? ? ? Professionals ?Doctors are essential pain in bel ly; if my children want education have to send to teachers; plenty of violence would go on if it weren't for police.* ? The rich ? ?They can help themselves.* ?If you are a criminal and have money you are better regarded than if you are an honest weeder.?

cf. possessions.* (M.G. Lewis, 1861:25; also Cassidy 1961:256-62). Another possibility is the Old use of ?sect? for a set English of people: e.g., in Chaucer, the Clerk, explains the application of his to the wife of Bath ? to her ? story 'life' and 'all her sect' a usage still occasionally carried on in Indian English as well.

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The final question asked people to describe the class system of Jamaica, and here again as in the third and fourth questions (look at the ?reasons? given for selection of categories) the respondents continually referred to three principles of stratification: 1) the static descriptive axis of wealth vs. poverty; 2) the dynamic power to help oneself; and 3) the hierarchical-transactional authority to give and accept work. Seven people described Jamaica as a two class system; two said there were four classes; and 26 said there were three classes. Six of the seven who described Jamaica as a two class system explicity made the distinction of rich and poor classes, the other used educated vs. uneducated. This latter distinction was also used by one of the six who said literacy was the chief differentia between the rich civil servants and the poor labourers. While it was noted that the poor are mainly black and coloured, one man did offer that ?plenty of the blacks are rich?. The main distinction then was that the wealthy have ?plenty business place? while the poor are those ?who do not have a place to live and have to pay rent?. One man made the interesting observation thatwhile it is very difficult for poor people to move up into the ?first class?, it is possible throughbusiness reverses for a rich man to fall back into the ?second class ?. The two who described a 4 class system (a retired teacher and a headman) did it thisway:

? 1. Uppers mostly those with the money; have the best cars, big houses, good living stan dards. ? Another near him work with Government; if their parents did not leave anything must rent house and sometimes they can't pay for the car. ? Middle Class he has to work under someone; some times he has to borrow too; those that have to look to the above for work. ? Smaller People the smaller man that gets nothing; they live by small means and some don't even live in good houses you know. ? 2. Wealthy-very rich some of them can't count the money, I suppose; you won't find many of them around these parts. ? Rich property owners are better off. ? Middle Class can help themselves; teachers and so forth and some small business people. -? Poor can't really live as theywould like to live yet are struggling. ? on Very poor have to depend government aid.

a Some representative samples of those who described three-class system are:

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1. Some people I would call to clean my house. Some I would invite to sleep here. I couldn't go stay with Lady Bustamante. 2. The poor. The man who can find him dinner. The government is the rich man who try to keep we down. ? 3. The rich the white people have money. ? The ordinary can find a shilling but not like the white people. ? The poor can't find a shilling. ? 4. 1st class the man who has the money, can employ a man. ? 2nd class employ under the 1st class; work on a desk. ? 3rd class labourer; work in the field.

In sum, the social malaise of which Airy Castle residents complain is something they call ?poverty?, that is, being poor, powerless, and at themercy of the ?biggermen* who rule them and who give them work. In perhaps more precise terms, it is something sociologists have begun to call ?relative deprivation,* that is, an invidious comparison of one's fate or lot with that of others. It has something to do with perceived social distance and perceived notions of justice; in modern Western societies, at least, it might be formulated as a consequence of economic and social inequality under a system of ideology of political and legal equality. ?Poverty? or ?relative deprivation* is thus a dynamic concept which as Peter Townsend has well said:

?...can only be defined in relation to the material and emotional resources available at a particular time to the members of a parti cular society or different societies.* (1962:210). [Man] is a social ? animal entangled in a web of relationships at work, in family and ? community which exert complex and changing pressures to which he must respond as much in his consumption of goods and services as in any other aspect of his behavior. And there is no list of the absolute necessities of life to maintain even physical efficiency or health which applies at any time and in any society, without ref erence to the structure, organization, physical environment and avail ... able resources of that society One can no more proclaim the abolition of want than the abolition of disease.* (1962:219).

Relative deprivation in Airy Castle lies somewhere between what << Roach (1965) calls physical-deprivation* and ?status-deprivation*. For, a) while there is concern over physical deprivation ?poor housing, lack of meat in the daily diet, lack of clothing, lack of agricultural land, and so on ?, b) there is agreement that anyone can subsist in the country ?housing need not cost much, food can be picked off the land? and therefore c) the foci of felt deprivation are in the areas of jobs, education, and respectability. Once given steady,

This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Sat, 18 Oct 2014 17:56:49 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 24 I. ARTICLES well-paying jobs and education, it is felt to be easy to obtain better clothing, food, housing, luxuries, and to pay for weddings, to maintain membership, and thereby to gain status and respectability. An interesting set of attitudes towards these concerns is manifested in a series of 42 essays written by students at the Airy Castle Primary School, entitled ?The Kind of Life IWould Like to Live?.14 The general value-system is a strongly lower-middle class set of virtues and aspi a rations. Nineteen or almost half stressed that they wanted to live Christian life. Sixteen, or more than a third, stressed a desire for cleanliness and clean clothes, and most justified this desire in terms of being respectable; many specified kinds of uniforms appropriate or to job aspirations such as the nurse's white uniform the tie and dark trousers of a teacher. (In Jamaica many middle class jobs, e.g., which secretaries, post-mistresses, clerks, etc., have such uniforms serve the dual purpose of being statusmarkers and of keeping clothing few also stressed budgets low without sacrificing status). A scattered virtues such as hard work. Seven, or not quite a fifth, stressed their concern aim to support their families of orientation. Eleven expressed for limiting the number of children they would have. Eleven also a Seven indicated that stressed that they wanted to live married life. wanted theywanted to go to college or university.While nine said they most to live in Kingston, seven indicated a rural preference though of these were towns. would do As to occupational preference, three stated that they on estates like their and almost anything but not work the parents; about domestic work. The two two expressed the same opinion forty were: positive preferences

... 1 doctor. 6 teacher/agricultural expert. teacher. 6 teacher/bank clerk. 1 .... nurse. 7 nurse/office work/selling 1 . 1 2 postmistress/conductress/sewing preacher. 1 bank & office work . 5 clerk/driver. .... 1 postmistress. 1 airline hostess/hairdresser 1 builder/driver. 1 shopkeeper. 3 dressmaker. 1 none specified. mechanical engineer . 1 a the Note that eight gave a set of preferences with range along a desire for themiddle occupational ladder, rather than simply stating a desire to live and work in class occupation. Seventeen expressed that this not be England, Canada or the U.S., but many specified permanent emigration.

a teacher as a regular composition assignment. By grade: 5th-l; 14. Administered by regular - 6th-16; 7th-8; 8th-8; 9th-7; no grade given 3.

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Put togetherwith some data collected by M.G. Smith (1960), these responses show an amazingly realistic appraisal of possibilities by school children who normally are thought to have far too incomplete knowledge of their situation to be objectively realistic. M.G. Smith's questionnaire asked schoolchildren ?What work do you want to do when you leave school?? and ?What work do your parents want you to do?? He also asked young unemployed persons what jobs they were looking for. The pattern in the responses was for older children to adjust their expressed aspirations towards real prospects. For instance, 20 percent of the ten year-olds said theywanted to be doctors; only 6 percent of the 15 year-olds still said this. Similarly, for teachers the percentage dropped from 12 percent to 7.6 percent. A supporting pat tern of adjustment by age shows that favoured occupations ?medicine, mechanical work, transport? have a higher preference rate among boys than their parents, and that unpopular occupations are even more unpopular with the boys than with their parents. The preferences tabulated by M.G. Smith are reflections of the desire to escape from present circumstances tempered by the recognition of real possibilities which become more realistically understood with age. Thus it is not at all surprising thatwhile the expressed preference for professional work drops drastically between age 10 when all is equally possible to age 15, the preference for craftwork (including the better categories such as mechanics), the skills of which are theoretically still possible to a 15 year-old, should rise as a more realistic desired mode of escape from the unskilled jobs which the unemployed young men admit they are actually seeking. A further point supports this interpretation, namely the observa tion that while attendance at primary school is erratic, there is no such problem at the secondary school level because parents feel that getting into High School constitutes in itself a real step up towards occupational advance. Now the child has a real possibility of becoming at least a clerk or bookkeeper, and a further possibility of becoming a nurse, teacher, or other professional or para-professional. So at this stage parents will sacrifice to send the children to school and make sure they go every day.15 It should be clear by this point in the argument that Airy Castle

a 15. Although Airy Castle is in compulsory primary education area, attendance is irregular, and parental attitude is that when it rains it is more important to keep the children home out of the rain than have them slosh through the mud to school. The Airy Castle primary school has about 200 students (through Grade 9). Plans are afoot to build a junior secondary school. Junior secondary schools are an innovation in the Jamaican educational system. It is planned to make them part of the compulsory education programme taking children aged 10 to 15. At present, children go directly from primary to high school (or technical high school) after passing an exam (which may be taken at age 10). Those who pass the exam get scholarships to the High School case (in this in Morant Bay), and generally stay there 5 (O levels) to 7 (A levels) years. If a child does not pass the exam, and his parents can pay, and there is space, he may still go to the High School.

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residents feel themselves to be caught in a position fromwhich they cannot extricate themselves without government help. They want better paying jobs. The slogan of education as the key to well-paying jobs has been assimilated, but they also see their own labour as being under-utilized in unskilled jobs. A field-hand, for instance, complains that he has begged to be given more work to raise his weekly income, but has been forced to wait for assignments until the bookkeeper's methodical schedule catches up. Others complain of favouritism shown in hiring under a situation of oversupply of labour. A ?busha? (over seer) recalls a strike at Bowden estate a number of years ago which a collapsed after six weeks; management found that aside from bit of extra weeding needed, the net result was a savings of six weeks worth of salaries. Booker Estates in Guyana have demonstrated that it is possible to stabilize the labour force on sugar plantations and thereby increase the efficiencyof thewhole operation; but in Jamaica one a justification for not attempting this often has been that would reduce the number of people who have access to wage work. Another as objection is the evaluation of the labourers being irregular and disinterested in overtime pay. The description of the work schedule true quoted by Davis (1942:27) thirtyyears ago still holds today:

?On Monday the worker comes and 'marks out' his work for the week. Tuesday he does about five hours of work. Wednesday he does another five hours of work. Thursday he does another five hours of work. Friday he dresses up and comes to draw his pay. On Saturday and Sunday he loafs around. The week's result is fifteen hours of work.?

The conclusion some estate owners draw is still that which Davis quoted thirtyyears ago (1942:27):

?They have no continuity in their work. A man will work ten hours and earn five bob a day for several months and then disappear for a couple of months. No one is interested in bonuses or overtime pay.?

But the pattern is the result of several factors, one of which may well be that described by Hill for a similar situation in 17th century England: ?So long as there are few consumer goods within the pur chasing power of the mass of the population, there is little incentive to earn more than the subsistence wage.? (1967:124). Two other factors are simply seasonal employment (known in the sugar industry appro priately as the ?grinding season? and the ?dead season?), and task hiring. The first means that workers cannot live on wage work alone; they cultivate their own land which reduces the time they are willing to contribute to the estates. The second means general inefficiency,

This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Sat, 18 Oct 2014 17:56:49 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions caribbean studies / vol. 14, no. 1 27 as for instance, the amount of time required for bookkeepers to hand out work and keep account (thus reducing any effectiveMonday and Friday work). The majority of Airy Castle residents fluctuate, therefore, between being a ?Lumpenproletariat? and a ?working class.? The access which almost all have to small bits of food-producing land means that they have a greater security than a true Lumpenproletariat. On the other hand, most cannot support themselves on this land alone as a true peasantry. Most are unskilled or semi-skilled labourers and tradesmen dependent on a seasonal plantation wage economy which hires almost exclusively on a task or piece-work basis, and which itself operates in an insecure world market. Above this ?mass? of Airy Castle resi dents there exists a lower middle class of clerks, teachers, post mistresses, and one or two others who have managed to move upwards (e.g., through veterans pensions from the world wars, employment abroad, etc.).

Forms of Religiosity

Turning now to our subject proper, religion as defined above, we may begin with an incident bringing together various elements of the Airy Castle universe at the official opening of the Port Morant Voca tional Training Centre. This affair brought together the local com munity and a great many dignitaries such as the Custos of the Parish, the Minister of Labour and National Insurance, the Chairman of the Sugar Industry's Welfare Board, a local estate owner, several teachers a and ministers, U.N. consultant on unemployment, and a delegation of visiting labour officials from the eastern Caribbean. The meeting open ed with two local ministers leading the assembly in a hymn, a prayer, and a dedication of the building and its uses to God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. The main portion of the meeting was then a series of speeches on reasons for the centre, progress so far, programmes planned, and so on. The director of the centre, and the Honourable Mr. Newland, Minister of Labour, spoke directly to these program matic intentions. Mr. Custos Philips, a wonderfully wry English gentle man, then delivered the thanks of the Parish in a monologue of quips, commenting that while the school was admirable, the training of electricians might be facilitated if the Parish had some more electricity, and that while the TV being donated to the centre was also admirable, radios were a more reasonable mass media were it not for the fact that reception in the Parish was poor after 6 p.m. The Custos was followed by the Chairman of the Sugar Industry's Welfare Board which had refurbished the buiding and had donated the TV; he was

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full of admonitions about taking care of the building, not using it as a hideout from the police, nor as a place to smoke ganja (mara juana). After the main speeches, the chairman was asked to insert a Mrs. K. into the programme. Mrs. K. turned out to be a little local lady in her Sunday best white cotton dress and white hat, who, holding tightly to the microphone, gave a 15-minute evangelical preachment; she was quite eloquent within the bounds of the genre giving frequent exhortations to all present ?to call on Jesus as your personal Saviouf.? The dignitaries who formed a fair portion of the seated audience seemed somewhat surprised and sat stifflythrough to the end, giving her then an unenthusiastic round of applause. The reaction of the local folk crowded around the walls inside and out was just the op posite; a big round of applause and enthusiastic comments about the fine preachment. It was as if she had spoken for the local community in a local dialect not quite intelligible to the dignitaries, and as if she were directing to the dignitaries in this local mode of expression both the local community's acceptance of the paternalistically condescending admonitions of the Sugar Board official, and their thanks for the gift of the Centre. Similar instances of the use of religious idiom by members of the lower class to assert theirmoral trustworthiness could be multiplied many times. For instance, men would often conclude their expositions to me on the intolerable conditions of the poor man in Jamaica by stressing that nonetheless they were happy and contented in their faith in Jesus. The technique being employed here is utilized by many lower class groups in their relations both with themiddle class and with other lower class groups. Suttles, talking about Chicago's West Side (1968:4-5, 62, passim) points out that the problem facing lower are to their relations' class people is that ?they unable manage 'public not levels of trust satisfactorily,? that is, ?they do inspire necessary to be admitted to the middle-class world.? This creates problems for world to which must look them not only vis-a-vis the middle class they other lower class with whom for employment, but also vis-a-vis groups trust. In they have no obvious grounds for assuming mutual Chicago but in these other lower class groups are usually other ethnic groups, as Jamaica the same holds true for unidentifiable young men (feared on the thieves since crime is a common phenomenon weighing public 16 as criminals and sub consciousness), Rastafarians (similarly feared

16. A combination messianic redemptionist and black nationalist group who believe Haile and to Selassie to be God (their name comes from his pre-coronation title Ras Tafari), the forces of ? the white be Heaven. They view all black men as having been enslaved by Babylon the Bible ? but man who usurped their position as God's favourite and perverted their central demand will send for his people and carry them back to his heaven-paradise. Thus, the is to Africa, and they are divided over whether ?rehabilitation? efforts by Jamaican repatriation* as a to Government should be accepted in the meantime or whether they should be regarded plot

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versives), and other ?strange? people. Use of the Christian idiom as a language in which declarations of morality are made is thus a protective device in establishing grounds for identification and inter action among people who do not know each other personally. As Suttles suggests:

?It is possible ... to look upon communities as a confederation of groups and organizations which support morality primarily as a means of protecting themselves against one another. In this sense public morality is not so much the heartfelt sentiments of people as a set of defensive guarantees... Within the privacy of their own local groups people may fall back on quite different sets of standards and practices.* (1968:4).

Reading between the lines, one can discern a similar procedure in the conversion of Jamaican slaves to Christianity in their attempts to improve their standing vis-a-vis the nominally Christian white upper class of colonial days:

?The whole advantage to be derived by negroes from becoming Christians seemed to consist with them in two points: being a supe rior species of magic itself, it preserved them from black obeah; and by enabling them to take an oath upon the Bible to the truth of any lie which itmight suit them to tell, they believed itwould give them the power of humbugging the white people with perfect ease and convenience. They had observed the importance attached by the whites to such an attestation, and the conviction which it always appeared to carry with it; as to the crime or penalty of perjury, of that they were totally ignorant or at least indifferent; therefore they were perfectly ready to "buss the book" which they considered as a piece of buckra superstition, mighty useful to the negroes, and cared nothing taking their oath upon a Bible to a lie.? (M.G. Lewis: 1861:169).

Christian declarations, seen in this light, make intelligible several aspects of religious history in Jamaica. First of all, recruitment to the various Christian sects fits nicely with the several social status groups to which the differentmissionaries catered. The displayed a cavalier interest and reaped a superficial result: a fee was required for baptizing a slave. At first this fee served to keep Chris tianitywhite: in 1774 to have a slave baptized cost his master ?1-3-9 and by 1800 itwas more than ?3 (O. Patterson: 1967:207). Later this fee was reduced to 2s.6d. with the result that it became ?customafy simply to assemble from fiftyto one hundred slaves, ask them their

destroy their will for crepatriation.* Although there have been from time to time violent elements in the Rasta movement, their doctrine is a pacific one and they preach love and understanding. Normally, they are very distintive by sight, cultivating beards and long ?dreadlocks? (matted and plaited hair).

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names and then baptize them en masse, the rector receiving two shillings and sixpence for each slave? (Ibid., 208). The Moravians, who arrived in Jamaica in 1754 also accommodated themselves to the upper class (especially after the crisis inwhich the planters challenged their right to remain, accusing them of treason for not wanting to serve in the militia at a time of slave unrest amid so few whites), and thereby engendered little slave loyalty.The Methodists were a bit more successful, significantlydrawing most of theirnonwhite members from freeNegroes (those towhom a public facade of Christian respectability would have been most useful). The were the most successful: their first two major figures were former North American Negro slaves. the ex Secondly, after emancipation, church membership among 17 at slaves declined, and myalism took an upswing. In part, least, this must have been due to the use of Christianity as a vehicle for express ing slave desire for freedom and personal value, and the subsequent disillusionment with the realities of how much emancipation changed was case with a their status. It is possible that the reverse the euphoric feeling developing that itwas no longer necessary slavishly can to cultivate white ways. In a sense, these two possibilities be removed the advan collapsed into one. The lifting of the slave system a for an tages of presenting oneself as Christian except increasingly for whom a of specific class: the upwardly mobile, presentation of that respectability was a requirement of the achievement mobility, to be admitted is, in Suttle's terms ?inspiring levels of trust necessary to the middle class world.? For this group it was not only necessary to middle but to to demonstrate a respectability assimilable the class, the lower draw a boundary distinguishing them from unrespectable classes. march We can trace the history of this group's middle-class-ward we can see the of the only indirectly, but operation process clearly as colourful in West Indian society today. There is perhaps nothing dressed like Victorian ladies and as the sight of rural Jamaicans gent to and from church. Men leman on their Sunday morning promenade and their Bibles and wear jackets, ties and hats, carry hymnals; only with in the summer heat. young boys are allowed to dispense jackets and often Women wear white or pastel dresses and hats, sport gay is is not the donning of one's sun parasols. But what important merely real status distinction that, among ?Sunday best,? but the very of such attire and in a impoverished folk, the possession membership C.L.R. James church bring. The point is admirably made by writing of his Trinidadian youth: a dance in which weeds were used to induce 17. A kind of anti-black magic, organized around state until an antidote was administered thereby demonstrating tfce possession or an unconscious man over life and death. power of the

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?...my grandfather had raised himself above the mass of poverty, dirt, ignorance and vice which in those far off days surrounded the islands of black lower middle class respectability like a sea ever threatening to engulf them. I believe I understand pretty much how the average sixteenth century Puritan in England felt amid the decay which followed the dissolutions of the monasteries, particularly in the small towns. The need for distance which my aunts felt for Matthew Bondman and his sister was compounded of self-defense and fear. My grandfather went to church every Sunday morning at eleven o'clock wearing in the broiling sun a frock coat, striped trousers and top hat, with his walking stick in hand, surrounded by his family, the underwear of his women crackling with starch. Respectability was not an ideal, it was an armour.* (1963:17).

The same point from the opposite missionary point of view is made by Merle Davis:

?A practical barrier to the growth of the Church in Jamaica is its tradition of respectability and exclusiveness as an institution... It is an exception to see a barefooted Jamaican in church. The poorest people, who are without decent clothing and whose children are shoeless and ragged, keep away from the long established Churches. Also automatically excluded are the people living in common-law or promiscuous relationship and the many young mothers whose illegitimate children have been abandoned by the father. Still others are prevented from attending church because they know they will be expected to contribute to the collection.* (1942:39).

These points are again strikingly made in conversations I had with Airy Castle residents. On the subject of attire, I had the following conversation with an Indian man who expressed a desire to get married in the Baptist church:

A: Do you go to services in the church here? I: Well, you know, hardship of time take me: I don't have the monies to buy the garment, you know, to appear decent as I believe I should. It is up to a jacket; I can't have a jacket. A: Well, do you need a jacket to go to church? I: Well, no, but you know when you go church here among the coloured people, they criticize you without a coat; but we don't ? want a garment right in the heart. We ask God to live here (hands over his heart); when you hold God, he's in here, you just happy; you can't do no wrong; you're loving: you love everybody and yourself; you love the poor; you love the rich. Doesn't matter what a man have, whether he a king or a mil lionaire, he have faith that he can move mountain and if he don't have charity, the charity the poor, he don't have nothing.

Such statements eloquent of Christian morality are not uncommon among those who feel too poor to go to church. The curious conflict between Christian morality and the demands of status-identity comes

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through nowhere more clearly than in a discussion I had with a leader in the Baptist church:

A: Many of the poor people here don't go to church. I: Yes, this is true.We try to encourage them but they don't come; don't know why. A: Some of them say it is because they don't have the proper clothes: tie and jacket. ? I: You don't need a jacket if you are a poor man and don't have a jacket, people know, and you won't be turned away. A: Yes, they say that too, but they say that if you go to church without a coat and tie, people will talk and criticize. I: Yes, they do but they shouldn't. (Emphasis added). We wear a coat because that is our way. But if a man needs a tie we should give it to him; I've been trying to encourage a man down the bottom there to come and he told me the same that he didn't have a tie; 'well, I'll lend you one: I'll give you one, man', ? but I always forget. (Emphasis added). We try to encourage the poor to join the church; if they don't have the money we say don't worry about the money but join us; but they don't come.

That people living in consensual union should be proscribed from church membership is more understandable, since this is ?living in sin? and according to Protestant theology the church is Christ's bride and must keep herself pure in anticipation of his . But while morality in this puritan sense is a central religious concern of church members it is again mediated by status and by public secrecy. A well-respected church member who enjoyed an irregular visiting union (and knew that I knew it) insisted that ?living in sin? was a serious breach of church rules:

A: People say that if a man and a woman live together but are not married they can come to services occasionally but they may not join. I: Yes, well, in the case of concubinage, they are living in sin. A: O.K., but ... take a church member who sins, say he steals, will the church kick him out? I: No, they don't kick him out, but if I see you doing wrong I will take you into the church and we will talk with you and pray with you to mend your ways. But now concubinage is different, is living in sin and we try to encourage these people to get married. A: ... maybe the church is a bit too strict... If they allowed faith ful concubinage couples into the church maybe their combined pressure and help could get couples married quicker. I: Well, I don't know about this strictness; I know it is a rule that concubinage cannot be let into the church, and we try to help people to marry. I lived in concubinage 12 years before my first marriage but I was young and giddy, but then when I got to

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marry people helped: here boy, take this, and someone gave a cake...

It may be significant that at the time of the conversation, he was not living in ?concubinage? but only enjoying a visiting relation, i.e., it was not a public flouting of the rules. On the other hand, it is of note that the concubinage of his youth was with a deacon's daughter. Note also the social control aspect of being a member of a church: if one steals, the others of the church attempt to set one straight. Sermons at the local Church of God were full of this fundamentalist refrain: ?If you see me do wrong, call me down.? The relation between a respectability, status and church membership is fairly clear. As labourer complained:

?I would like to get married and to join my Church, but condition ally I can't find it. You see how hard and how difficult I have to ... undergo Have no money. Just can't survive. Conditions just hold me as gravity.*

3

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