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. AHISTORICALOVERVIEW EnglishcolonialruleinJamaicabeganin1655afterbeingcap- turedfromSpain.SoJamaicadoeshaveaSpanishhistory,brief thoughitmayhavebeen.ChristopherColumbuslandedinthe islandonhissecondvoyagetotheso-calledNewWorldin1494. TherehemettheTainos.SoJamaicaalsohasaprehispanichis- tory.JamaicawasinhabitedbytheTainossomewherebetween 600and900 AD.Sadly,thearrivaloftheEuropeansmeantthe demiseoftheindigenouspopulationinJamaicaasaresultof forcedlabourandimporteddiseases.Verylittleisrecordedabout theJamaicanTainos,buttothemJamaicaowesitsname,which comesfromtheTainowordXaymacawhichmeansLandofWood andWater.OurCoatofArmsbearstheimagesofamaleandfe- maleTaino. RMC,13(2002),181-210 JAMAICA:FORTYYEARSOFINDEPENDENCE/191 GoldwastheprimemotivationforSpanishoccupationin theAmericas,butasJamaicalackedthecommodity,itwasnever abletoattractlargenumbersofsettlers.Throughouttheperiod ofSpanishoccupation,thewhitepopulationfluctuatedbetween afewhundredandafewthousandsouls.Toreplenishthenative Indianpopulation,theSpanishbegantointroduceAfricanslavesin around1517.Untilthen,theonlyAfricansontheislandwere thepersonalhouseholdservantsofafewsettlers.Thesedidnot comedirectlyfromAfricabutfromEuropeancountrieswheresla- verywasalreadyinstitutionalised.Inthecenturyandahalfof theirrule,theSpanishmadetwointroductionsthatbecamepiv- otaltoJamaica’sfuture:theybroughtsugarcaneandslavesfrom Africatocultivatethecane. TheBritishinvasionandcapturein1655capitalisedonthis nascentsugarindustry.Thiswasthebeginningofwhatwastobe- cometheeconomicbackboneofJamaicaforthenextthreecen- turiesofBritishdominionovertheisland.Withthehelpofthe AtlanticslavetradethatprovidedaconsistentlabourforceofAfri- cans,theEnglishturnedtheislandintoonevastsugarplantation. AcuriousphenomenonexistedinJamaicaandotherWestIn- diancolonies.LiketheirSpanishpredecessors,theEnglishdidnot establishsettlercommunitiesintheislands.Theplantationown- erspreferredtorulefromafar.Thisexplainstosomeextentthe demographicmake-upofthecountry.Historically,thewhitepopu- lationhasremainedasmallpercentageofthetotalpopulation oftheisland. Theslavetradewasabolishedin1807butitwasnotuntil 1838thatslaveryitselfwasabolished.Butemancipationdidnot bringwithitpolitical,socialandeconomicfreedom.Itwasal- mostahundredyearslater,afterintermittentliberationstruggles thatthemovementtowardpoliticallibertybegantotakeshape;the mostprominentwastheMorantBayRebellionin1865.In1866 JamaicabecameafullCrownColonyofEngland. Theneedforadequatesuppliesofcheaplabourtoreplace thosewhohadlefttheplantationaftertheemancipationof slaves,ledinthefirstinstancetotheimportationofwhiteinden- turedservantsfromEurope(Englanditself,Scotland,Germany andIreland).Failuretoattractadequatenumbersofcheaplabour RMC,13(2002),181-210 192/VILMAMCNISH ledtotheimportationofindenturedlabourfromIndiaandChina. Jews,whoalreadyhadapresenceintheislandfromtheearly sixteenthcenturyasindenturedservants,alsoincreasedinnum- bers.MigrantArabtradersalsojoinedthemosaic,contributing totoday’suniqueraciallymixedJamaicanpeople,givingriseto ourmotto“OutofManyOnePeople”. FROMCOLONYTONATION Althoughtherewereantecedents,suchastheriseofMarcusGarvey andhispreachingofblackconsciousnessinthe1920s,formost politicalhistoriansthemovementtowardself-governmentand independenceinJamaicagenuinelybeganinthe1930s.This periodofpoliticalturmoilsawthebirthofthetwomajorpoliti- calparties,whichhavedominatedpoliticsinJamaicasincethen —TheJamaicaLabourParty(JLP),andthePeople’sNationalParty (PNP),foundedbyAlexanderBustamanteandNormanManley,who aretodayconsideredfathersofthenation.Thepartiesemerged outofthedynamictradeunionmovement,whichhadbythen developedtodemandbetterlabourconditions,oftenthrough violentprotests. In1944,theBritishGovernmentgrantedanewconstitu- tionthatsawtwofundamentalchanges:universaladultsuf- frageandanelectedmajorityinthelegislature.Jamaica’sfirst generalelectiontookplaceinDecember1944.Themembersof legislatureandtheministersofdepartmenthadnoexecutive responsibilitiesandcontinuedtobeanswerabletotheColo- nialOfficethroughtheGovernor.Thiswasprogressivelyaltered andby1958Jamaicawasanindependentcountryineveryinternal matter,withonlybillsrelatingtodefenceandinternationalaf- fairsbeingreservedfortheQueen. Animportantfeatureofthispre-independentperiod, particularlyinthe1950s,wasmigration;bothinternallyfrom ruraltourbantownsandexternallytotheUnitedKingdomandNorth America.Migrationhadanimpactonthecountry’seconomyas aconsiderableamountofmoneywassenthomebythesemigrants. RemittancescontinuetocontributetotheJamaicaneconomy andthesurvivaloffamiliesin. RMC,13(2002),181-210 JAMAICA:FORTYYEARSOFINDEPENDENCE/193 TotaltransferofpowercameonAugust6,1962andJamaica becameanindependentnation. Jamaica’spoliticalsystemisorganisedasaparliamentary democracyoftheWestminstermodel.Thereisabicameralleg- islaturecomprisinganelectedHouseofParliament(LowerHouse) andanun-electedSenatewhosemembersareappointedbythe PrimeMinisterandtheLeaderoftheOpposition.Jamaicaisa memberoftheCommonwealthofNationsandretainstheBritish SovereignasHeadofState,representedbyaGovernorGeneral whoactsontheadviceofthePrimeMinister.Ashasoccurredin formerBritishcoloniessuchasAustralia,NewZealandand Canada,therehavebeendiscussionsfromtimetotimeonthe needtoadoptarepublicansystemofgovernmentasmostCom- monwealthcountrieshavedone.WhilethemajorityofJamaicans professnoparticularloyaltyorallegiancetoHerMajesty,thereis thequestionofthekindofRepublicthatshouldreplacethe currentsystem.Whetheranexecutivepresidentialsystemsuch asthatintheUnitedStates,MexicoandotherLatinAmericancoun- tries,withadividedCongress;apoliticalsystemsuchasthatin France;ormerelyaceremonialpresidentsuchasthecaseof India,itselfaformerBritishcolony. INDEPENDENTJAMAICA Againstthisbackdrop,Inowturntothecoreofmypresenta- tion:Jamaicaasanindependentnationoverthelastfourdecades. Forthepurposesofthispresentation,Ihavedividedpost-colo- nialJamaicaintofourdistinctperiods:first,theperiodimmedi- atelyafterindependencewhenasasmallstateJamaicasought toestablishitselfasaviableandsovereignpoliticalentityand finditsfootingintheworld;second,thedecadeoftheseven- tiescharacterisedbyanattempttomoveawayfromtheideo- logicalconservatismoftheearlyyearsofindependenceandthe establishmentofaliberal/socialistregime;third,theeightieswith areversaltowardsconservativetendencies;fourthandfinally, thepost-ColdWarperiod. Politically,Jamaicaenteredindependencewithfewappar- entmajorproblems.Therewerenoseriousracialproblems.The RMC,13(2002),181-210 194/VILMAMCNISH newnationwasfairlyhomogenousandawell-organisedtwo- partysystemofgovernmentwasestablished.Itwasfortunatein havinganexperiencedandcompetentCivilService,ahighlyre- spectedjudiciaryandanefficientpoliceforce.Thetransitionfrom colonialismtoindependencewasthereforerelativelysmoothand wasnotmarredbythepoliticalupheavalswitnessedin Africa andAsiaatthetime.Jamaicahasbeenastabledemocracysince independence.Alternationinpoliticshasseenthetwodominant partiesassuminggovernmentatintervals:theJamaicaLabourParty andthePeople’sNationalParty.Overtheyears,thedominanceof thesepartieshasbeensuchthatithasbeenvirtuallyimpossible forthirdpartiestosurvive. TheeconomicpolicyoftheGovernmentafterindependence wasactuallyacontinuationoftheapproachofitspredecessorsin thefiftiesbasedonthePuertoRicanmodelofgrowththrough industrialisation.Duringthefirstdecadeafterindependence, theJamaicaneconomyexperiencedstronggrowthwith GDPaver- aging5.2percentperannumbetween1962and1973.Thiseco- nomicgrowthwaslargelytheresultofforeigndirectinvestment, whichdevelopedthemining,tourismandmanufacturingsectors. SinceWorldWarII,theeconomyhadbeenrevolutionisedbythe exploitationofbauxiteandinthespaceofafewyearsJamaica hadbecometheworld’slargestsource.Asthepolicyofindus- trialisationwasvigorouslypursuedeconomicactivityexpanded duringthisperiodsothatapartfrombauxiteandthetraditional sugarandbananaindustries,athrivingmanufacturingsectorde- velopedinfoodprocessing,textiles,construction,breweriesand bottlingplants,amongothers.Fiscalincentivesofferedbythe governmentplayedanimportantroleinattractinginvestment.