What is a good book about the urban poor of Kingston, Jamaica?

Show all answers

Life and debt is a wonderful depiction of why the inner city is ravished with poverty.

The film opens with the arrival of vacationers to the island-- utilizing Ms. Kincaids text as voice-over, we begin to understand the profound contrasts behind the breathtaking natural beauty of the island. The poetic urgency of Ms. Kincaids text lends a first-person understanding of the legacy of the country's colonial past, and to it's present day economic challenges. For example, as we see a montage of the vacationer in her hotel, voice-over: "When you sit down to eat your delicious meal, it's better that you don't know that most of what you are eating came off a ship from Miami. There is a world of something in this, but I can't go into it right now." (adapted excerpt "A Small Place")

As we begin to understand the post-colonial landscape outlined in Ms. Kincaids text, we cut to archival footage of Former Prime Minister Michael Manley in a post-independence speech condemning the IMF stating that "the Jamaican government will not accept anybody, anywhere in the world telling us what to do in our own country. Above all, we're not for sale."

Former Prime Minister Michael Manley was elected on a non-IMF platform in 1976. He was forced to sign Jamaica's first loan agreement with the IMF in 1977 due to lack of viable alternatives-- a global pattern common throughout the Third World. At present Jamaica owes over $4.5 billion to the IMF, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) among other international lending agencies yet the meaningful development that these loans have "promised" has yet to manifest. In actuality the amount of foreign exchange that must be generated to meet interest payments and the structural adjustment policies which have been imposed with the loans have had a negative impact on the lives of the vast majority. The country is paying out increasingly more than it receives in total financial resources, and if benchmark conditionalities are not met, the structural adjustment program is made more stringent with each re negotiation. To improve balance of payments, devaluation (which raises the cost of foreign exchange), high interest rates (which raise the cost of credit), and wage guidelines (which effectively reduce the price of local labor) are prescribed. The IMF assumes that the combination of increased interest rates and cutbacks in government spending will shift resources from domestic consumption to private investment. It is further assumed that keeping the price of labor down will be an incentive for increasing employment and production. Increased unemployment, sweeping corruption, higher illiteracy, increased violence, prohibitive food costs, dilapidated hospitals, increased disparity between rich and poor characterize only part of the present day economic crisis.

http://www.lifeanddebt.org/

http://www.jamaica-
gleaner.com/gleaner/20010823/cleisure/...

http://www.usaid.gov/stories/jamaica/ss_jamaica_innercity.html

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20070407T220000-0500_121402_OBS_INNER_CITY_YOUTHS_LAUD_AIR_JAMAICA_INTERNSHIP_PROGRAMME_.asp

boy_jam_arch

SEEING IS BELIVING COME TO JAMAICA AND CHECK IT OUT.

her life

WHY DONT U GO FIND A BOOK ABOUT THE URBAN POOR OF WHERE YOUR FROM JAMAICA RICH IN CULTURE PRIDE AND GANJA SO FIND ANOTHER FLAW WITH THOSE PEOPLE

bombastic

Born Fi Dead, can't remember the author but you can check Amazon.com or other online sources. It's an excellent book. Check out writers such as Orane Smith "Dawn at Lover's leap," and "Reggae Gold," or look up Jamaican authors and you will find an array of writers.

shasha

learning all you can about a country of your choice is admirable.I too want to know more,Yes I was there and will be returning again cannot wait.......[.her life... get a life....why so darn rude.to this questioner..obviosly there is an interest..jeeez.!!

lazazeen

Not sure but is the classic case of internal migration. Rural poor moving into the city in search of better opportunities.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: