Jamaicans claim their home has more churches per square mile than any other country, yet it is one of the most murderous nations in the world. Its reggae superstars and celebrity sprinters outshine musicians and athletes in countries hundreds of times its size. Jamaica’s economy is anemic and too many of its people impoverished, yet there are, according to international surveys, some of the happiest on earth. In The Confounding Island , Orlando Patterson returns to the place of his birth to reckon with its history and culture.
Contents
Introduction
Explaining Postcolonial Failure
- Why Has Jamaica Trailed Barbados on the Path to Sustained Growth?
The Role of Institutions, Colonialism, and Cultural Appropriation
- Why Is Demo-cratic Jamaica So Violent?
Revisiting the “Democratic Peace” Thesis
- Were Female Workers Preferred in Jamaica’s Early Economic Development?
Employment, Urbanization, and Gender among the Postcolonial Proletariat
- Three Cultural Puzzles
- Why Are Jamaicans the Fastest Runners in the World?
The Institutionalization of Athletic Prowess
- Why Did Jamaicans Riot at a Cricket Match against England?
The Ritual of Cricket in West Indian Societies
- Why Does Globalization Not Produce Cultural Homogenization?
The Example of Jamaican Reggae Music
III. The Failures of Policy and Politicians
- Why Do Policies to Help the Poor So Often Fail?
A Jamaican Case Study
- Sad about Manley
Portrait of a Flawed Charisma
Epilogue
Notes
Works Cited
Acknowledgments
Index
About The Author
Orlando Patterson is John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University; the author of Freedom in the Making of Western Culture, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, and Slavery and Social Death (Harvard); and the editor of The Cultural Matrix: Understanding Black Youth (Harvard), for which he was awarded the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Lifetime Achievement. His work has been honored by the American Sociological Association and the American Political Science Association, among others, and he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He served as Special Advisor for Social Policy and Development to Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley and was awarded the Order of Distinction by the Government of Jamaica.
