English-speaking Caribbean Research Articles

Teorías de dependencia económica en el Caribe y Latinoamérica : un estudio comparativo

This essay investigates some contributions to the economic theory of development from Latin America and the English-speaking Caribbean, based on the concept of external dependency and the institutionalization of underdevelopment. It seeks to demonstrate that there is an underlying similarity in the methodology of the two schools of thought. This similarity derives from a common need to find an appropriate theoretical frame of reference for the interpretation and analysis of the economic process in both regions. It is often argued that the development of the "economic theory of dependency" is at heart a response to the dynamics of social and economic changes in both regions: however, it is truly a part of the process of changes themselves.

From Vodou to Zouk: A Bibliographic Guide to Music of the French-speaking Caribbean and its Diaspora (review)

Reviewed by: From Vodou to Zouk: A Bibliographic Guide to Music of the French-speaking Caribbean and its Diaspora Ken Archer From Vodou to Zouk: A Bibliographic Guide to Music of the French-speaking Caribbean and its Diaspora. By John Gray. (Black Music Reference Series, vol. 1.) Nyack, NY: African Diaspora Press, 2010. [vii, 201p. ISBN 9780984413409. $79.95.] Bibliography, index. In undertaking the production of this bibliographical guide to music in the African diaspora, Gray sets about to develop on the existing bibliographies, in particular Afro-American Folk Culture by John F. Szwed and Roger D. Abrahams (Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1978), and the four-volume work Bibliography of Black Music by Dominique René de Lerma (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1981–84). Taken together, these two works provided a comprehensive resource of scholarly works about music among black populations across the globe. While Szwed and Abrahams focused primarily on folk cultural forms in the western hemisphere, de Lerma engaged African diasporic music of all genres and considered a broader geographical area that included music of the African continent. Since the publication of these two outstanding works there has been an outpouring of published research worldwide, both scholarly and popular. With this development over the last three decades, the updating of the bibliographical records and the publication of a resource such as From Vodou to Zouk became mandatory. Gray must be lauded for having successfully undertaken the task, particularly when taken together with his other bibliographical guides on Jamaican popular music, Afro-Cuban music, Afro-Brazilian music, popular music of the English-speaking Caribbean, music of the African diaspora, and jazz avant-garde. The core of its content considers the geographical areas of Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana, but other Caribbean islands with a French-speaking history such as St. Lucia and Dominica are given coverage, as are the francophone and Creole-speaking Caribbean and its diaspora found in France, the United States and Canada. If only the bibliographical data that Gray provides on these areas is taken into account, it becomes clear that he has been tremendously successful in producing a guide that significantly updates the existing resources, particularly the two major ones mentioned above. A numerical comparison of From Vodou to Zouk to de Lerma’s work will bear this out. De Lerma deals with the francophone Caribbean in the third volume, “Geographical Studies,” of his Bibliography of Black Music. In this volume there are 106 entries for Haiti. Dominica and Guadeloupe are treated under the category “Leeward Islands,” under which there are 7 entries, the titles of which make no specific mention of the French-speaking islands. Similarly, of the 17 entries under “Windward Islands” 3 are related to Martinique, 3 refer to St. Lucia, and another 3 refer to dance in the French Caribbean. These numbers are outstripped in Gray’s work. For instance, in the subsection entitled “Regional Studies,” there are 189 entries for Haiti, 65 for Martinique, 53 for Guadeloupe, 23 for St. Lucia, and 12 for Dominica. This does not include entries that relate to these nations in other sections of the book. This difference in the increased quantity of bibliographical references in Gray as compared to de Lerma does not detract from the importance and value of the earlier work. Instead it highlights the great attention that has been paid to the study of music in this geographical area, and the remarkable outburst in scholarly activity that resulted in the wealth of material since the publication of the bibliographical works by de Lerma and Szwed and Abrahams. While Gray’s listing includes works by authors such as Daniel Crowley, published in the 1950s, the vast majority were published within the last three decades, and reflects the works of contemporary scholars like Gage Avril, Jocelyne Guilblaut, Dominique Cyrille, Gerdés Fleurant, Michael Largey and others. As such From Vodou to Zouk represents a major update of available bibliographical guides. This bibliography is divided into four main sections: “Cultural History and the Arts,” “Festivals and Carnival,” “Music of the French-speaking Caribbean and its Diaspora,” and “Biographical and Critical Studies.” Of these, the third-mentioned [End Page 76] constitutes...

Pillars for the Care of Older Persons in the Caribbean

Pillars for the Care of Older Persons in the Caribbean: A Comprehensive Community-Based Framework (Pillars) is a hybrid of multiple public health frameworks developed through community-based participatory research processes. Health and social service professionals, governmental organizations, elderly persons, and others from across the English-speaking Caribbean countries developed the Pillars framework to address the growing elderly population and with an aim to increase the number of healthy and active years of life. The Pillars framework consists of four interrelated pillars organized across multiple sectors of society: primary care with care management; integrated services coordination; population-based health promotion and disease prevention; and planning and accountability. Pillars is enabled by an envisioned integrated system of information technology that will increase community-based services delivery, interprofessional communication and coordination, and will aggregate data with all identifiers removed for surveillance, planning, forecasting, policy making, evaluation, and research.

Cervical Cancer Screening Among Ethnically Diverse Black Women: Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs, and Practices

This is a descriptive study of cervical cancer screening knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices among ethnically diverse black women. We conducted 6 focus groups with Haitian, African, English-speaking Caribbean, and African American women recruited from a federally qualified health center. Overall, there was limited knowledge and confusion across ethnic groups about cervical cancer and its risk factors, the Pap test, and the human papilloma virus (HPV) and its association with cervical cancer. At the same time, there were distinct differences between ethnic groups in knowledge, practices, and cultural beliefs about cervical cancer. African women knew the least among all the groups, while African American participants had the greatest knowledge of HPV. However, their knowledge was still limited. Patient-doctor relationship was the single most important facilitator for cervical cancer screening. Barriers to cervical cancer screening included cost, busy work schedule, fear of the unknown, lack of insurance or being unemployed, and fear of disclosing immigration status. Interventions with ethnically diverse black women would benefit from recognizing cultural barriers and misconceptions that vary by ethnic group. Culturally based strategies suggested by the focus groups include the use of existing social networks, the use of indigenous community-based health workers, and the inclusion of women of all ages in cervical cancer education because of the roles they have in extended families.

Access to Digital Legal Information: Focus on the English-Speaking Caribbean Countries

The Internet and various digitization initiatives have opened up immediate access to legal materials such as statutes, bills, law reports etc. through government websites and the Legal Information Institutes. There is a dearth in the legal information that is free and openly accessible for countries in the English-speaking Caribbean even though there has been relative progress in the last ten years. A number of these countries have Freedom of Information or Access to Information legislation which requires that government must make information openly accessible to its citizens. This paper reviews developments and government efforts in providing free and accessible legal information in Belize, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. It discusses and highlights observations over the last ten years, developments and trends including the role of commercial publishers in the region. It concludes with a recommendation for a collaborative initiative in the region using the Canadian Legal Information Institute model.

Lost in Translation? EU Development Policy in the Anglophone and Francophone Eastern Caribbean

The European Union's process of establishing Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with its members' former colonies – such as the English-speaking Caribbean – has attracted much critical commentary, which focuses on how EPAs go well beyond what is necessary for WTO-compliance and force many smaller, weaker countries into liberalised reciprocal trading relationships in which they are poorly equipped to compete. A lesser-discussed dimension is found in the case of the French Caribbean Overseas Departments of Martinique and Guadeloupe. As integral regions of the EU, their experience of European policy differs markedly from that of their independent Anglophone neighbours, as they continue to enjoy protected markets and heavy subsidies. This article draws out some of the contradictions and inconsistencies in European development policy towards the Eastern Caribbean. It also considers, theoretically speaking, some of the reasons why this divergence exists, and what the implications are for EU rhetoric and practice on issues of development.

Protective and Risk Factors Associated with Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in the English-speaking Caribbean: A Literature Review

To identify risk and protective factors associated with adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) in the English-speaking Caribbean through a structured literature review. Peer-reviewed articles published between January 1998 and December 2009 focused on the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents, aged 10-19 years, were included in this review. Articles were organized according to Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Research gaps were also identified. A total of 30 studies assessed ASRH. At the individual level, gender, psychosocial well-being, and mental health were key factors associated with ASRH. Within the microsystem, the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship, the presence of violence, substance abuse or mental health problems in the family, and peer relationships were important determinants of ASRH. Within the macrosystem, cultural attitudes had an effect on youth's sexual behavior and generally, safer sex practices appear to be increasing. Within the chronosystem, a history of physical and sexual abuse was associated with several ASRH outcomes. A research agenda that incorporates a multisystem approach and advocates for the inclusion of socially marginalized youth is needed to fully understand and adequately address ASRH in the Caribbean.

Water policy development and governance in the Caribbean: an overview of regional progress

Water management institutions and arrangements in many Caribbean states have not, until recently, altered substantially for some sixty years with the current arrangements reflecting the predominant governance paradigm of a transitional colonial era. This is most obvious in the continuance of a sectoral approach to what might be referred to as the business of government. This, however, is beginning to change such that the water sector in the Caribbean region exhibits varying stages of institutional re-ordering as it seeks to respond to challenges of increasing demand on and for water. This paper reviews the institutional status of water management and water policy developments in the Caribbean through examples from fifteen English-speaking Caribbean states. The trends and influences that are contributing to policy change and governance responses are examined and critiqued, in order to explore where and what potential tensions the re-ordering might give rise to.

Quality of life of patients with epilepsy living in Kingston, Jamaica

Quality of life in epilepsy has not been documented in the English-speaking Caribbean. The aim of this study was to explore the quality of life of persons with epilepsy (PWE) living in Jamaica and determine the impact of socioeconomic factors by examining two socially distinct groups in semiprivate (Epilepsy Centre of Jamaica) and public (Kingston Public Hospital) outpatient clinics. One hundred nine consecutive patients were interviewed. Quality of life was assessed using the Quality of Life in Epilepsy-31 inventory (QOLIE-31). Both groups were matched for gender, epilepsy syndrome, epilepsy duration, and number of antiepileptic drugs. Predictors of quality of life included number of antiepileptic drugs ( P = 0.039), epilepsy duration ( P < 0.05), and functional status ( P < 0.001). Neither seizure frequency nor socioeconomic status predicted QOLIE-31 scores. Mean QOLIE-31 total score (61.57 vs 49.2, P < 0.001) and QOLIE-31 subscale scores (with the exception of the Seizure Worry score [53.8 vs 48.2, P = 0.08]) were significantly higher than the corresponding t scores. The QOLIE-31 can reliably be used in Jamaica. Our findings suggest Jamaicans living with epilepsy perceive themselves as having a better than expected quality of life.

A Lost Opportunity? A Commentary on the Jamaican Experience of Independence

A brief commentary of Jamaica's experience of independence in light of previous work done on by UWI scholar, Louis Lindsay, on the nature of post-colonial politics and mentalities in the English-speaking Caribbean.

En el cincuentenario de Caribbean Studies: algunas notas sobre las universidades del Caribe y sus revistas académicas

Ces notes commémoratives du cinquantenaire de Caribbean Studies sont une approximation au sujet des revues académiques publiées dans les institutions universitaires dans la région de la Caraïbe. Dans la première partie on explique, de manière succincte, l’origine et le développement des institutions universitaires et la fondation des revues académiques universitaires dans la Caraïbe hispano- et anglophones jusqu’à la décennie des années 1960. Dans la section suivante, l’essai discute les premières revues qui présentent une approche régionale - Caribbean Quarterly et Social and Economic Studies – et leur évaluation jusqu’à leur arbitrage. La section suivante se concentre sur l’origine et le développement de Caribbean Studies , avec une analyse biométrique de plusieurs aspects comme la provenance des auteurs, les sujets d’étude, entre autres. La dernière partie réalise un regard sommaire sur le panorama actuel des revues consacrées à la Caraïbe, et se finit par de brèves conclusions.

The application of the social tenure domain model (STDM) to family land in Trinidad and Tobago

Family land is a form of communal tenure found in some of the countries of the English-speaking Caribbean inclusive of Trinidad and Tobago. It has been problematic to administer, is sometimes the source of land conflict and litigation, it has been seen as the cause of many land-related problems such as land degradation and fragmentation, and has therefore been targeted for eradication by land title registration programmes. Informal occupation of many years standing on state and private land is also widespread in Trinidad and Tobago. Recording the existence of these extant extralegal but legitimate rights would go a long way to improving the land administration and the security of tenure on these lands. The Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) is a logical and structured standard format for describing the land–human relationship, using an ontology that would allow for sharing of understanding, data and, eventually, software among jurisdictions. This standard is being developed, but has not as yet been finalised, by a technical committee of the ISO (The International Organization for Standardization). The Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM) is a refinement of the LADM, also being developed by ISO, related to describing more nuanced tenure and land administration components and arrangements that do not fit into the more general descriptions within the LADM, such as customary tenure and informal settlements. This paper charts a preliminary investigation into the applicability of the STDM descriptions to the particular land tenure situations of Trinidad and Tobago and to other countries in the Caribbean in which family land and other informal tenure forms are found. Describing these rights using the standard would then allow for the communication and understanding of the tenure situation and should support the eventual recordation of these rights.

Self-assessed health of young-to-middle-aged adults in an English-speaking Caribbean nation.

Background:Gender differences in self-assessed health in young-to-middle-aged adults are understudied in the English-speaking Caribbean nations.Aims:The aims of the current research are to (1) provide demographic characteristics of young adults, (2) examine the self-assessed health of young adults, (3) identify social determinants that explain good health status for young adults, (4) determine the magnitude of each social determinant, and (5) reveal gender differences in self-assessed health.Materials and methods:This study extracted a subsample of 3,024 respondents from a larger nationally cross-sectional survey of 6,782 Jamaicans. Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS v 16.0. Descriptive statistics were used to provide demographic information on the sample. Chi-square was used to examine the association between nonmetric variables, and an independent sample t-test was used to test the relationships between metric and dichotomous categorical variables. Logistic regression examined the relationship between the dependent variable and some predisposed independent variables.Results:One percent of the sample claimed injury and 8% illness. Self-reported diagnosed illnesses were influenza (12.7%), diarrhea (2.9%), respiratory disease (14.1%), diabetes mellitus (7.8%), hypertension (7.8%), arthritis (2.9%), and unspecified conditions (41.2%). The mean length of illness was 26 days (SD = 98.9). Nine social determinants and biological conditions explained 19.2% of the variability of self-assessed health. Biological conditions accounted for 78.1% of the explanatory model.Conclusion:Injury accounts for a miniscule percentage of illness and so using it to formulate intervention policies would lack the necessary depth to effectively address the health of this cohort.

Exploring disparities and variability in perceptions and self-reported colorectal cancer screening among three ethnic subgroups of U. S. Blacks.

To explore perceptions of colorectal cancer (CRC) and self-reported CRC screening behaviors among ethnic subgroups of U. S. blacks. Descriptive, cross-sectional, exploratory, developmental pilot. Medically underserved areas in Hillsborough County, FL. 62 men and women aged 50 years or older. Ethnic subgroup distribution included 22 African American, 20 English-speaking Caribbean-born, and 20 Haitian-born respondents. Community-based participatory research methods were used to conduct face-to-face individual interviews in the community. Ethnic subgroup, health access, perceptions of CRC (e.g., awareness of screening tests, perceived risk, perceived barriers to screening), healthcare provider recommendation, and self-reported CRC screening. Awareness of CRC screening tests, risk perception, healthcare provider recommendation, and self-reported use of screening were low across all subgroups. However, only 55% of Haitian-born participants had heard about the fecal occult blood test compared to 84% for English-speaking Caribbean-born participants and 91% for African Americans. Similarly, only 15% of Haitian-born respondents had had a colonoscopy compared to 50% for the English-speaking Caribbean and African American subgroups. This exploratory, developmental pilot study identified lack of awareness, low risk perception, and distinct barriers to screening. The findings support the need for a larger community-based study to elucidate and address disparities among subgroups. Nurses play a major role in reducing cancer health disparities through research, education, and quality care. Recognition of the cultural diversity of the U. S. black population can help nurses address health disparities and contribute to the health of the community.

Second generation West Indian Americans and English in New York City

Within American sociolinguistics there is a substantial body of research on race as a social variable that conditions language behavior, particularly with regard to black speakers of African American English (AAE) in contact with their white neighbors (e.g., Wolfram, 1971; Rickford, 1985; Myhill, 1986; Bailey, 2001; Cukor-Avila, 2001). Today, the communities that sociolinguists study are more multi-layered than ever, particularly in a metropolis like New York City, thus warranting more complex analyses of the interaction between race and language. Along these lines, Spears (1988) notes the sorely underestimated social and linguistic heterogeneity of the black population in the U.S., which needs to be considered in studies of the language of black speakers. This critique is addressed in work of Winer and Jack (1997), as well as Nero (2001), for example, on the use of Caribbean English in New York City. These two studies broaden our notions of the Englishes spoken in the United States by black people, particularly first generation immigrants. The current research goes one step further with an examination of the English spoken by children of black immigrants to New York City.We focus on second generation Caribbean populations whose parents migrated from the English-speaking Caribbean to the United States, and who commonly refer to themselves as West Indians.

Classifying the “ideal migrant worker”

This article analyzes the ideology and practice of multi-unit competition that pervades neoliberal subjectivities and produces the “ideal” flexible worker within contemporary global capitalism. It demonstrates how state and capitalist interests converge to influence the selection of the ideal transnational migrant worker, how prospective migrants adapt to these expectations, and the consequences of such enactments, particularly for migrants, but also for the societies in which they live and work. Multiple levels of actors—employers, state bureaucrats, and migrants themselves—collude in producing the flexible, subaltern citizen, which includes constructions and relations of class, race, gender, and nationality/citizenship. The case study focuses on Mexican and Jamaican participants in Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program, a managed migration program that legally employs circular migrant farmworkers from Mexico and several English-speaking Caribbean countries in Canadian agriculture.

The Relationship Between Emotional Openness and the Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Counseling of English-Speaking Caribbean College Students

This study investigated the impact of emotional openness on attitudes towards seeking professional counseling of 500 English-speaking Caribbean college students, some living in the U.S. and others resident in the Caribbean. Length of stay in the U.S. was included as a potentially influential variable. Results indicated that emotional openness is a statistically significant predictor of the attitudes of Caribbean college students in general towards seeking professional counseling, while, where relevant, length of stay in the U.S. was not. Implications for university counselors both in the Caribbean and the U.S. are discussed.

Social Structures and Personal Values That Predict E-Mail Use

This article extends communication and technology use theories about factors that predict e-mail use by explaining the reasons for cultural contingencies in the effects of managers’ personal values and the social structures (roles, rules and norms) that are most used in their work context. Results from a survey of 576 managers from Canada, the English-speaking Caribbean, Nigeria, and the United States indicate that e-mail use may support participative and lateral decision making, as it is positively associated with work contexts that show high reliance on staff specialists especially in the U.S., subordinates, and unwritten rules especially in Nigeria and Canada. The personal value of self-direction is positively related to e-mail use in Canada, while security is negatively related to e-mail use in the United States. The results have implications for further development of TAM and media characteristic theories as well as for training about media use in different cultural contexts.

ORGANIZING WITHIN THE DIASPORA: CLAUDE H. A. DENBOW, HOWARD UNIVERSITY, AND THE LEAGUE OF COLOURED PEOPLES

For centuries, social and cultural organizations that were formed to empower their constituents have occupied unique positions within communities throughout the African Diaspora. Historical narratives about early organizing among communities of African peoples in Newport and Providence, Rhode Island; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Valencia and Cadiz, Spain, describe these activities. (1) Africans and their descendents in the Americas constructed cultural and social institutions to fulfill their economic, educational, social, cultural, political, and even psychological needs, usually under very oppressive conditions. Historical antecedents for New World institutions are often rooted in an African past and on that basis forge linkages throughout the hemisphere. In examining the enduring and important roles of international and transnational linkages that contributed to the development of local institutions and organizations, the social and intellectual networks within the African Diaspora are revealed. This essay examines how an elite segment of the African Guyanese population, committed to improving the social welfare and educational conditions for the working class, was supported by and linked to individuals and groups in other parts of the African Diaspora in the Americas and in Europe. The branch of the League of Coloured Peoples (LCP) located in Georgetown, British Guiana, later the Republic of Guyana, was headed by Claude Denbow through World War II and the postwar years, and he used his connections to U.S. African Americans at Howard University, as well as Afro-Caribbean intellectuals in the United Kingdom, to prepare the colonized African Guyanese working class for economic advancement and independence. Anticolonial activities and labor strife moved from intermittent to the immediate in the English-speaking Caribbean with the coming of the Great Depression in the 1930s. The increasing unemployment spawned labor militancy, protests, and general strikes in Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Barbados. In Jamaica in 1938, when dockworkers went on strike, British soldiers were brought in and violence erupted, triggering rioting that left twenty-nine dead, and over a hundred wounded. Following investigations, some labor reforms were introduced in 1939 when World War II erupted. (2) Labor protests and strikes hit British Guiana in the late 1930s, and in 1941 among the graduates of Howard University's School of Dentistry was Claude H. A. Denbow. A brilliant undergraduate student, Denbow had several remarkable achievements in chemistry, and upon earning the bachelor of science degree in 1937 from Howard University, he was awarded a scholarship to attend the School of Dentistry. Returning to British Guiana in 1942, now Dr. Denbow, he joined the League of Coloured Peoples (LCP), which had been formed in the United Kingdom in 1931, and was dedicated to ensuring the empowerment of Africans and African-descended peoples throughout the British Empire. Joining the LCP afforded Denbow the opportunity to become a leader and to prepare working-class Guyanese to pursue schooling and education, economic empowerment, and political independence. Denbow believed that focusing on these programmatic objectives would enable colonized Guyanese people to challenge the racial status quo and eventually colonialism itself. He believed that acquiring those assets would be crucial for their self-improvement and preparation for independent political development. Moreover, Denbow understood the value of diplomacy in international relations. At Denbow's urgings, he and his colleagues employed conflict resolution techniques to enable LCP members to confront challenges they faced and to pursue social justice issues without having to mount militant public protests. (3) In many ways Denbow's education and professional training at Howard University facilitated his accomplishments and contributions to his native Guyana. …

Ethnic Differences in HIV Risk Perceptions and Behaviors Among Black 18–39 Year-Old Residents of Broward County, Florida

The study assessed ethnic differences in the perceived risks of HIV infection, sexual experiences, and HIV-antibody testing histories among Black populations in Broward County, Florida. Data were analyzed for 2,731 well-characterized survey respondents 18-39 years old who indicated they were African Americans, Caribbean Islanders, English-speaking, or Creole-speaking Haitians. Creole-speaking Haitians were least likely to consider themselves at risk of HIV infection, report using condoms in the last 12 months, and indicate that they had ever been tested for HIV. English-speaking Haitians were more likely than African Americans to report never engaging in sexual intercourse and were less likely to have ever been tested for HIV. English-speaking Caribbean Islanders reported preventive behaviors similar to those of African Americans, but had lower perceptions of HIV risk and were less likely to have ever been tested. Health promotion programs designed to improve HIV prevention practices must appreciate social and cultural differences among Black populations.