Raymond Forrest, Contributor
The Jamaican economy and social structure was built on an exploitative basis, with extensive use of violence and racism. This happened over 400 years ago and despite the four main attempts at restructuring the economy, we are nowhere closer to restructuring it than at the start of the British colonial era. It is therefore going to take massive steps in many areas to restructure the economy in the direction we desire, to make it hospitable for much of us, in the 21st century.
Those who live in Jamaica have had to restructure the economy, in the main, at least four times since the British troops drove out the Spanish settlers and took over the island. The first was the transformation of the island into a profitable sugar colony, which led in large part to the social and economic configuration of the island. This shaped the racial divisions of the island, exacerbated slavery,emphasised plantation size holdings, and encouraged a plantocracy as the wealth increased.
It left a society deeply divided with the minority whites who remained, largely composed of book-keepers and overseers (a lot of absentee owners residing in Britain); while the vast majority of blacks toiled in the fields and great houses, as slaves, producing the wealth spawned what has been termed 'the triangular trade'. A small but growing group of persons were also emerging called coloured or mulattoes.
THE BANANA ERA
The second main attempt at transformation occured with the end of slavery 1838, as the society tried to readjust to the presence of ex-slaves in a society that still required great use of their labour. Most of the next decade was fought as a figurative battle between ex-slaves (seeking to find their own way in the new economy, which included working on the plantations only under their own terms) and the former slave owners and associated elements, seeking to restore the status quo, minus the slave status.
The new Sugar Duties Act weakened the power of the old plantocracy and with the failure of attempts to introduce a large-scale system of indentured servants in Jamaica (as against Trinidad and Guiana), we had the growth of a small peasant economy, banana cultivation would reduce this sort of growth.
The third main adjustment took place in the wake of the massive unemployment and political movements of the 1920s and early 1930s, that saw political transformation into attempts at self-government and attempts at early diversification away from export agriculture.
POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION
World Wars I and II intensified the political transformation that took place as it is acknowledged that some of the great thinkers of the period - Robert Love, Marcus Garvey, William Grant, and others -; were heavily influenced by the war, as well as their travels. This was a Jamaican vision of an independent country, trying to make it in the world, although the conditions were certainly not favourable, a la Haiti, close to Jamaica. This adjustment continued into the political indepen-dence of the 1960s when it was believed that Jamaica was poised to take off in the world.
Well, we are now into another major era, even if many do not realise it is such. This is the 21st century where the old plantation dominant economy is no more. The island has to adjust to a world with very little sympathy or support for small developing economies and, unless you can restructure quickly enough, you will be left floundering.
