Beverley Anderson-Manley

As citizens we must take our roles and responsibilities seriously. During Jamaica's modern development period (1938 to 1944), civil society organisations played a dominant role in nation-building. With the advent of the two-party political system, many of these organisations joined the parties and one of the results was the weakening of civil society. One of the challenges to many Jamaicans today is how to maintain civil society organisations while at the same time parti-cipating actively in political party organisations.

Building and maintaining civil society takes enormous effort in Jamaica, where the politics is so highly tribalised across the social classes. In addition to the physical aspects of tribalism (e.g., awarding contracts to party supporters) there is the even more pervasive aspect of tribalism that is to do with psychological tribalism - the mental model of tribalism.

In his work on organisational development, Peter Senge refers to 'mental models' as the prevailing motivations and assumptions held and generally unvoiced by people. In terms of the tribes, members of the Peoples' National Party (PNP and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), these motivations, belief systems and assumptions are largely responsible for allowing the tribal system to remain firmly in place so long, despite the harm it is doing to our country. Underlying almost every link of the tribal cycle is a key assumption.

It is a useful exercise, therefore, for tribe members to uncover what that key assumption is about the other tribe. It is also important to track trends and patterns of behaviour with an eye to the systems underneath in order to decide on the particular intervention that is most useful. Fortunately, human beings have the capacity to uncover assumptions and get rid of them whenever they choose.

The Tribalism Committee

The report of the National Committee on Political Tribalism, set up by former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, was presented to him ten years ago - on July 23, 1997. While we have made some progress, political tribalism continues to haunt every aspect of our lives.

Perhaps what was missing from the otherwise excellent work carried out by the committee is the question of psychological tribalism. How do persons inside the tribe see themselves; how do they see others within their own tribe and, most importantly, how do they see members of the other tribe? In other words, what does the mental model of tribalism look like? Critical to this analysis is the question of trust and the impact of tribalism on social capital - i.e., social capital as it refers to the institutions, relationships and norms that shape the quality and quantity of society's interactions.

Social Policy Forum

Recently, the newly created Centre for Leadership and Governance at the University of the West Indies held their first Social Policy Forum under the theme 'Strengthening Social Capital'.

The theme was selected primarily because of the low levels of trust prevailing in Jamaica. This, the centre emphasised, was a key finding of the first Leadership and Governance survey conducted by the centre. As the seminar unfolded it became increasingly clear that, with weakened social capital and the resultant low levels of trust across the society, economic growth and development will continue to elude Jamaica.

Tribal mentality

The tribal mentality allows for the further weakening of social capital in Jamaica and increasing mistrust. Hence, it is hardly surprising that when a political administration changes, invariably even names of programmes change, and there is little or no trust between the outgoing administration and the incumbent, and experts of one tribe are often underutilised and isolated. As a result there is little continuity and the country suffers.

Whether it is at the community or the individual professional levels, tribalism is a scourge on Jamaican politics and the country generally. Supporters of political parties could begin to end tribal politics by first of all carrying out the kind of exercise that allows them to look within and examine their own tribal instincts and mental models. By so doing at the individual level, we can then move on to the collective level in order to put Jamaica first, and begin to build the high levels of trust necessary that are a precondition for nation building.