Globalization in Jamaica: Independence or neocolonialism?
Globalization should intensify socio-economic relations in a way that is mutually beneficial for all hierarchies in the agreement. For Jamaica, there have been constant queries, some documented in films like Life and Debt by Stephanie Black, on whether this remains a mirage (Cohen, 55). More than fifty years after this British Colony was freed from its ‘’master’’, it remains bound in different neocolonialism measures like de facto slavery. The biggest victims of this puzzle are the average Jamaican citizens; those who have to clock set hours to be paid the minimum wage. This essay explores perspectives like post-colonialism, poverty and their relation to social issues like migration for greener pastures.
In the documentary, Life and Debt, Jamaica is portrayed through the eyes of its citizens. People who work in the Free Trade Zones, to farmers of potatoes and other industrialized workers bear the brunt of globalization (Renier, 4-5). For them, the world becoming a global village does not benefit them as they languish under poor government policies that fail to protect them. The poverty levels in the country are set to rise due to the imports of food products which are homegrown (Gonzalez, 422). The senseless imports water down the efforts of the farmers, together with restrictive payment measures to workers by companies who benefit from the free tax (Cohen, 57). The film also casts the tourists as the ‘’happy’’ side of Jamaica as a resort. They frolic in the beaches exposed to a luxurious lifestyle; the plight of those in suffering is forgotten. The IMF and the World Bank, international financial institutions, supposed to help a failing situation are no better.
A commentary by Michael Manley, the former Prime Minister, gives the web that loans and grants by these two have cast Jamaica (Cohen, 56). A crisis in the 1970s forced his government’s hand to borrow money to cover costs as the country recovered from colonization. Jamaica was forced into punitive short term loan repayment, which made them tighten their financial belt. Additionally, allowing imports and giving tax incentives to other nations only served to hurt their local industries (Renier, 18-21). What emerged was a country fresh from colonial masters to serving hefty loans whose effects are felt today. More worrying are the psychological effects of a post-colonial Jamaica illustrated by a scene in the movie where native Jamaicans warn tourists of thieves. Ironically, the supposed thieves are their fellow brethren, who have been dealt a cruel hand by a colonial mimicry.
Many of the aspects the film has are accurate and can be backed with scholarly articles. Different sectors of the economy are affected by the haphazard manner in which IMF/ WB handled a tender Jamaica. Take, for instance, tourism as one of the economic activities the film discusses at great length. Montego Bay is as the area of bliss for visitors set apart from the reality of events. The construction of luxurious hotels and state of the art entertainment joints seems to add little to the economic status of the country. In the documentary, the success of tourism in the Caribbean region is a façade for the struggling agro-sector and industries (Murray, 27). Given its fluctuating seasons, the job opportunities require people of higher academic standing to serve in them, which the regular citizen lacks due to the government’s failure to invest in education (Renier, 20). Some of the tourist hotels make their choicest of meals from imports, forgetting the natural harvests from the farmer up north. The overflooding of pre-cut sewing garments for labels like Hanes was the final lament for any hopes of cotton farming.
Despite the continuous injection of funds from these financial institutions, Jamaica’s debt stood at 150% of its Gross Domestic Product a decade ago (Schmid, Pedro &Xavier, 2). According to the World Bank, the fiscal debt in the country is due to poor management of finances by its government (World Bank, 2). Even with this poor standing, it continues to give out loans to the region that pay an interest rate approximate to 16% of its GDP. As such, Jamaica focuses on the payment of its debts by inviting foreign nations in its predominantly service industry, unfairly edging out local competitors. Systems like education have no place to put their bludgeoning graduates who resort to migration in search for greener pastures at an overwhelming 70 % rate by 2003 (World Bank, 4). It is therefore questionable on the purpose of continuous lending yet Jamaica strangles itself to pay a blooming public debt when struggling to feed its citizens.
On the other hand, the implementation of IMF funds has a track record in disastrous results. The relationship Jamaica had with this institution can be likened to a neocolonial one. The interest of the IMF as one of its significant creditors has taken over that of its citizens. In 2011, Jamaica had the highest rate in terms of debt payments in the world (Capital, 12). If that is not shackling to a money master, then the meaning of post-colonialism is lost. The rules laid out by the IMF are followed to the letter To continue the minimal infrastructure in the country(Capital, 18). Its results are catastrophic; more than 50% of the revenue generated goes in paying off the money loaned. The IMF proves to be a considerable threat to the economy of Jamaica. If they were interested in helping them get off their knees, they would re-think their debt demand domination (Cohen, 62-63). But as this objective does not suit their needs, poverty will increase, and the hungry citizens will turn to crime to feed their hungry children (Lechner & Boli, 23). Graduates will leave the land of unemployment as post-colonialism will thrive under an umbrella of loans and grants.
Despite the outcry of the over-reliance of Jamaica on ‘’money not theirs’’, there have more recent developments with regards to this matter. One of the issues the film focuses on is the failure of Jamaica to keep most of its commercial agreements with the IMF on time. One of the academic resources points out that Jamaica has paid more than $19 billion since it gained independence. Another $7 billion remains unpaid due to the vast interest accrued at this period in time (Schmid, Pedro &Xavier, 8). That amount in penalties alone is almost six times the country’s portion set aside for education and health annually. The current state the government finds itself in is borrowing money from elsewhere to repay the loans got decades ago (Capital, 19-20). Unfortunately, this sad state of affairs does nothing to alleviate the matters at hand. Continuous recycling of debt makes the number of women die in childbirth rise by almost 40% by 2010; just one of the statistics at hand. Budget cuts and deficit in the public funding sectors are some of the terminologies when it comes to explaining the complicated relationship. As the Minister for Finance, Nigel Clarke once said, the beginning of an IMF program turned to Jamaica’s program with the help of the IMF. Rephrasing the words of Korst Koehler, the former chairman of the IMF would be, ‘’Globalization should work for the benefit of all.’’ Applying this concept to the Caribbean nation would be somewhat constrictive, as more means less. What this statement means is the addition of extra loans to service the existing ones only hurts any chances of substantial economic growth.
When it comes to Jamaica, the term globalization is used rather loosely (Cohen, 51). According to a book by Lechner et al., there are many dimensions with regards to this concept (Lechner & Boli, 15). One of its aims should be to lift people out of poverty as well as open up the boundaries of a country to others. One of the underlying factors to worry about the influence of globalization is the homogeneity it creates (Lechner & Boli, 18). When two cultures mix, there is rarely a win-win situation but rather a win-lose aspect. Some if not all of one of the relationships will have to give up something to suit the other better as in the case of Jamaica (Murray, 10). In the case of Life and Debt, Hanes Jamaica is one of the international corporations which benefitted a lot from the free trade zones. In the process to gain profit from the welcoming government, speculation of them overworking and underpaying, their workers are on the rise. The problem is the praises of the positive influences of globalization tend to forget the sweeping critiques caused by it. Neoliberalism is a process which often comes to mind when the discourse on this topic begins (Thomas Hope et al., 10-11). If related to Jamaica, it can be explained as the theory of dominance western countries with more resources used to dominate it. Competition among companies providing the same service like in the textile industry is one of the most significant forces behind it. One of the biggest impediments to it is tax costs, and the shift away from its locus is essential to the select few (Thomas-Hope et al., 12). Stephanie Black, in her film, uses the example of companies which offload their cargo, pass through the free zone for the minimalist of duties before embarking on another trip. On employing this strategy, they escape any custom duty while denying revenue so badly needed by the country for its people.
To recap the lesson learnt in week seven concerning globalization, international migration could be one of the reasons for interaction (Lechner et al., 22). Whether permanent or temporary, economic migrants are usually in the number one category. In the ecosystem, any species has to struggle to survive, notwithstanding the human race. To escape the poverty circle, many Jamaicans leave their homeland for Europe or America to look for jobs. Within the local context, many leave the rural towns for the capital city of Kingston. ‘Destination’ work environments happen to be a myth in some cases, with the provision of jobs in other regions being low paying for non-citizens. There is a lack of formal documentation in Jamaica on the exact numbers of men and women who leave the country and send regular remittances home. What most international institutions seem to agree on is the health department loses more workers to America than any other nation. An average of 22,000 workers leaves Jamaica every year, with most of the training in medical-related fields abroad (Murphy et al., 3). The result is the low index of patients per medical professional with WHO statistics placing it at 0.85 physicians per 1000 people (Murphy et al., 3). The ratio of midwives to the expectant women is 1.67 to 1000 women, and there are no visible signs of improvement.
While the financial assistance sent home to their families is very beneficial, the country loses healthcare workers to countries already stabilized on the doctor-patient ratio. A survey done on medical respondents with at least a high school diploma showed 79% per cent willing to leave their country (Murphy et al., 5). Ironically, most of them within this bracket lack the financial power to leave their land within six months but expressed intent to do so in five years. Accredited nurses or midwives showed prevalence towards going, unlike traditional midwives who were content with the sad state of affairs. With a Jamaican population of around 3 million, the low reception of medical care facilities available to the public is alarming. One of the similar reasons for emigration across all sectors was the need for better living conditions, income and security. For most of the interviewees, money was not necessarily a factor as the situation in the country which stopped healthy working conditions (Capital, 24). Therefore, brain drain is the casualty when a state is bent on satisfying foreign debt and failing at amending the cadre in its health system. With a system that allows a minimum of workers absorption in its hospitals and clinics, it is a no-wonder most choose to study, work and live in the same countries responsible for Jamaica’s neocolonialism.
It can be said the colonial perceptions as a result of the years spent under the Spanish; then the British may have formed a bit of the closed reforms experienced today (Murray, 3). With the rise of emigration, poverty and a general sense of insecurity, a lot remains to be done. In the film, the images of Rastafarians around a fire talking of the sad state of affairs resonate with most watchers (Cohen, 58). The documentary hides nothing of the factory workers living in neat squalor as their bosses and tourists frolic on the beaches. Tourism, the primary revenue gave the government $2.5 billion in 2015 (Murray et al., 2). However, companies like Hanes Jamaica Limited are free to open and shut as they please and underpay workers within their native lands. It’s a win-lose situation where the winners are institutions like IMF/WB who have massive returns on money loaned to mismanagement processes. The losers are the people, who nurse a desire to spread their wings but not in Jamaica, in Canada or preferably America. Some of the lyrics in the film’s song go ‘Life and Debt, freedom not yet.’’ How true they ring for this Caribbean nation, still bound in the clutches of neocolonialism.
Works Cited
Black, Stephanie.’’Life and Debt.’’Online Documentary uploaded on February 28, 2003. Retrieved from https://ww1.9movies.yt/watch/life-and-debt-24794/?ep=92396
Capital, Exotix. “Jamaica.” Exotix Developing Markets Guide. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2019. 433-453.
Cohen, Kfir. “Global Pedagogy: Critique of Appearance in Stephanie Black’s Life and Debt.” Telos 179 (2017): 49-71.
Gonzalez, Carmen G. “Trade liberalization, food security, and the environment: the neoliberal threat to sustainable rural development.” Transnat’l L. & Contemp. Probs. 14 (2015)
Lechner, Frank J., and John Boli, eds. The globalization reader. John Wiley & Sons, 2020.
Murphy, Gail Tomblin, et al. “A mixed-methods study of health worker migration from Jamaica.” Human resources for health 14.1 (2016): 36.
Murray, Kristin Marie. “Understanding the Impacts of Cruise Ship Tourism on Marginalized Populations: The Case of Jamaica.” (2018).
Renier, Tina. “Jamaican development strategies: are the free trade zones contributing to decent work?.” (2019).
Schmid, Juan Pedro, and Xavier Malcolm. Debt, fiscal adjustment and economic growth in Jamaica. Inter-American Development Bank, 2016.
The World Bank. The Road to Sustained Growth in Jamaica. The World Bank Country Studies. Washington, D.C, 2004.
Thomas-Hope, Elizabeth, et al. “No. 4: The Urban Food System of Kingston, Jamaica.” (2017).