Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed July 11, 2006). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-226).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--State University of New York College at Brockport, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-157). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--State University of New York College at Brockport, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-157).

This novel ethnographic study investigates the role of culture and tourism in the sustainable development of rural communities in Jamaica. It focuses on two distinctive Jamaican groups, the Charles Town Maroon and the Seaford Town German descendants. The objectives of the study are to examine the meanings culture holds for local people in relation to identity, sense of place and community development; assess the extent to which they capitalise on their intangible and tangible culture in pursuit of sustainable rural community tourism and make recommendations for local people and policymakers. The basis for the research is the economic and social crisis facing rural communities in Jamaica due to the demise of their traditional agriculture base. This has been precipitated by international trade liberalisation rules, which removed the preferential access of Jamaican produce to European Union countries. With small-scale Jamaican sugar and banana farmers unable to compete with major producers from the United States of America and South America, rural communities have been left devastated. For many, farming is now an unreliable source of income. More than half of local farmers are in serious economic and social difficulties and 80 per cent of the 1.1 million people living below the poverty line in Jamaica, live in the countryside. With few alternative livelihood strategies, many rural inhabitants are attempting to exploit their culture resources by way of rural community tourism. This coincides with research, which shows an increasing desire by tourists to capture diverse and ordinary social experiences in destinations such as Jamaica. They want authentic contact with host communities away from resorts. However, with tourism on the island predicated on the sand, sun and sea all-inclusive resort model and poor rural infrastructure, local people face tough challenges to exploit their culture resources. The study is conducted in the real world setting of rural Jamaica and is underpinned by an integrated conceptual framework developed from ideas taken from different literatures and preliminary fieldwork. The framework is applied to the findings of the study to analyse the different development paths taken by Charles Town and Seaford Town. It argues that Ray’s (1998) culture economy approach helps to capture this, but the complex and contested nature of ideas relating to development, identity, sense of place, community and culture commoditisation mean it does not do so holistically. However, a more comprehensive picture of the development paths of the two communities emerges by integrating notions of the culture economy with ideas relating to cultural connectedness and plurality of commoditisation. The concepts reflect a sense of ‘rootedness’ in place (vertical linkages) and same-level locally bounded relationships (horizontal linkages). Plurality of commoditisation refers to the differentiated and diversified tactics being deployed by locals to meet tourists’ demands for actual interactions and co-creative experiences with them. The research approach consists of a constructivist paradigm, relativist ontology, subjectivist epistemology, ethnographic methodology and qualitative methods. The focus is, therefore, not only on who, why, what, when, and how, but also on meanings, human action, identity, sense of place, interactions, emotions and behaviour. Thick detailed descriptions are used to capture the articulations of local people and the circumstances in which they occur. The study finds that the role of culture and tourism in the sustainable development of rural communities in Jamaica marks the transition from a primarily agriculture mode of production to one that places greater emphasis on the use of local culture resources. However, while it is clear that communities such as Charles Town and Seaford Town are rich in culture resources, the extent to which they capitalise on them are somewhat limited. The reasons are socio-economic, historical and deep-seated. Adopting the modified culture economy approach, proposed in this study, could increase understanding of the challenges faced by locals and offer a way forward. This is because the framework is holistic in that it considers the socio-economic, cultural and emotional dimensions of rural communities.

In 2005 and 2010, high sea surface temperatures caused widespread coral bleaching on Jamaica’s north coast reefs. Three shallow (9m) reef sites were surveyed during each event to quantify the prevalence and intensity of coral bleaching. In October 2005, 29-57% of the colonies surveyed were bleached. By April 2006, 10% of the corals remained pale/partially bleached. Similarly, in October 2010, 23-51% of corals surveyed at the same sites were bleached. By April 2011, 12% of the colonies remained pale/partially bleached. Follow-up surveys revealed low coral mortality following both events, with an overall mean of 4% partial colony mortality across all species and sites observed in April 2006, and 2% in April 2011. Mixed effects models were used to quantify the relationship between colony size and (a) bleaching intensity, and (b) bleaching related mortality among coral species. The bleaching intensity model explained 51% of the variance in the bleaching response observed during the two events. Of this 51%, fixed effects accounted for ~26% of the variance, 17% of which was attributed to species-specific susceptibility to bleaching , 5% to colony size, <1% colony morphology and 4% to the difference in bleaching intensity between the two events. The random factor (site) accounted for the remaining ~25% of the variance. The mortality model explained 16% of the variance in post bleaching mortality with fixed effects, including colony size, morphology and species explaining ~11% of the variance, and the random effect (site) explaining 5%. On average, there was a twofold difference in bleaching intensity between the smallest and the largest size classes. Modelling the relationship between colony level characteristics and site-specific environmental factors on coral species’ susceptibility to thermal stress can shed light on community level responses to future disturbances.

Over the last two decades social vulnerability has emerged as a major area of study, with increasing attention to the study of vulnerable populations. Generally, the elderly are among the most vulnerable members of any society, and widespread population aging has led to greater focus on elderly vulnerability. However, the absence of a valid and practical measure constrains the ability of policy-makers to address this issue in a comprehensive way. This study developed a composite indicator, The Elderly Social Vulnerability Index (ESVI), and used it to undertake a comparative analysis of the availability of support for elderly Jamaicans based on their access to human, material and social resources. The results of the ESVI indicated that while the elderly are more vulnerable overall, certain segments of the population appear to be at greater risk. Females had consistently lower scores than males, and the oldest-old had the highest scores of all groups of older persons. Vulnerability scores also varied according to place of residence, with more rural parishes having higher scores than their urban counterparts. These findings support the political economy framework which locates disadvantage in old age within political and ideological structures. The findings also point to the pervasiveness and persistence of gender inequality as argued by feminist theories of aging. Based on the results of the study it is clear that there is a need for policies that target specific population segments, in addition to universal policies that could make the experience of old age less challenging for the majority of older persons. Overall, the ESVI has displayed usefulness as a tool for theoretical analysis and demonstrated its potential as a policy instrument to assist decision-makers in determining where to target their efforts as they seek to address the issue of social vulnerability in old age. Data for this study came from the 2001 population and housing census of Jamaica, with multiple imputation for missing data. The index was derived from the linear aggregation of three equally weighted domains, comprised of eleven unweighted indicators which were normalized using z-scores. Indicators were selected based on theoretical relevance and data availability.

The current study is concerned with the role that transnational criminal organizations play in the ability of a small country, such as Jamaica, to govern itself effectively. Jamaica is identified as a major producer and distributor of cannabis, since the 1970s, and today plays an active role in other established illicit markets for cocaine and illegal weapons. Despite a long-term and continued involvement in U.S. funded drug trafficking and counterdrug programs, and the establishment of several anti-crime organizations within the country, Jamaica’s successes have been marginal. The current study attempts to examine first, how criminal groups located within the garrisons of Kingston have managed to strengthen their involvement in illegal activities and to evade the state. Second, it explores how these criminal groups have successfully offset the Jamaican state’s monopoly on power within garrison communities. Through a qualitative research design, I utilized a wide range of research methods- observation, open-ended interviews, focus groups, document data, audio-visual data, and text and image analysis- in order to identify the mechanisms by which non-state actors have been able to alter their power relation with the state. The study explores the relationship between the Jamaican state and criminal groups residing within garrisons specifically located in the Kingston Metropolitan Area. The study concludes that the interactions between garrisons and the Jamaican state have become increasingly more transnational over time. Using Nye and Keohane’s (1971) understanding of transnational relations in an analysis of the garrison, the dissertation asserts that network based criminal groupings residing within garrisons are directly shaping the behavior and policy goals of the Jamaican state by forming coalitions and interactions across state boundaries. These coalitions and interactions involve a wide cross section of non-state actors both criminal and legal, as well as corruptible elements of government. Network based criminal groupings located with Jamaica’s garrisons are increasingly competent in evading the law and in carrying out criminal activity. They do so by employing more fluid organizational and power structures, assuming a more influential role in the distribution and use of violence, and by taking advantage of the liberalization and privatization of the Jamaican economy.

While women continue to make progress in terms of graduate level education, discrepancies remain between women and men when it comes to opportunities for professional growth and development into executive leadership positions and playing a role in the boardroom. Guided by the theories of emotional intelligence (EI), transformational leadership (TL), and Hofstede's cultural values, the purpose of this quantitative mediation analysis was to determine the mediating effect of EI on the relationship between cultural values and TL in Jamaican female managers. Data were collected from 38 Jamaican female managers who were working with varied public and private sector entities located in urban and rural areas. Participants completed the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, and Cultural Values Scale via SurveyMonkey. No statistically significant mediated effects were found. Cultural values uncertainty subscale scores had statistically significant direct effects on TL. Through exploratory regressions, it was determined that experiential EI was positively predicted by the cultural values subscale scores of uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, and masculinity, and negatively predicted by age; strategic EI was negatively predicted by power distance and positively predicted by masculinity scores, and masculine cultural orientation was positively predicted by number of years as a supervisor, long term cultural value orientation, and power distance cultural value. The results could influence the development and implementation of suitable training interventions that may impact positively on the leadership skills of Jamaican female managers and ultimately realizing social change through family life.

Dub reggae is widely regarded as an early form of the remix. Dub artists modify previously recorded reggae songs by manipulating a song's individual tracks with a mixing board and layering them in aural effects such as reverb and echo. These effects are fundamentally spatial in quality, giving the listener an impression of vast open space. This paper is an analysis of the techniques utilized in dub's construction of sonic space as well as an investigation of the cultural meaning of those spaces. My analysis utilizes Josh Kun's theories about "audiotopias" (temporary aural spaces created through music) in order to study how sonic spaces create "new maps" that allow an individual to analyze their current social predicament. These "new maps," therefore, engender a "remapping" of reality, a reconstitutive process that parallels dub's emphasis on modification and alteration. This paper also argues that dub's audiotopias are implicitly natural, although they are constructed through modern recording technologies such as the echo chamber and the reverb unit. A final chapter applies these analytical techniques to one of dub's most popular musical offspring, hip hop.

Thesis submitted 1967; degree awarded 1968. Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University, 1968. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / This thesis is a study of the development of documentary films in Jamaica from 1938 - 1966, what has been accomplished, and how it has been achieved, as well as a critical analysis of the present situation and recommendations for improvements. The study should be of value to the country as it is the first that has been attempted in this particular field, and one of the few to be attempted by a Jamaican in the many areas of the country's development. [excerpt from Introduction]