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    Start Over Collection Black Caribbean Literature (BCL) Journal Title Social and Economic Studies

    10. Development, "Culture," and the Promise of Modern Progress

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    Collection:
    Black Caribbean Literature (BCL)
    Contributers:
    Thomas,Deborah A. (Author)
    Format:
    Journal Article
    Publication Date:
    Sep 2005
    Published:
    Jamaica: University of the West Indies
    Location:
    African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    Journal Title:
    Social and Economic Studies
    Journal Title Details:
    54(3) : 97-126
    Notes:
    This essay investigates the key tensions that arise within Jamaica's new cultural policy "Toward Jamaica the Cultural Superstate." The argument presented in the paper is that "culture" is a tricky and potentially dangerous site upon which to hinge national development goals, even though the expansion of cultural industries may well represent a viable and potentially lucrative strategy for economic development. This is because invariably, "culture" cannot do the work policy makers would like it to do, and its invocation within policy spheres usually already signals a kind of developmental distress, a perceived need for retooling through a form of social engineering. In other words, "culture" (in the anthropological sense) reflects and shapes, yet cannot in and of itself solve the most pressing challenges facing Jamaica today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR];