Phase 2, INTERPAKS, The evolution of socio-economic thought concerning the diffusion of innovations started with a debate about the relative importance of social and economic factors in the adoption of hybrid corn and hybrid sorghum in the United States during the 1928-1941 period. Sociologists and economists agreed that an array of factors, not too well understood, and varying from one farm and farm area to another, stimulate adoption. The literature on the Green Revolution of the 1960's added new dimensions to the debate by considering not only adoption and production, but a host of other conditions such as markets and income distribution. The very nature of the adoption process tends to favor early adopters with favorable social and economic characteristics. Those less fortunate fall behind because they are unable to assume the added production costs and the risks associated with the potentially higher returns from the new technology. These new findings point to the necessity of formulating technological packages based on integrated socio-economic research where the entire decision environment of the farmer is considered.
Reports on an empirical investigation into how small, family-owned businesses in Jamaica raise financing for business start-up and business growth. Access to finance has been one of the most critical issues affecting the growth and survival of these firms in the Jamaican economy but very little empirical work has been done in this area. This study uses survey data collected from over 250 family-owned enterprises from all the industrial sectors in the economy and analyzed, using multivariate statistical techniques. The results revealed that internal sources of financing are usually used to finance business start-up while external sources are used to finance business growth.
This article elaborates on some important concepts in the matter of abortion, the issue of revelant legislation, and ends with pertinent recommendations. Adopting a bioethical perspective, the paper addresses the relevant issues and perspectives on abortion and argues for clarity of concepts and understanding of the context in which a woman is pregnant and considers abortion.
n this article, the author gives an overview of the central paradigms which organise the studies of black cultures in the New World, particularly from the Caribbean perspective. The field of anthropological and sociological research is described as structured by three dominant interpretations : continuity, creolization and alienation. Though this text is a description of afield of research, it purports to go further and analyze the way in which the traditionnal debate on black American cultures has recently been updated through the notion of "diaspora". Uses of the notion of diaspora, whether classical or postmodern, merely reformulate an established debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR];
Looks at Barbados's experience of abortion law reform undertaken in the 1980s. The movement was led by then Cabinet Minister and lawyer Billie Miller. Documents the nuances, important moments, key strategies and major players in the reform movement, and highlights the critical role that Miller played in getting the Medical Termination Act passed in 1983. Background information on the situation of Barbadian women and the nature of parliamentary governance at that time is also addressed in order to give context to the politics surrounding the issue.
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];
The main objective of this paper is to present and analyze a fairly comprehensive and reliable set of data on personal income distribution in Trinidad and to compare those findings with those for Jamaica.
This article deals with the question of ethnic political entrepreneurship in Trinidad. It treats the ethnic entrepreneur as a political operator who has a clear agenda, which is pursued via ethnic means. Though often disguised, the concerns of ethnic entrepreneurs are class concerns and they have definite economic and/or political goals. Two groups of such operators in the Trinidad context are the black nationalists or Afrocentrists and the Hindu nationalists or those who embrace the ideology of Hindutva. Leaders of both groups are seen as pursuing a form of ethnic nationalism that eschews class analysis, that plays upon peoples' insecurities, and that embraces a great deal of myth. Among other things, ethnic entrepreneurs traffic in social divisions, seek to manipulate the emotions of their followers, and carefully avoid any critical, intellectual engagement of the issues involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR];
Examines recent aspects of the debate on the legalisation of abortion in Jamaica. Highlights the recommendations of the Abortion Policy Review Group which reviewed health implications in Jamaica and assessed existing laws in the wider Caribbean on abortion. Using feminist analysis the paper also explores the challenges faced by those arguing for legislative reform on abortion services in Jamaica within the larger framework of reproductive health and rights.
