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.
The main objective of this paper is to present and analyze a fairly comprehensive and reliable set of data on income distribution in Jamaica. Jamaican households ranking in the top 20 percent in income commanded 61.5 percent of income, and those in the bottom 20 percent only 2.2 percent.
The purpose of the paper is to design and test a model which explains internal migration in Jamaica, based largely on the 1960 census. Suggests that urban migration was unrelated to the level of employment opportunities.
Seventeen years after Guyana introduced a positive, liberal abortion law, the government, professional bodies and civil society together have failed to give any leadership in implementing that law. How can one explain that after an outstanding campaign of extensive ministerial and parliamentary consultation, as well as widespread engagement from religious organisations and the media, so little has been done by way of implementing the law? This paper seeks to trace some aspects of the campaign for law reform and to learn from the difficulties of providing services over the last seventeen years.
Argues that the current proposal to reform the local government sector in Trinidad and Tobago stems from an eclectic application of various strands of thought that are in no way in keeping with the realities of the social and political environment of the country.
Uses data from a sample of working age Jamaicans to explore dimensions of their attitudes towards homosexuals. The results confirm strong negative attitudes towards homosexuals and suggested alignment with attitudes emanating from sources as distinct as the church, the state and the proponents of popular culture.
Vol. 11, No. 4, SPECIAL NUMBER on THE CONFERENCE ON POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY IN THE BRITISH CARIBBEAN, DECEMBER, 1961 (DECEMBER, 1962), "Slavery and the plantation system rapidly developed in the British West Indies from about the middle of the 17th century. The purposes of this paper are first to discuss in some detail the essential socio-economic which beset the plantation societies there; secondly to outline the major political, social, economic, and consequences of the full emancipation of the slaves in 1838; and finally to indicate how the problems of slavery and of the post-emancipation period affect the present day." --The Author
"Purpose of this article is to report on changes in wages, prices, and labor productivity in British Guyana between 1948-1962. It is the first study of this matter and is the result of the author's original statistical work. The study should be regarded as a part of a wider investigation into the features which have characterized the pattern and movement of wages, prices, and labor productivity in the Commonwealth Caribbean over relatively short periods. The purpose was to discover what these features were so that they might provide some empirical background to the problems raised by wage-policy." --The Author
This paper focuses primarily on the challenges of nurse migration, although it makes reference to the crisis in education as it argues that the two are inter-connected. Also, while it acknowledges the problem as a regional one and speaks to this, its focus is on Jamaica, especially in assessing the feasibility of a 'training for export model.' It draws primarily on secondary literature, supported by interviews.
