Babylon on a t'in wire : A View of the Island of Jamaica, and the City of Kingston, at the End of the Twentieth Century.
This paper examines the social, cultural, and economic life of Jamaica at the end of the twentieth century. Particular emphasis is placed upon how its primate city - Kingston - has become a city of the developing world; characterized by its shantytowns as a result of internal migration. Whereas, at the turn of the century, Kingston was the key transfer point for the exchange of staple exports from the island's interior to ships for manufactured goods from abroad, at the end of the century its shantytowns have become major cultural production sites for music such as reggae. As much as the overriding question in Jamaican society in 1900 was that of race, at the end of the century race still defines Jamaican society. With the new industry of mass tourism, race and class issues once again resonate in the social and political life of Jamaica. 14 pgs. 31 f/c. 7b.`
