Rastafari

• The Rastafari movement, or Rastafarianism, emerged as a popular

  movement in response to people’s need for an organisation that was

  free from state control. Rastafari was influenced by Marcus Garvey and

  adherents are of the belief that he was the second John the Baptist.

  Leonard P. Howell, a Jamaican who initially worked with Garvey in

  the United States, is credited with being the first Rasta. He authored the

  first book about Rastafari philosophy, The Promised Key. His promotion

  of the divinity of Haile Selassie as the Black Messiah helped to establish

  Rastafari as a religion.
• Rastafari as a religion. The Rastafari movement has some fundamental components:

  • It is a religious movement among black Jamaicans.

  • It teaches that blacks will eventually be redeemed.

  • It claims that blacks will return to Africa.

  • It venerates Haile Selassie as the Messiah.

  • It incorporates the ceremonial use of marijuana.

  • It forbids the combing and cutting of hair. • It calls for a specifi c diet: natural foods, an ‘Ital’ diet (saltless diet), no red meat, no processed food.
• Impacts

  A)

  
• Leaders in the Caribbean have drawn on different schools of thought to utilise a variety of political and economic ideologies to develop the countries that they have led
• Even after the Second World War, the region was still dominated by Great Britain and the United States, which supported the capitalist system that was in place
• France and Britain faced financial trouble as their economies had weakened, leading to a dependence on the US
• Economic conditions and political instability in the Caribbean during the 1960s and the decades leading up to the 1990s

  • Worsened by:
  • Countries experimenting in and embracing political ideologies (in particular, democratic socialism)
  • Increase in violence and migration
  • Collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, as it provided aid to some countries, including Cuba, in the form of financial support and market availability
  • Jamaica's imposition of a new tax on foreign bauxite companies, which drew the ire of the US government and foreign companies
  • Economic problems resulting from increases in oil prices
  • Caribbean countries having no recourse but to borrow from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• Industrialisation by Invitation

  An economic model devised by Sir Arthur Lewis in the 1950s as a solution for governments to address issues faced by countries
• Faced with a series of uprisings in the 1930s, which were a result of protests against persistently high levels of poverty (indicated by high employment, poor housing and a sugar industry that could not provide the needed jobs and which caused extensive property damage, loss of lives and racial division), Caribbean leaders were forced seek practical yet sweeping solutions
• Sir Arthur Lewis devised the 'Industrialisation by Invitation' economic model


  1950s
• It works by

  1. Stimulate investment by inviting foreign investors and MNCs to establish manufacturing facilities in the region
  2. Utilise surplus agricultural labour in these manufacturing facilities
  3. Wages are higher than the agricultural sector, but are fixed at a level lower than in more industrialised countries
  4. Investors make a profit because prices charged for the product,which are often exported back to industrialised countries, are higher than the wages
  5. The profits are then reinvested back into the business
• Results

  
• Industrialisation by Invitation

  An economic development strategy where a country invites foreign investment and expertise to help industrialise the economy
• Advantages of Industrialisation by Invitation

  • Provided an impetus to diversification, and investment in light industry particular
  • The creation of Free Trade Zones (FTZs): areas usually located near a major port, which provided unrestricted and duty-free trade. An example is Montego Bay Freezone in Jamaica
  • The creation of Export Processing Zones (EPZs): zones where building sand services concerning a specialised industrial estate were erected. They enjoy concessions such as no taxes and duties. In 1997 there were 51 EPZs in the Caribbean, 35 of which were located in the Dominican Republic
• Disadvantages:

  • Despite the theory behind the concept, unemployment remained high in many places.

  • EPZs have a reputation for low wages and poor working conditions.

  • Detachment of these industries from the domestic economies.

  • A large labour force, but with employees earning low wages and remaining low-skilled.

  • Reinvestment in the region was lower than anticipated and, once thefi nancial incentives end