The English commonwealth and its effect on Caribbean Nations - Essay Example

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY The English Commonwealth and its Effect on Caribbean Nations Bakker-Mitchell, Ivy A. Foreign language education in post-colonial English speaking Caribbean. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 29(3) 1 September 2002, 192-202. Bakker-Mitchell, noted educator at Florida A & M, discusses education as it existed in the Colonial era and urges more attention to foreign language teaching and learning in a growing global community. She notes that in the 1960s most of the countries in the English speaking Caribbean received their independence. Before this time, education in the Caribbean was geared for life in Britain. Textbooks were of British origin and students were familiar with the conversion table that indicated how many cents equalled one shilling--the pounds, shillings and pence table--even though dollars and cents were used in the country and very little in school readers related to the lives of persons in the Caribbean. Bakker-Mitchell is from what was British Guiana, now Guyana, which is a member of the British Commonwealth. This article is valuable as a contrast between the years of British rule and the current independent rule in most Caribbean countries, with its present stress on language as part of Caribbean, not British, culture. Bakker-Mitchell considers it extremely important for students in English speaking Caribbean to become fluent in the languages of their neighboring countries and is concerned that this is not a priority. In the development of the Caribbean, she considers education a major priority. Cateau H. and Pemberton, R. Beyond Tradition: Reinterpreting the Caribbean Historical Experience (Essays). Jamaica: Ian Randle Publishers, 2006. Cateau and Pemberton selected a group of essays intended to re-interpret Caribbean history from the 18th through the 20th centuries, replacing the 'objective' view with a 'subjective' view of the region. One essay, "Nineteenth-Twentieth Century Trinidad and Tobago," will be useful as a comparison between Jamaica and Trinidad. The overall focus of the book on Caribbean identity and people gives a more realistic view of the area, moving away from the sugar plantation. Another essay looks at the role of Britain as a key trade center from the 18th to the 19th centuries, not just in the Caribbean, but throughout the whole English Atlantic. Cateau and Pemberton are lecturers at the University of West Indies, with Cateau specializing in economic history, while Pemberton's specialty is health and environment history. Federal Research Division. 1987. Commonwealth of Caribbean Islands. Library of Congress. Online. Available: 11 June 2006. A paper on the effects of the British Commonwealth on the development and under-development of the English-speaking Caribbean requires studying the specific areas and comparing them to determine what changes must be made to encourage growth. The Library of Congress Country Studies series gives a detailed, online, chapter-by-chapter overview of the Commonwealth of the Caribbean, with Chapter 2 covering Jamaica and Chapter 3 covering Trinidad and Tobago, two very contrasting areas. Jamaica is dependent on agriculture and tourism, while Trinidad is important as an oil-supplier. Other countries included in this topic are the Windward Islands and Barbados, the Leeward Islands and the Northern Islands. As a foundation, this source is recommended. History of Jamaica. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Online. Available: Last modified 9 June 2006. 11 June 2006. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia with researched articles that can be edited. Even so, the information in these articles is for the most part verifiable and easy to read with links to various related subjects. Since Jamaica is one of the most visible countries in the English speaking Caribbean, it has importance in a study of culture, economy and politics. Although it would be easy to see what is called the English Commonwealth as a single entity, the various islands involved have different political and economic identities and in Jamaica it is obviously a country dependent on farming (sugar and bananas) as well as a growing tourist trade. For 150 years, slave labor made Jamaica one of the most valuable possessions in the world, but a slavery revolt in 1831 led to abolishment of slavery in 1834. In 1865 Jamaica became a crown colony and was under British rule until 1962 when it gained independence. It did, however, remain a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, formerly the British Commonwealth. This article, accessible online, can be linked to other articles related to the Caribbean. Jessop, David. Europe - Uncertainties in the Caribbean. 2 June 2006. Trinidad News. Online. Available: 10 June 2006. Jessop has seen major change taking place over the past two decades, throughout the world and more specifically in the Anglophone Caribbean, an area considered secure since the 1960s with the "inalienable belief that the dream of a single integrated region is achievable" (par. 4). It is Jessop's conclusion that the concept of a single, secure and sovereign Caribbean is eroding and being altered by events. He sees Trinidad as encouraging closer economic interaction with the United States and paying more attention to its relationships with Latin neighbors. He sees Jamaica and Barbados wanting to re-balance North American, European global and inter-regional relationships and the rest of the Eastern Caribbean rejecting all economic arrangements that involve significant open markets and free movement of labor. These Anglophone nations, according to Jessop, are looking for permanent special and differential treatment and are not prepared to recognize the single market. He is also concerned with the rise of violent crime threatening the quality of Caribbean life, especially the tourist trade. Kurlansky, Mark. A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny. Menlo Park, Ca.: Addison Wesley Publishers, 1993. In an effort to educate the public on the various aspects of the Caribbean nations, not the least of which the corrosive effects of the tourism industry, Kurlansky, a journalist with The Chicago Tribune who specializes in the Caribbean, offers an easy writing style that makes history appealing. The book covers, among other things, AIDS, religious practices, and the status of women. Because of the recent influx of immigrants from the Caribbean to the United States, it is important to understand the cultures of the various nations, and this book is an excellent introduction to the many countries involved. One important focus is on the British dominated islands and their success as democracies while the former French and Spanish colonies have not been as successful in their efforts. More informational than academic. Palmer, Ransford W., ed. In Search of a Better Life: Perspectives on Migration from the Caribbean. Westport, Ct.: Praeger Publishers, 1990. The economy of the Caribbean and how it has led to high migration from the area to higher-income countries is the focus of this collection of essays. Palmer is a Professor of Economics at Howard University, specializing in Caribbean development. He considers the Caribbean under the control of international capitalism, in which a large developed industrial country in close proximity to small developing economies encourages a flow of workers from the lower-income countries to the higher-income countries, thereby creating a circular unproductive situation. One of the subjects discussed in the essays is the mass migration of Caribbean labor in the 19th century, and this will be helpful in determining development and under-development in the islands. Payne, Anthony, and Sutton, Paul. Charting Caribbean Development. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2001. Different models of development have been pursued in the past forty years in English-speaking countries such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Grenada. Payne and Sutton address the problems that have been faced in integration and external links to Europe and North America, with at one point important details on the banana controversy and its economic effect. Payne and Sutton are professors at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom specializing in Caribbean affairs. This is an informed account that will offer a clearer understanding of the development and under-development of the English-speaking Caribbean. Ramos, Aarn Gamaliel. 1998. Creating a culture of exchange and co-operation in the Caribbean Today. WACC. Online. Available: 10 May 2006. In order to look to the future of the Caribbean, it is important to look at its past. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the region was divided as a result of colonialism by various European powers, and Ramos sees the need for a new regional order. Aarn Gamaliel Ramos is Director of the Institute for Caribbean Studies and professor at the University of Puerto Rico, and is concerned about urban transformation as a result of migration from other countries, tourism contributing to environmental deterioration and an increase in drug trafficking. The various components that make up the Caribbean show different political traditions and linguistic diversity, but factors such as agricultural systems dependent on requirements abroad as well as industrialism based on cheap labor show the common economic aspects. The French, Dutch and Spanish regions all have their own identity. The English West Indies uses standard English but also Jamaica talk and Creole. In Trinidad variants of Christianity coexist, not always easily, with Hinduism and Islam. Color is decisive in determining income, social status, living conditions and other social aspects. In Jamaica and other English-speaking countries, the issue of racism is discussed in a social context. Ramos offers information that calls for further research into the effects of British rule on the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean by bringing up the issues that are keeping the area from development. Read More