Doing Business In Jamaica

The film Life and Debt is a documentary filmed by the award winning film director, Stephanie Black. The film examines the effects of globalization in Jamaica, from the point of view of Jamaican workers, farmers, and government and policy officials. Life and Debt shines a light on how the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank's structural adjustment policies affected Jamaica. It shows how the impositions made by the IMF and NAFTA, crippled Jamaican industry and agriculture and caused the end of Jamaica’s a self-sufficient economy. The documentary also emphasizes the difference between the Jamaica that the tourists see, and the Jamaica that the native citizens see.

The country that I chose to conduct a culture analysis on is Jamaica. Jamaica is a third world country located in North America and the 3rd largest island in the Caribbean Sea. There is a 2.5 million population, which equally divided between urban and rural areas. The country runs approximately 146 miles long and varies between 21- 52 miles wide. The climate is tropical and its main tourist attraction is their beautiful beaches. The capital of Jamaica is Kingston, which has a population of more than 645,000. Kingston is the chief port of Jamaica and is along the southeastern coast of the island. It is covered by the “Blue Mountains”, which is thickly covered which tree ferns. The Blue Mountains experiences an average of 200 inches of rain annually, resulting in topsoil erosion and an abundance of streams. Peasants nurture coffee, usually grown on large plantations, in the valleys of the mountains. It is amongst the most expensive coffees in the world and is exported mainly to Japan.

Jamaicans have Christmas decorations that you might find a little different. They have way more “pepper lights” or Christmas lights than we do. A lot of their ornaments for their Christmas trees have their flag on it. Some women will decorate their hair like christmas trees. They will make paper ornaments shaped like fruit and other things. They will also make costumes and masks for “Jonkanoo”. Jonkanoo, which means John Canoe, is a traditional Christmas celebration in Jamaica. This includes street dancing and a great parade through the streets with Jamaicans dressed in colorful masquerade costumes in which masks are worn.

Burton (2015) in her Journal, ‘Globalisation and Cultural Identity in Caribbean Society: The Jamaican Case,’ however points out that Jamaica has a unique culture and this has shaped how that countries adapts to the effects of colonialism and even globalisation.

The Jamaican economy in 1970 was 800 million dollars in debt and by the time of the year 2000 the debt had reached an alarming 7 billion dollars. In order to service its accumulated debts Jamaica set up Exporting Processing Zones or EPZ’s. The free zones created lots of employment to jump-start the economy. The free zones themselves were separate entities to Jamaica, similar to the US-owned cemetery for the WW2 soldiers in Normandy. In this way, the supplies needed for manufacturing never really enter Jamaica, thus allowing for cheap imports. The factories had their downsides though. Workers were only paid in Jamaican dollars about 30USD per week while some were paid that for two weeks. Every two weeks, money was taken out as taxes which angered the Jamaicans

According to the Jamaica Information service, there are more than one hundred Christian religions practiced in the country. For many Jamaicans, church attendance strengthen extended family and kinship bonds. The church provides them with information, emotional and sometimes financial support in times of crisis. Among the religious practices in Jamaica, there are also a number of African-origin religions that are practiced such as Revivalism and Rastafarianism.

The music industry in Jamaica is one of the most influential in the world. Popular music genres such as reggae and dancehall was both originated in Jamaica. Likewise, rap and hip hop was stated by a Jamaican, called Kool Herc. Bob Marley is also a famous music artist from Jamaica. His music played an important role in many movements in Jamaica and all over the world. The most famous one is the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Dancing is also important in Jamaica. A famous proverb in Jamaica, is that “those who can’t dance, blame it on the music”. In all african countries, music and dancing is really normal and it’s like this in Jamaica too. It is normal to dance on the streets in public and have fun, while listening to music. By all means music and dancing is undoubtedly important for Jamaica and the culture is mostly based around

The overall treatment of women in the culture is unkind and sometimes unjust. In the culture, women are often times left to be single parents, abused by the men they love and faced inequality in job placement. Male dominance rules the culture and men are praised for simply just being men. Larger societal roles for women are typically limited to street vendors (people who sells goods on the street corners), taking care of the children and being school teachers. It is rare in Jamaica that you see a female who holds a high executive position within an institution. Women are subjected to minimal roles in comparison to the men. For example, as educated as I am, it would be very unlikely for me to be the CEO or an executive in a

The island of Jamaica is very rich in culture and has many historic turnabouts throughout the years. The country has a rich and complex history including being the first country to have Arawak and Taino Indians settle there.

Jamaica is a land of diverse cultures. It has a number of different racial ethnic groups .The largest group however is the blacks or Africans so 'Jamaica’s culture' is predominantly black. Interwoven is also the European culture which these blacks learnt from their former white slaves masters. You will find Indians living in Jamaica also. Many Indians came to Jamaica as indentured servants and stayed, they too have an input in the Jamaica’s culture.

     Bananas are another industry that is suffering in Jamaica. American companies like Chiquita and Dole rely solely on developing countries for production of their product. Farmers have to deal with the competition of countries that are even less costly to the US, such as Columbia. Milk production was once very strong in Jamaica and has now dramatically declined due to taxes implemented on the country.

His growing style encompassed every aspect in the rise of Jamaican music, from ska to contemporary reggae. Marley’s lyrics lifted spirits and united nations. Robert Nesta Marley is put on a higher thresh hold that any before him, he stands on the podium as the greatest musician in this century. Through reggae Marley lives on influencing many well known bands today. Marley sang of love and above all else “Jah” a god in one of the many religions worshiped in Jamaica. The religion most commonly associated with Jamaican culture is Rastafarianism. This group of free spirited natives known as the Rastafarian’s belive in the spiritual use of marijuana, known to this island as “Ganja”. They speak Patios, pronounced (pa-twaa), an extreme Jamaican slang of the English language. Rastafarians live off the land and worship freely in the green mountains of the inner island. From an economic stand point Jamaica is generally a poor country with an average family income of 2,000 dollars a year. As a result Jamaican people rely heavily on the precious U.S. dollar brought in through tourism. Jamaica’s number one source for trade is Bauxite. The mineral rock Bauxite is rich within the rocky coast of the island. Although the overall status of Jamaican society remains poor, the abundant source of fish, fruits, and spices keep the natives well fed. Curry goat and Akki (saltfish/eggs) fill the bellies of Jamaicans everyday. Among my favorites are jerk pork and

Jamaica, Jamaica. The beautiful island nation of the greater Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, 145 km south of Cuba and 190 km from Hispaniola. Famous for the Jamaican Jerk Spice, Red Stripe Beer, and Blue Mountain Coffee. The Island is made up of three Parishes, Cornwall Parish which is home to Negril, Middlesex Parish, where Nine Mile, St. Ann the birth place of Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley is located, and Surrey Parish, home of the Capitol city of Kingston. Nestled in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica about 48 km north east of Kingston sit's a small village called Chepstow in Surrey Parish. This is the location that Marley Coffee Inc. is growing their unique blends of coffee. The beans grow in the lush rainforest of the Blue Mountain region of Jamaica

     Jamaica is a tropical island, located in the heart of the Caribbean Sea. Around the coastlines are beautiful beaches with crystal clear blue-green water. In some respects, this is the majority of what people know about Jamaica. In this orientation text you will better understand Jamaica’s history, the people who live there, the many different religions, geography, and governments that have ruled the land.

Today Spanish names still exist in the form of rivers, family names, and towns(JNHT 2). The Spanish implemented a new form of economy on the island based on shipbuilding and repairs in order to maintain the trading post in the Caribbean. Jamaica relied heavily on the trade of fruits and animal skins in order to produce revenues for the Spanish Empire. Jamaica proved to be an unworthy colony for the Spanish because of the lack of prosperity of agriculture.