Aldrie Henry-Lee

The nature of poverty in the garrison constituencies in Jamaica

In 2001, 16.9 per cent of the population in Jamaica was living in poverty, down from 30.5 per cent in 1989. Jamaica is well on its way to achieving the first Millennium Development Goal of halving by 2015 the number of persons living in extreme poverty. However, policy makers are particularly concerned about the persistent high levels of poverty in the rural areas. This paper argues that although the incidence of urban poverty has been consistently lower than that of rural poverty, there are certain urban areas that warrant special policy attention. In spite of a reduction in poverty at the macro level in these “garrison constituencies”, the quality of life for the residents has not improved significantly, and any sustained improvement will be extremely difficult given the quality of their political and social capital. There has been no sustained political will to dismantle these garrison constituencies, and everyday life is deeply entrenched in crime, violence and political patronage. Unless there are deliberate and well-targeted policies to dismantle these constituencies and break the stranglehold that the political and criminal elements have on the residents, then they will never experience any sustained improvement in their quality of life.

Linking researchers and policy-makers: some challenges and approaches

In developing a proposal for the study of the effect of user fees on access to preventive care, a team, comprising researchers and policy-makers, initiated interaction with key policy implementers in the Jamaicas Ministry of Health to ensure that their perspectives were considered at the preliminary stage. There were many pressing events occupying the minds and energies of the implementers, but the team was able to capitalize on existing good relationships to capture attention. In the interviews that followed, agreement was reached on the necessity for the study, its focus and methodology. The process of consultation achieved notable successes and can be regarded as a model for successful research and policy interaction.

Negotiating Gender, Policy and Politics in the Caribbean: Feminist Strategies, Masculinist Resistance and Transformational Possibilities, edited by Gabrielle Jamela Hosein and Jane Parpart

passivity/weakness are not treated to an extensive appraisal here – but this may well be an engagement for a different volume. Vulnerability in Resistance after all does not seek to provide us with a lengthy critique of current discourses, but instead looks to how vulnerability can open up different futures and different ways of being and resisting in the world. This is something it does admirably well.