What is a society?

 Society is a group of people who share a

common culture, occupy a particular
territorial area and feel themselves to
constitute a unified and distinct entity.
What is society
 Society is a collection of people or individuals
in the same geographical area over a long
period of time
What is a society?
 the community of people living in a particular
country or region and having shared customs,
laws, and organizations
Characteristics of a society
1. Having a sense of belonging and
cooperation.
2. Society has its own culture.
3. Form a social structure through social
institutions e.g. family, education, economic,
religious and political.
4. Defined territorial space.
5. Citizenship within a space.
Caribbean Society
 Formed out of the colonial past
◦ A major tendency of Caribbean societies is for
persons to acknowledge the island or geographic
borders as the limit of their society.
◦ Each island people think of themselves as separate
from the neighbouring society (insularity).
Caribbean society
 George Beckford portrayed Caribbean society
as a “plantation society”
 The plantation society is a rigidly stratified

system of social and economic relations

enforced on plantations in the Americas.
 The plantation society forced on the legacy of

slavery and indentureship and the system of

economic organization
Beckford
 Caribbean society is characterized by a
stratified society where there are historical
divisions among the various groups where caste
(race and colour) and class (occupations) were
rigidly tied.
 Whites and people of lighter colour were the

wealthier members of society historically and

they continue to be so
 Blacks,mixed heritage and Indians—are

increasingly accessing social mobility mainly

through education.
Beckford
 Due to plantation society Caribbean society
emphasizes its social structure
◦ There is an unwillingness by the elites to allow
other social groups to access social mobility.
◦ Groups of similar ethnicity, wealth, status and
education level intermarry and associate with each
other rather than with other groups.
◦ Poorer classes do not have the power to challenge
these interactions and usually comply with such
arrangements, often not seeing how they are
deprived
Beckford and Caribbean society
 Beckford believes culture as mirroring social structure.
Thus the culture of the elite will differ from the culture of
those at different socio-economic levels in society.
 The values and beliefs of each group occupying a
particular socio-economic level will reflect their social
location.
 Belief among lower socio-economic groups in society is
that social mobility is necessary to live a better life. Thus
we are familiar with parents working very hard to secure a
higher standard of living for their children.
 This has a direct link to menial positions of their
ancestors were forced to endure during slavery/colonial
times
Beckford and Caribbean culture
 Among the wealthier classes, beliefs and
values do not necessarily focus on working
hard and self-sacrifice but on strategies to
consolidate their position and exclude others.
Plural society
 Cultural Pluralism is a concept often combined with
cultural diversity . In ‘a plural society two or more
ethnic groups share the same space but do not mix
to any significant extent. They may mingle in the
workplace or at school but live in different areas
and do not intermarry (Mohammed, 2007).

One might say that because of this’ non-mixture’

the culture of these islands would be different
from that of the islands where the population are
fully integrated.
The culture of Jamaica would therefore be different from that of
Trinidad and Tobago because the twin island republic has two major
ethnic group.

In the Caribbean the plural societies are Trinidad and Tobago,

Surinam and Guyana.

Drawing from the work of Furnival, M.G Smith adapted the plural
society analysis to the Caribbean society and culture. For Smith
cultural pluralism allowed for differences in the public domain as a
result different groups practice different institutional forms such as
religious rituals (Barrow and Reddock).
Caribbean Studies
Culture
Culture
 Culture is the shared knowledge, beliefs and
values of members of society and may be
passed on from generation to generation
through the process of socialization.
Types of Culture

Types of
culture

Material Non material

Buildings
Monuments Ideas, beliefs,
Toy cars values
artifacts
Characteristics of culture
 Learnt- behaviour through the process of
socialization.
 Socializes-Provides guidelines to guide people’s
behaviour
 It is shared- This means that systems consists of
negotiated agreements. E.g. share common language,
which facilitates day to day exchanges with others.
 It is transmittable- Comes from the past, it is not
created by any one person or generation, and it
continues beyond an individuals life span.
 It is adaptive- in order to survive culture must adapt
to changes.
Characteristics of culture
 It is dynamic-it varies over time and place.
The culture of your grandparents is not
identical with your own.
 It is symbolic- symbols are things or

behaviours to which people give meaning,

such as the national flag.
Functions of culture
 Facilitates communication with others through
language
 Anticipate how others in society would respond to an
action.
 Gives standards for distinguishing between what is
right and wrong (norms), beautiful and unpleasant
(values), reasonable and unreasonable
 Provide methods of training children to behave in
certain ways generally considered appropriate in
society.
 Knowledge and skills necessary for sustenance needs.
Norms and values
 Values- are the abstract standards in a
society or group that defines ideal principles.
 Values define what is desirable and morally

correct
 They determine what is right and wrong,

beautiful and ugly, good and bad

 They provide a general guide, outline for

behaviour.
Norms
 These are specific cultural expectations for
how to behave in a given situation.
  Norms set rules of behaviour designed to

express a commitment to the society’s

underlying values.
 Society without norms would be chaotic.
 There are two types of norms

◦ Implicit/Formal
◦ Explicit/Informal
Interplay between norms and values
 The interaction between norms and values
produces modal personality types in a culture
or society with specific drives, motivations,
expectations and propensity towards certain
patterns of behaviour.
Beliefs
 These are shared ideas held collectively by
people within a given culture.
 Shared beliefs are what helps to bind people

together in a society.
 Beliefs are the basis of values and norms.
 E.g. belief in God and democracy
Caribbean culture
 Norm: dropping in by friends and family without prior
notice
 Cultural value: informality/camaraderie

 Norm: cooking more than is needed ‘just in

case’someone drops by
 Cultural value: hospitality

 Norm: having relatives come to stay for extended and

underdetermined periods, perhaps to be closer to
school or work
 Cultural value:hospitality/valuing kinship bonds
Activity 1.3
Match the norms of behaviour in the table below with the cultural values listed in the second
column (these are not necessarily listed in sequence

Norm
Children being brought up by
grandparents for example, when
parents migrate
Keeping the elderly at home for as
long as possible to be cared for by
relatives
Children living with parents in
family households beyond their
20’s
A feeling of being apart and
different from other Caribbean
territories
Giving ‘nicknames’ satirizing some
Value
Making fun of people/little
importance put on being polite
Uniqueness/superiority/insulari
ty
Kinship/strong family ties &
responsibilities
Such attributes often tell much
about social standing
Family is a support
Activity 1.3
Match the norms of behaviour in the table below with the cultural values listed in the second
column (these are not necessarily listed in sequence

Norm
Children being brought up by
grandparents for example, when
parents migrate
Keeping the elderly at home for as
long as possible to be cared for by
relatives
Children living with parents in
family households beyond their
20’s
A feeling of being apart and
different from other Caribbean
territories
Giving ‘nicknames’ satirizing some
Value
Making fun of people/little
importance put on being polite
Uniqueness/superiority/insulari
ty
Kinship/strong family ties &
responsibilities
Such attributes often tell much
about social standing
Family is a support
Cultural values
 Cultural values have their responsible, social
caring, empowering side and they have their
downside such as when racism, xenophobia
and ethnocentrism are allowed to give rise to
norms
Types of culture
 High culture
 Material culture
 Popular culture
 Diaspora culture
 Rastafarian culture
 Urban culture
 Caribbean culture
 Subculture
High culture
 This is also known as the dominant culture.
 It refers to the cultural creations that are
essentially, the culture of the dominant group or
coloniser.
 High culture represent the section of the
population that reflects the most power and
status.
 In the Caribbean the intelligentsia, and members
of the upper and upper-middle classes have
both the interest and the financial resources to
engage in high culture.
Material culture
 Refers to those things that a society produces
and uses for survival. E.g. food items,
clothing, houses, books, cars, computers etc.
 E.g. Belize boasts of a rich Mayan

architectural culture that is the backbone of

that country’s tourism industry.
Non-material culture
 These are the intangible components of a
people’s way of life. These include the
languages, beliefs, ideas and values of a
people that shape their norms and standards
of behaviour.
◦ E.g. liming with friends, going to church
Folk culture
 This refers to the culture of the ordinary people.
 Dominic strinati notes that folk culture arises

from the grass roots, is self created and

autonomous and directly reflects the life and
experiences of the people.
 Folk culture includes the oral traditions such as

folk songs & stories that have been handed

down from generation to generation.
 Stories like the Anasi and the Old Higue in

Caribbean folk lore

Mass culture
 Mass culture is culture that is consumed by
large numbers of people.
 Mass culture is generally very easily

understood
◦ An example of mass culture is text language used
by cell phone users and music videos
Popular culture
 Popular culture is similar to mass culture
 It includes cultural products that are enjoyed

by large numbers of ordinary people who do

not pretend to be cultural experts
◦ Calypso and reggae are two examples of popular
culture
Subculture
 Group of people who have something in
common with each other that distinguishes
them from other social groups.
 E.g. Rastafari movment in Jamaica

◦ Maroon community of Accompong in Jamaica

Ideal culture
 This refers to the values and standards of
behaviour that people in society claim to hold
and that are worthy of aspiring to.
◦ E.g. abstaining from sex before you marry
Real culture
 Refers to the values and standards that people
follow in society.
 What people actually do is usually different from

the cultural ideal.

◦ E.g. people believe in man and woman but yet there is
now male and male relationships and female and
female relationships.
◦ People want their children to marry before settle down
yet people/couples live with each other before they
marry.
◦ Ideal is to be a virgin when married, but in reality
people are losing virginity early.
Factors shaping Caribbean society
and culture
 Near complete genocide of our aboriginal peoples
 Cultural diversity, social stratification, hybridization of

our people (mixing of races and cultures within

society)
 Colonial rule, and legacy of a colonial mentality
 Dependent economies and efforts to diversify
 A culture of migration to metropolitan countries and

positive feelings for foreign taste

 The dissemination of Caribbean cultural art forms to a

wide international audience

 A syncretism of Caribbean cultural practices with those

of other Countries
Cultural diversity
In the Caribbean the culture is diverse due to
its history.
Cultural diversity is a term that emphasizes the
idea of difference.
It is defined as different ethnic traditions
(evident in raced, language, religion, customs
family practices) found in one society or
region.
It results from the variety of ethnic groups
found in the region.
Cultural diversity in the Caribbean
Cultural diversity is extremely marked in the
Caribbean because of the many races and
racial groupings that are present.
Black
Indigenous people (Amerindians)
Mongoloids (Chinese, Japenese & East
Indians)
Caucasoid (Europeans/Jews/Syrians)
Cultural diversity
 The mixing of these groups created racial
admixtures:
◦ Mulatto: The offspring of African and European
◦ Mestizo: The offspring of an Amerindian and a
European
◦ Dougla: The offspring of an indentured Indian and
an African
Cultural diversity and ethnicity
 Ethnicity is the cultural attributes or
affiliations based on the ways of life of one’s
ethnic group.
 Ethnic group is a group of people who feel a

sense of belonging together based on shared

culture, language, ancestry, nationality,
religion, race, skin colour or other factors
Cultural diversity and language
 In the region language is seen as a divisive
force fighting against efforts at integration.
◦ Seen in the fact that countries in the Caribbean with
a different language have forced few ties.
◦ Therefore our level of interaction is based on
whether we speak the same language.
Types of languages in the Caribbbean
 Formal language..conduct business
 Creole language…first language of many

Caribbean people.
◦ In Trinidad creole tends to be sprinkled with words
from Hindi, and Bhojpuri particularly for foods and
vegetables e.g. Channa (chickpea)
Language as cultural diversity
 Language is one of cultural identity.
 The issue of language experienced in

multilingual Caribbean countries stem from

the unwillingness of some groups to
recognize the languages of other groups as
of equal status.
Cultural pluralism
 Different ethnic cultural and racial groups in
a society mixing only to a certain extent,
with limited social and cultural integration.
(See Mohammed p.68)
 Give handout
Cultural diversity:Benefits/Limitations
 Think for a minute and write two benefits and
two limitations of cultural diversity.
Positive and negatives effects of
cultural diversity.
 Demonstrates creativity
 Suggests tolerance and a willingness to appreciate

differences.
 It can be harnessed as a major tourist attraction leading to

earning foreign exchange.

 In case of architecture, cultural diversity lends to complex

aesthetic beauty of the physical landscape

(chattel/Victorian/plantation)
 Facilitates easy development of cultural industries
 It lends to varied and diversified cuisine and in a sense

promotes cultural creativity.

 Learn to appreciate other cultures and an array of

perspectives by just growing up in the society.

 Cultural hydridization results with new forms
of music, art, literature and poetry which
speak to the experience of more than one
ethinic group. E.g. chutney music
Disadvantages of cultural diversity
 Racial and ethnic conflict
 Insularity and religious intolerance to prevail among the racial
and ethnic groups
 Some groups confine themselves to socio-cultural segments
without practicing genuine integration e.g whites in Barbadian
society.
 Ethnic politics develops, with political parties becoming
polarized according to race. In such situations politics become a
contest between ethnicities
 Feelings of discrimination especially when jobs, promotions,
opportunities and gifts are limited to people of the same
ethnicity.
 Inability to be part of the ruling group or any other power to
intervene and restore order may lead to civil war and genocide,
Hybridisation
 Hybridisation is partly responsible for cultural
diversity.
 Hybridisation the process by which two
cultural forms are mixed to form a new culture
 E.g. of Hybridisation is found in
◦ The multiplicity of language, sing song accent of
Trinidadians,
◦ French Creole of St. Lucia, Garifuna in Belize,
◦ patois of Jamaica
◦ In religon-Rastafari, Spiritual Baptist, Vodun,
Revivalism etc
Hybridisation
 This is used in the Caribbean to describe
many levels of meeting and mixing and
creating something new especially the fusion
between different races to produce hybrid
people and cultures.
Hybridization and History
 In the Caribbean hybridization has been
going on for more than five hundred years.
◦ The aboriginal inhabitants of the New world
migrated through the Caribbean from South
American. They captured each other and adopted
each other’s language and cultural practices
◦ Columbus arriving further hybridization occurred
Racial and ethnic hybridization
 Amerindians, Africans, and to a lesser extent
Indian women were forced to cohabit with
and have children for European
conquistadors, slave masters and overseers.
 This resulted in a coloured ‘race’ of people
 This is called miscegation (sexual union

between persons of different races, resulting

in children of mixed race)
Racial and ethnic hybridization
 Historically, the lighter –skinned children
were seen as better than their maternal
ancestors, they were dealt with more
leniently, and some were educated all
because of they had biological and physical
traits publicizing their European connection
Racial and ethnic hybridization
 Pigmentocracy evolved, in which persons of
fairer complexion wielded more prestige and
power in the society than others.

Hence skin colour and hair texture and facial features

impacted on Caribbean society, culture and identity.

The phenomenon of bleaching skin..is that an

example of this pigmentocracy?
Read pg.73
Cultural hybridization
 The development of new cultural forms out of
existing ones through a period of contact and
interaction.
Aspects of cultural hybridisation
 Religion
 Language
 Music
Creole
 It describes a person born locally of
immigrant parents .
 In Trinidad and Tobago creole is used to

describe persons of African descent

 French creole refers to descendants of French

settlers who came to Trinidad in the late

eighteenth century.
Creole society
 Creole society is one that embraces the
culture of all different groups that exist in
one space.
 The mixing and fusion of cultures particularly

European and African gave birth to new

culture, the creole culture.
 This creole culture is seen in religion, food,

family types, customs and values.

Creole society
 Creolization is a process of change and
adaption that takes place in the way of life or
culture of a particular society or region.
 Creolization is an evolutionary process it

happens over time.

 Creolization was conceptualized by Edward

Brathwaite.
 He stated that European culture was the

dominant culture in the Caribbean region and

shaped the culture of the Caribbean to date.
Creolziation
 The combination of cultures or the mixing of
cultures resulted in new cultures which were
creolized.
 He said creolization did not stop after

emancipation but continued with the arrival

of other cultures/cultural groups post 1838.
 This means that Caribbean culture is still

evolving
Creolization
 Creolziation involves
 acculturation
 interculturation
 transculturation.

 Acculturation is the process by which

interaction between different cultural groups
results in the acquisition of new patterns by
the subordinate groups e.g. The formation of
syncetic religious practices such as Revivalism
Cultural Change
 Cultures change from time to time.
 Three types of cultural change are:

◦ Cultural erasure
◦ Cultural renewal
◦ Cultural retention
Cultural Erasure
 This is the act of neglecting , looking past,
minimising, ignoring or rendering invisible an
‘other’.
 Caribbean culture has been neglected,

ignored or replaced.
 Rhoda Reddock identifies ethnic groups that

are victims of erasure. These are.

 The Amerindians of Guyana
 The Karifuna or Caribs of Dominica
 The Chinese of Jamaica
 In the Caribbean erasure has occurred due a
number of factors:
◦ Globalization
◦ Impact of other cultures
◦ Day to day demands of living in a highly competitive
society
◦ Television-this has been the constant companion of
young children while their parents try to complete
chores in the home. Foreign values and lifestyles have
been ingrained in these young people.
◦ So today young people are not interested in traditional
games and have adopted computer games.
 Further children are moving away from
playing traditional sports like cricket to play
football
 The influence of the American culture is

evident in the gravitation of younger

generation towards sporting activities like
basketball and golf rather than cricket
What traditional games do you
play/did you play as a child?
Cultural renewal
 Cultural renewal refers to efforts to salvage parts of
our past or aspects of our culture that have been
latent.
 E.g. Celebration of Emancipation day (August 1st) is
reclaiming of our past
 Renewal of interest in African religions such as Orisha
faith in T&T and Pocomania in Jamaica.
 In the 1970’s National Independence Festival of
Creative Arts (NIFCA) was started in Barbados and
CARIFESTA in the wider Caribbean to encourage
research and performance of local culture in drama,
poetry, dance and folk songs.
Cultural renewal
 The advent of Garveyism early in the
twentieth century provided a core for the
development of black consciousness not only
in Jamaica but also in the wider Caribbean
and North America.
Cultural retention
 This is where the cultural practices of the
past continue into the present.
 This resulted from a deliberate desire to keep

traditions alive so that some groups will be

able to preserve their sense of identity. E.g.
Traditional Carib basketry designs and
technologies continue in Dominica.
 Garifuna culture is described as one where

there are a remarkable number of cultural

retentions.
Cultural erasure
 Refer to the practices that have died out or
are dying out.
How cultural change occurs
 Change in a culture can occur through the
following ways
 Enculturation
 Acculturation
 Assimilation
 Transculturation
 Interculturation

 See handout page 101-103

Enculturation
 Is a process of socialization whereby a person
becomes part of another's culture.
Enculturation
 This is the process of socialization that
enables us to learn the ways of life of a
cultural group.
 This may be our own culture or we can

become acculturated into another group

through the process of acculturation.
 We learn our culture through interaction with

others.
Acculturation
 This is the imposition of a dominant group’s
way of life on another group.
 During this process the subordinate culture is

altered or destroyed. For example, the

Spanish conquest of Amerindians and the
imposition of their Spanish culture.
 Acculturation is necessary part of the

creolization process as it allows for the

inclusion or creation of a new, unique mix of
cultural elements that define the Caribbean.
Transculturation
 This refers to the process by which significant
changes take place to a certain aspect of a
culture until it evolves into something new.
Transculturation
 The movement of cultures across
international boundaries.
 This cultural change involves the whole

society, sometimes due to political upheavals.

 The steady import of Africans into the

Caribbean drastically altered all aspects of

society and culture.
Interculturation
 The cultural mixing to the mixing of cultures
that goes on between groups who share a
space.
 This cultural exchange between two or more

groups does not alter cultures or society.

 Cultural mixing occurs in a plural society

where ethnic groups may live with limited

mixing yet elements of their cultures become
incorporated from national identities.
Interculturation
 Involves a mutual exchange of cultural traits.
This is evident in the dishes and diets of the
region. Trinidad is good example of this,
 Members of the African creole population

consume, purchase and prepare traditional

Indian foods and Indians in turn also
consume, purchase and prepare some African
creole dishes.
 E.g. all religious groups celebrate Christmas.

(See Mohammed p.83)

Cultural assimilation
 Is the process of acceptance which allows the
various ways of life, ideological viewpoints of
different ethnic groups to be merged
together into dominant cultural expression.
 Assimilation occurs when a dominant group

makes a bid to encultrate another by

attempting to supplant all aspects of its
culture and make it over into the image of the
dominant group.
Assimilation
 French intended to convert their coloured
people into French people, culturally
speaking. Thus the local and indigenous
customs, beliefs and yearning ignored.
Martinique and Guadeloupe for example, are
considered to be part of France
Caribbean Studies
Social Stratification
Social stratification

 Refers to the different social groups that

make up a particular society.
 This refers to a system operating in a

particular society which ranks the population

into social classes or groups arranged in
hierarchy.
Social stratification
 Social stratification is the sharp division or
ranking of social groups within a society
according to wealth, power, prestige, education,
profession or religion.
 Social stratification is a particular form of social

inequality.
 Hence have terms such as high society and low

society.
 Each having their distinct culture.
 Stratification in the Caribbean has it origin in the

plantation .
Forms of social stratification
 Ascribed- This is usually fixed at birth. In the
Caribbean during slavery once you were black
you were automatically placed at the bottom
of the social strata. Once you were white you
were placed in the higher strata of society.
 Indian caste system is another example, you

were born into a social stratification system

which determined your occupation, social
interaction, power and education at birth.
Achieve status
 Achieved status –due to your efforts you can
move up or down the social ladder. In the
Caribbean achieved status has mainly been
brought about by education.
 This has mainly occurred due to free primary and

secondary education provided for all children.

 People have been able to leverage this to obtain

university degrees especially when university was

free and move into the professional class as
doctors, lawyers, chartered accounts etc.
Types of stratification
 Closed
 Open
Closed system of stratification
 It is a rigid system with clearly demarcated
boundaries
 Social status is strictly defined and

determines access to occupations

 Social position is determined at birth

(ascribed)
 Social mobility from one level to another is

not possible
Open system of stratification
 Based mainly on economic criteria, particulary
income
 Social position is achieved through one’s own

efforts
 The boundaries between classes are more

flexible than with a closed system

 Social mobility is possible
 Class system in a modern industrial society is

an open system of stratification

 With education one can access elite clubs and
professional circles.
 The type of education one has can determine

one’s status and prestige, for example,

formal training in disciplinary fields leads to
the profession , whilst, technical-vocational
training often leads to blue-collar jobs.
Although today those techvoc jobs are
making more money than traditional jobs like
teachers, etc.
Systems of stratification
 The caste system
 Is a closed system of social stratification

indicates that the groups in society are

unequal and the pattern of inequality that
forms persists from one generation to the
next.
 The caste system is based on ascriptive

status which depends on birth rather than

achievement.
The caste system was
seen as permanent and it
was replaced by elaborate
practices and procedures
to keep the castes
separate.
Stratification in the Caribbean
 Stratification in the Caribbean has its origin in
the plantation system
 See handout on Social stratification under

slavery
Define the following terms
 Social inequality
 Social class and social stratification
◦ Define social class
◦ Draw a diagram to show class divisions in society
◦ Is class in society based on ascribe or achieved status
◦ Explain how Marx and Weber defined social class
 Social mobility
◦ Define the term meritocracy
◦ How is social mobility related to older generations?
◦ How have Caribbean people become socially mobile?