“East Indian Cane Workers In Jamaica”, Allen S. Ehrlich1969 (economics)⁠:

During the past decade, students of the Caribbean have developed an interest in the social and political analysis of those islands which exhibit a high degree of ethnic and racial variation. Much has been written on the question of social and cultural pluralism in the area, especially since the recent moves by a number of the islands towards political independence and nationhood. The present research represents, in part, an effort to present new materials on this subject.

The major focus of the dissertation is twofold—the study of ethnic adaptation and national identification. The people described in the study are persons of East Indian descent whose forebears came to the island of Jamaica as indentured laborers to work on sugar estates 1860^–₅₇1917_107ya. More specifically, the dissertation centers on the East Indian population in Canelot, a village in the western part of the parish of Westmoreland. Almost all of the East Indians in the village are part of a large rural sugar proletariat which supplies labor to the cane farms of the West Indies Sugar Company.

In studying the interpersonal relationships between Indians and Negroes within the village, it was discovered that their common situation as members of a rural sugar proletariat did not cause differences of race and ethnic membership to be minimized. Strong feelings of antagonism exist between the two groups with stereotyped opinions characterizing the attitudes held by Indians and Negroes vis-a-vis each other. East Indian self-perception, as well as their attitude towards Negroes, is rooted in the racial attitudes and values of the colonial plantation system.

In analyzing the mode of social differentiation, a comparative stance was taken in an effort to try to understand why traditional East Indian culture patterns seemed to play such a minor role in village life. Through a historical comparison with materials on the Trinidadian and Guianese indentureship periods, the interplay of 3 factors appeared to be crucial in understanding why communities organized around modified Indian culture patterns did not develop in Jamaica. The 3 factors were: (1) the level of development of the plantation system; (2) the natural environment; and (3) the adaptation patterns of the emancipated slaves. In all 3 cases, these factors are shown to have articulated with one another in quite distinct ways. In turn, the permutations of the variables led to the concentration or dispersal of East Indian indentured laborers. It is the degree of ethnic concentration during the indentureship period which the author feels is crucial to an understanding of East Indian cultural retention.

Finally, the question of national identification was investigated with a view toward finding the kinds of political linkages which exist between the national government and the village population. 3 such ties were found to be present: (1) political expression to the Parish Council representative; (2) communication with the region’s representative to Parliament; and (3) lobbying through labor unions which are linked to the island’s two major political parties. In all 3 instances, these linkages were shown to be extremely weak. Their weakness, however, was not caused by the ethnic and racial attitudes of the villagers; rather, it stemmed from a distrust of the entire political system and all persons associated with it. A sense of pride or identification with the recently declared statehood of the island was absent in the village. Instead, alienation and a sense of utter powerlessness pervaded the political attitudes of the people in Canelot.