This paper employs and scrutinizes Asef Bayat's theory of [the] 'quiet encroachment' of the 'informal people' in the Middle East to reflect on civility and governance in Jamaica. The central argument is that while the practices of the economically dispossessed represent rational ways to survive hardships and improve their lives, the alliance of members of Jamaica's informal sphere with 'community dons' flies in the face of civility and civic engagement, engendering destructive, criminal behaviour, which undermines the state's capacity to regulate the space and uphold the rule of law. The essay recognises the validity of the episodic mobilization of 'people on the margins' in Jamaica as a useful, autonomous aspect of civil society, without romanticising it or abstracting it from its counterpoint to the state. It however maintains that such a collectivity, operating vicariously, exerts a burden on social stability and cohesion with dire consequences for democratic governance.

For close to 50 years, so‐called ‘dons’ have positioned themselves as civic leaders in Jamaica, gaining acceptance among poor urban communities and (tacit) political recognition in the wider society. The dons' systematic, coercive organisation of the ghetto community and the counter‐hegemonic, executive‐style bureaucracy and culture entrenched here resembles the ‘godfather’‐led criminal culture and power of the (Italian) Mafia. However, over the last ten years the Mafia has faced a considerable decline in its omnipotence, due to increased state intervention and resistance within civil society, particularly by women in the local Italian communities. This article attempts to ascertain if such a ‘reversible destiny’ is also thinkable in Jamaica.

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