Politics, Violence and Drugs in Kingston, Jamaica

Abstract

The involvement of gangs, guns and ganja (marijuana) in Jamaica has, since independence in 1962, largely been confined to the capital, Kingston, and more specifically to the downtown, impoverished sections of the city known locally as the ghetto. This paper examines the characteristics of the ghetto; the context that it provides for political patronage among Kingston's most marginalised citizens; the evolution of certain downtown constituencies into garrison communities; and the separation between politics and drug violence that has marked the last twenty years, as Colombian cocaine has displaced locally-produced ganja as the key drug to be consumed and traded.

Theorizing Slum Tourism: Performing, Negotiating and Transforming Inequality

“…The area's impoverished con-ditions were exacerbated following Jamaica's political violence of the 1970s, which led to internal divisions and enmity and reinforced the neighbourhood's reputation as a violent ghetto. The following decades saw Trench Town, along with Kingston's other inner-city neighbourhoods, becoming increasingly affected by transnational drugs trade, gang violence, and a criminal leadership sheltered by close political ties (Clarke 2006;Sives 2002).…”

Homicide Through A Different Lens

“…According to Sives (2003: 59), "by 1949 both political parties were engaged in violence to achieve political goals: the JLP to keep the PNP off the streets of Kingston, and the PNP to force their way back, to campaign for their party and their union movement." Supporters of one political party would engage in violent acts such as stoning, stabbing, and killing supporters of the rival party (Clarke 2006;Figueroa and Sives 2003;Sives 2003). By the 1960s, guns replaced machetes, stones, and knives, and political violence became a form of organized crime (Clarke 2006).…”

“…Supporters of one political party would engage in violent acts such as stoning, stabbing, and killing supporters of the rival party (Clarke 2006;Figueroa and Sives 2003;Sives 2003). By the 1960s, guns replaced machetes, stones, and knives, and political violence became a form of organized crime (Clarke 2006). In 1966, conflicts between rival political gangs caused national chaos and extensive violence, forcing the government to declare the country's first state of emergency.…”

“…These political gangs developed out of the collective need to protect the neighbourhood's political identity and its residents from invasion and attacks by rival party supporters in nearby garrison neighbourhoods (Chevannes 1992;Clarke 2006;Sives 2002;Stone 1985). They guarded and defended their political territories and neighbourhood boundaries with assault rifles and guns (Bertram, 2005;Stone, 1985).…”

“…However, as noted by Bowling (2010: 62), while domestic and interpersonal homicides remained stable in Jamaica in the 1980s, gang rivalry violence increased fivefold. By the early 1990s drug and gang-related violence began to increase (Clarke 2006;Sives 2002) and by 1996 the homicide rate rose to 37 per 100,000 persons.…”