First Prize, Secondary Level
Michael Manley Essay Competition 2004
How can we foster a greater spirit of
self-reliance in Jamaica as part of the process of successful
nation-building?
by Shana-Lee Cawley of Glenmuir High School
The Rt Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey once said, “Action,
self-reliance, the vision of self and the future have been the only
means by which the oppressed have seen and realised the light of
their own freedom.” From a historical perspective, Jamaica, as well
as most of its Caribbean neighbours, has always been a victim of
dependency, and this according to sociologist Andre Gunder Frank
(1971) causes underdevelopment or prevents nation-building.
Self-reliance has long been the dream of great men such as the Rt
Excellent Norman Manley and his son the Most Honourable Michael
Manley, but the obstacles faced by the demands of the nation’s
people for goods from overseas and the persistent cry for foreign
aid and investment have impeded this dream. Hence two important
questions arise: what does it truly mean to be self-reliant? And how
can self-reliance be developed to push nation-building? This essay
aims to assess how the spirit or belief in self-reliance can be
developed to effectively drive successful nation-building in
Jamaica. First, the main terms will be defined:
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First
Prize, Tertiary Level Michael Manley Essay Competition 2004
Successful Caribbean regional
integration can be achieved only in the context of wider South-South
cooperation. Discuss.
by Latoya Richards of the
University of the West Indies, Mona
Integration is a term which is most commonly used among individuals
in political and economic circles. With all the talks on
globalisation, integrating arrangements have stood out as the most
fundamental that countries ought to follow in order to excel in this
globalised society. Integration occurs when political, economic,
cultural and social affairs of individual countries become more and
more interconnected and more meaningful to each other. It represents
unity and solidarity among countries that consequently can benefit
in a number of ways. Efforts to integrate have preponderated in the
discussions of political analysts, economists and governments,
especially from developing countries, for centuries. In the
Caribbean, for instance, integration has always been a desirable
undertaking, since talks about a federation, culminating in
short-lived political union in 1958, and the formulation of the
Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom) in 1973.
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