Module 1

Greater Antilles

Includes Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.

Lesser Antilles

Located east of Puerto Rico to Trinidad, divided into Leeward Islands, Windward Islands, and Leeward/Netherland Antilles.

Leeward Islands

Consist of St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, St Maarten, Anguilla, Montserrat, US Virgin Islands, and British Virgin Islands.

Windward Islands

Include St Lucia, Dominica, St Vincent and The Grenadines, and Grenada.

Netherland/Leeward Antilles

Comprise Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, St Eustatius.

Caribbean Languages

Anglophone, Hispanophone, Francophone, Netherland Caribbean based on official languages.

Girvan's Argument

Caribbean lacks a standard definition due to various perspectives.

Geographical Definition

Caribbean includes areas washed by the Caribbean Sea, with exceptions like Venezuela and Panama.

Geological Definition

Refers to territories on the Caribbean Plate, sharing similar features.

Historical Definition

Caribbean defined by European colonization, slavery, and plantation systems.

Colonization

Settlement and control of territories, involving immigration and cultural expansion.

European Influence

Impact on language, law, infrastructure, food, religion, education, and government.

Political Definition

Refers to socioeconomic groupings in the Caribbean, including Independent States, Associated States, and Colonial Dependence.

Diasporic Definition

Includes migrants and their descendants as part of the Caribbean, along with linked institutions.

Enculturation

The process by which culture is passed on from one generation to another and from one society to another, shaping behavior and learned attitudes.

Cultural Symbols

Verbal and nonverbal indicators of a society's values, including language, traditional dress, gestures, and celebrations.

Cultural Norms

Practices or behaviors within a society that are considered normal and acceptable, often learned through socialization.

Customs and Traditions

Practices passed down through generations that preserve cultural identity, such as dance, arts, festivals, and celebrations.

Social Institutions

Entities like religion, family, and education that influence and uphold cultural norms, values, and behaviors within a society.

Gendered Practices

Cultural influences on gender roles and behaviors, observed in child-rearing, education, and employment choices.

Cultural Diversity

The existence of subcultures within a main culture or different cultures in a large area, leading to a variety of cultural expressions and perspectives.

Social Stratification

The division of society into layers based on factors like race, wealth, gender, and education, influencing social mobility and status.

Plantocracy

The political, social, and economic power held by plantation owners and wealthy whites in the Caribbean during the 17th to 19th centuries.

Intelligentsia

A social class engaged in intellectual and creative labor for the development and dissemination of culture, including intellectuals and related groups.

Hybridisation

The development of new cultural forms through the integration of different cultures, leading to mixtures in terms of people's racial, heritage, and cultural expressions.

Creolisation

Specific to the Caribbean, it describes the fusion of ideas, beliefs, culture, customs, traditions, and people resulting from hybridisation, leading to a change and adaptation in the region's culture and society.

Acculturation

The cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture, often leading to creolisation.

Cultural Erasure

Refers to the diminishing or discontinuance of cultural practices.

Cultural Retention

The continuation of cultural practices from the past into the present, preserving aspects of a culture.

Cultural Renewal

The revival of discontinued cultural practices, often to salvage parts of the past or latent aspects of a culture.

Plate Tectonics

The movement and interaction of the Earth's crustal plates, leading to various types of plate margins such as divergent, transform, and convergent boundaries.

Earthquakes

The shaking of the Earth's surface due to the movement of tectonic plates, causing destruction to life and property, with secondary impacts like tsunamis and mudslides.

Volcanoes

Openings in the Earth's crust through which ash, lava, steam, and gases escape, creating cone-shaped mountains and posing dangers to surrounding flora and fauna.

Volcanic eruptions in the Caribbean:

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Tsunamis in the Caribbean:

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Hurricanes in the Caribbean:

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Droughts in the Caribbean:

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Floods in the Caribbean:

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Impacts of Natural Disasters in the Caribbean:

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Soil Conservation

The process of reducing, preventing, and managing soil erosion to maintain and improve soil fertility for sustainable plant growth.

Afforestation

Planting vegetation or topsoil in eroded areas to prevent erosion, bind the soil together, and create new organic matter.

Coral Reefs

Large strips of wave-resistant coral rocks made from marine animal skeletons, forming underwater ecosystems with values like tourism, coastline protection, and biodiversity.

Nuclear Family

Traditional family structure consisting of two adults, a mother and father, and their unmarried offspring, introduced by Europeans and common among the upper and middle class.

Visiting Family

Family structure where the mother and children live separately from the father, with the father visiting them, often found among lower-income Afro-Caribbean families.

Indentureship

System where East Indians established joint households, a patriarchal family structure prioritizing early marriage, common in societies like Guyana and Trinidad.

Coral Reef Protection

Measures like legislation, quotas, bans on destructive fishing, protected areas, sewage system development, and education to protect coral reefs from threats like climate change and pollution.

Extended Family

Family structure consisting of the mother, father, children, married siblings, grandparents, and other relatives, predominant among East Indians and often patrilocal and patriarchal in authority.

Common Law Unions in the Caribbean

Represented as "faithful concubinage" by sociologist T.S. Simey, reflecting informal relationships akin to marriage without legal recognition.

Functions of the Family

Include reproduction, emotional support, economic provision, and socialization, serving essential roles in society and individual well-being.

Migration

High levels of migration in the Caribbean region, particularly to the United States and Europe, impacting families through separation and challenges of uprooting.

Changing Family Structure

Transition from traditional extended families to nuclear families, single-parent households, and cohabiting couples due to modernization, urbanization, and globalization.

Gender Role Resentment

Occurs when men resist women entering male-dominated jobs, leading to hostility or abuse, reflecting struggles over changing gender dynamics.

Education in the Caribbean

Evolved from pre-colonial informal education to post-independence formal education systems, influencing social mobility and cultural identity.

Caribbean Arts and Popular Culture

Encompass a rich diversity of art forms, music genres like calypso and reggae, literary contributions, and culinary practices, shaping the region's cultural identity and global recognition.

Salt Fish

A staple in the Caribbean diet imported by the British to feed slaves, leading to regional variations like fried fish cakes and ackee and saltfish.

Root Crops

Include cassava, yam, and breadfruit, popular in the Caribbean and historically part of the slave's diet.

Cultural Development

The link between artistic expression and human development, impacting creators, audiences, and driving human civilization.

Human Development

A holistic term involving people as mechanisms for economic and sustainable development, with the arts fostering empowerment, productivity, equity, and sustainability.

Rex Nettleford

Jamaican scholar, historian, and choreographer who promoted the decolonization of the Caribbean spirit through the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica.

Louise Bennet

Jamaican educator, poet, and folklorist who traveled worldwide promoting Jamaican culture through performances and writings in Jamaican Patois.

Beryl McBurnie

Trinidadian dance legend who established the Little Carib Theatre, promoting Trinidad and Tobago's culture and arts.

Paule Marshall

American author with Barbadian roots known for novels reflecting Caribbean themes and the search for identity.

Aubrey Cummings

Guyanese musician and singer who contributed to healing Guyana through pop music during political upheaval.

Martin Carter

Guyanese poet and political activist known for protest poems and resistance against colonial forces, playing a role in Guyanese politics.

Caribbean Diaspora

Refers to the scattered or grouped migration of people away from their country of origin, with many choosing to live in Caribbean enclaves to identify with their roots.

Declining Economies

Economic downturn in Caribbean territories leading to poverty, inequality, social displacement, crime, and political instability, contributing to emigration.

Net Migration Rate

The difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants per 1,000 people in a population, with the Caribbean having one of the highest rates globally.

Reggae Music

A genre with global influence, exemplified by Bob Marley, impacting cultures and social movements worldwide.

Rastafarianism

A spiritual philosophy originating in Jamaica, emphasizing repatriation to Africa, belief in Haile Selassie I as God, and the use of marijuana in rituals.

Remittances

Funds sent by migrants to their home countries, often significant for small developing nations' economies, but can also encourage further emigration.

Remittances

Money sent by individuals working abroad to family members in their home country, serving as financial support and a source of foreign exchange.

Inflation

A general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money, often caused by increased demand, such as from remittances.

Colonialism

The practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.

Cultural Identity

The identity of a group or culture, including language, traditions, arts, and other distinguishing characteristics.

Education System

The structure and organization of formal education, influenced historically by colonial powers and gradually adapting to meet the needs of Caribbean society.

Syncretic Religions

Religions that blend elements of different belief systems, such as European Christianity and traditional African beliefs in the Caribbean.

Westminster System

A parliamentary system of government derived from the UK model, with a monarch as head of state and an elected parliament making laws.

Rule of Law

The principle that governmental authority should be exercised according to established laws, limiting arbitrary governance and ensuring accountability.

First-past-the-post electoral system

A system used in most English-speaking Caribbean countries where the party that wins the most constituencies forms the government.

Proportional representation system

A system used only in Guyana where the total popularity of a party determines its representation in the government.

Gerrymandering

Manipulating constituency boundaries by the sitting government to ensure electoral advantage.

Munro Doctrine

US foreign policy since 1823 to exclude foreign powers from the Caribbean.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 1962 event where the US and the Soviet Union nearly engaged in nuclear war over Soviet missiles in Cuba.

Migratory Labour

The movement of workers into and out of the Caribbean region, influencing politics and economy.