Plantation Society and Creole Society
Plantation Society and Creole Society
There is a vast range of cultural diversity in the Caribbean today. In this paper, I would be discussing the similarities and differences found between the plantation society model and the Creole society model. The plantation model was developed in the late 1960’s. According to the book Mustapha (2009), the plantation system played a dominant role in the economic, social, political and cultural life of the Caribbean. George Beckford (1972) saw the plantation system as a total economic institution, where ‘the internal and external dimensions of the plantation system dominate the countries’ economic, social and political structure and their relation with the rest of the world’ (p.102). Within the plantation model, the social structure is reflective of the authoritarian structure which governs economic organization. Creolization was originated with Edward Kamau Brathwaite. According to Brathwaite in the book Sociology for Caribbean Students, Creolization is defined as a process of change and adaptation that occurs over time. It also goes on to explain that in the Caribbean, the mixture of languages, religious rituals, musical expressions, cuisine and people, represent the Creolization of Caribbean culture and society. Creolization involves acculturation and interculturation. Acculturation as defined in the book as a process in which contacts between different cultural groups lead to acquisition of new cultural patters by subordinate groups, while interculturation is defined as the mutual, symbiotic exchange of cultural traits. The Creole society and the plantation society are two different societies. Even though there are differences, these two models are linked in a way. In the article entitled ‘Caribbean Political Culture’ Creolization came about from slavery, colonization and also the plantation system. Plantation society fostered assimilation from the day of ‘discovery’, as the Europeans suppressed the
There is a vast range of cultural diversity in the Caribbean today. In this paper, I would be discussing the similarities and differences found between the plantation society model and the Creole society model. The plantation model was developed in the late 1960’s. According to the book Mustapha (2009), the plantation system played a dominant role in the economic, social, political and cultural life of the Caribbean. George Beckford (1972) saw the plantation system as a total economic institution, where ‘the internal and external dimensions of the plantation system dominate the countries’ economic, social and political structure and their relation with the rest of the world’ (p.102). Within the plantation model, the social structure is reflective of the authoritarian structure which governs economic organization. Creolization was originated with Edward Kamau Brathwaite. According to Brathwaite in the book Sociology for Caribbean Students, Creolization is defined as a process of change and adaptation that occurs over time. It also goes on to explain that in the Caribbean, the mixture of languages, religious rituals, musical expressions, cuisine and people, represent the Creolization of Caribbean culture and society. Creolization involves acculturation and interculturation. Acculturation as defined in the book as a process in which contacts between different cultural groups lead to acquisition of new cultural patters by subordinate groups, while interculturation is defined as the mutual, symbiotic exchange of cultural traits. The Creole society and the plantation society are two different societies. Even though there are differences, these two models are linked in a way. In the article entitled ‘Caribbean Political Culture’ Creolization came about from slavery, colonization and also the plantation system. Plantation society fostered assimilation from the day of ‘discovery’, as the Europeans suppressed the
References: http://www.scribd.com/doc/42634195/Caribbean-Polictical-Culture Mustapha, Nasser (2009). Sociology for Caribbean Students. Jamaica