ABSTRACT
This chapter considers Jamaica's economy and class structure, its politics and system of education, as a prelude to the discussion of neighborhood culture and ideology. Particular features of Jamaica's economy make politics and education prominent dimensions of Jamaican class relations. Both now and in the past the highest rewards from market activity have been accorded those in Jamaica who have controlled extensive investments in both land and capital. High rates of rural migration to urban centers in the immediate postwar period underlined the need to expand urban employment. Despite assistance to domestic industry, the major capital inputs to the Jamaican economy have been foreign. The service middle class developed when plantations effectively blocked the expansion of Jamaica's rural middle class in the postemancipation period. Between 1843 and 1943 the number of professionals in Jamaica increased from less than 1" to 4" of the total labor force.
