Question

assess and evaluate contemporary caribbean society being integrated and not a plural society .

Answer 1

While evaluating the contemporary Caribbean society, it becomes imperative to first examine the social stratification that is a characteristic feature of the Caribbeans.  The stratification within a society is done on the basis of features such as race, color, ethnicity, wealth etc. The history of Colonialism, Plantation Slavery have had a great deal of impact upon the Caribbeans social systems & values. The main theories of stratification are proposed as below:-

1) Plantation Society  –   During the slavery period, Caribbean social stratification was primarily based upon a hierarchical structure wherein dark skin colored like the Amerindians, blacks, and browns were subordinated to white control in a hierarchical kind of a set up. Brutality & violent measures were adopted to ensure slavery & obedience. Thus, the social class was primarily divided in to the Upper class constituting the Whites, the intermediate class comprising of the browns & the lower class comprising the blacks. However, in the recent times with a ban on slavery & social mobility through factors like education, there has been a movement across these social groups amongst the contemporary Caribbeans thereby making such social class differences less significant.

2) Plural Society - Under this theory of stratification, it is proposed that most societies in the Caribbean are plural societies meaning that there exists marked cultural diversity and race hostility. This model proposes that there exists significant social inequality between various ethnic groups. Factors such as color, religion, culture, economic status and education create discord among the various cultural groups & also influence the positioning of these groups within the broader social class.

3) Creole Society - The crux of this stratification is that various groups with the Caribbean society imbibed or absorbed each others cultural systems and values. For instance, the Africans and Indians imitated the Europeans either by force or example while the Europeans sub consciously imbibed some of the cultural practice, languages and other practices of the subordinate groups. The Whites though still dominated the upper strata of society through their hold of economic and political power. However, in the modern times, the Blacks and other non-White groups have made considerable progress in the economics and politic scenarios. The economic inequality has considerably reduced in the recent times with the advent of modern education practices and distribution of political power among culturally diverse social groups.