Thomas’s ethnography on Jamaica’s violence works well as an example of an ethnography. Thomas is well-immersed in the community, and she does a fascinating job explaining the landscape (for example “up the road” and “down the road”) while still using as neutral of a language as possible preferring to describe these groups through the eyes of the community members. Although I find it ironic that she starts the book admitting she did not want to focus on violence in Jamaica due to issues of stereotypes, then goes on to discuss the exceptional violence she finds in Jamaica in length, I do appreciate how she contextualizes Jamaica’s history as a former British colony and current relationship with the United States. This was important for my own study as a reminder of how important it is to connect the macro events with the micro-level observations I may do. Another feature of this study I enjoyed is how Dr. Thomas connects how cross-cultural elements impact violence in Jamaica specifically how U.S. television such as westerns factor into an individual’s mindset on violence. This reminds me of last week’s reading were discovering the non-obvious can benefit the work.
In terms of questions, I was confused on how Thomas’s discussion of the Redemption Song contributes to her overall arguments regarding violence in Jamaica. I see how the statute is a great example of political/cultural discussions within Jamaica, however, not how it connects to violence overall. A quibble I have is the use of dehumanizing language (i.e. slaves in lieu of people who were enslaved), however, I understand the practice of using humanizing language wasn’t as centered when the book was published in 2011. Overall, this was a wonderful example and an enjoyable read.