Orlando Patterson to give public lecture at UWI

Noted Jamaican cultural sociologist Orlando Patterson is set to deliver a public lecture on the topic ‘Jamaica and its Post-Colonial Predicament’ on November 29 at the Regional Headquarters of The University of the West Indies. The event, which is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., will also feature the Jamaican launch of Patterson’s latest book, The Confounding Island, Jamaica and the Postcolonial Predicament.

Patterson, a Harvard professor, will address the issue of Jamaica’s inability to achieve consistent economic growth and to contain spiralling violence despite producing world-beating athletes, a first-class tourism product that attracts millions of visitors annually to the island, and a vibrant culture.

He will speak to the many paradoxes that have bedevilled the island since Independence, including increased investment in tourism, commercial and infrstructural developments with accompanying increased employment amid a sliding Jamaican dollar and disappointing overall economic growth.

Patterson’s observations are likely to be received with keen interest by policymakers in government and the public sector, as well as private-sector leaders and investors who are expected to be among attendees at this highly anticipated lecture.

Patterson is also expected to field questions from the audience on current issues in US-Jamaican relations, including immigration, and the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and its implications for blacks in America.

Book launch

Patterson’s latest book, which will be formally launched after the lecture, is equally anticipated. It is his first work on Jamaica in more than 45 years, which began with the debut novel The Children of Sisyfus and his classic academic study, The Sociology of Slavery, which were later followed by two other novels, An Absence of Ruins and Die the Long Day. The lecture is being programmed by the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at The University of the West Indies’ Mona campus and the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, in collaboration with Ian Randle Publishers.