The Politics of Recreational Space: From Playing Fields to Beaches in Barbados
By, Itasca Quady, Warwick University/ UWI
Since full emancipation in 1838, Barbados
has experienced a shift in economic dependency from agriculture to tourism.
Despite the shift, intersectional socio-economic hierarchies have remained.
Central to this has been the ownership and access of land in the hands of a
small number of Barbadian elites. Sugar cultivation intensified on the island
in the 1640s, benefitting from the flat terrain and the natural springs, which
acted as irrigation systems for monocrop production in several parts of the
island. This saw the deforestation of almost all of the native woodland of
Barbados. Since sugar cultivation dominated the economic use of land resources,
there was a marked lack of designated space for housing after emancipation
which led to freed peoples still being attached to plantations - without
security of tenure - through labour and rent. As a consequence of limited
access to land and security of tenure was the creation of the chattel house – a
portable timber house frame built on easily dismantled stones. The end of the
nineteenth century saw a decline in sugar cultivation, and by the 1970s, an
intensive effort to shape Barbados into a tourist-driven economy had materialised.
I will focus on how recreational spaces in modern Barbados have been
characterised through the historic alienation of the working classes, and how
this has been reflected and consolidated through ideology, society and policy.
Ideology derivative of Victorian Britain is
prevalent in Barbadian social policy concerning recreational spaces. Following
the period of British West Indian labour unrest in the 1930s, especially in
June 1937 in Barbados, the Moyne Commission endeavoured to resolve working
class tensions. The Report of the Royal West Indian Commission (1939) noted
that the “labouring population, mere subsistence was increasingly problematic”.[1]
During the nineteenth century industrialisation in Britain, application of
Benthamite utilitarianism was administered throughout the country’s workplaces
and communities. This was an attempt at social organization and efficacy. A
result of this was the strategic creation of recreational spaces for working
class men, in an effort to alleviate class tensions, to suppress urges of
revolt and maintain socio-economic hierarchy and property, or as Downes has put
it, “to arrest potential proletarian protest” (374)*. Similarly in Barbados,
recommendations from the aforementioned Moyne Report and the Deane Report,
which specifically investigated the 1937 disturbances, resulted in the creation
of competitive environments and leisure spaces for Barbadian men. Rhetoric of a
similar kin continues to be used -- in 2009, the Minister of the Environment,
Dr. Denis Lowe stressed the importance of recreational spaces as Barbados is,
in his words, a “fast-paced society and we need to find places where we can
cool down, so to speak”.[2]
Of these recreational spaces reserved for local working-class leisure, it must
be noted that some, such as Dover Playing Field in Christ Church, were sites of
burial for thousands during the Cholera Epidemic of 1854, where over 20,000
people – a quarter of the population- died.
It is also important to note the class and
gender dynamics of sport in this context. Historically, sport, such as cricket,
has been divided along class and gender lines and has reflected colonial
hegemonic values. Many historians have documented the empirical birth and
continuities of the sport, claiming cricket’s roots in the “’élite school’
system in Barbados from the 1870s onwards, a system based quite consciously on
the public and grammar school ideology of Victorian Britain”, shaped by an “age
dominated by muscular Christianity and Social Darwinism” (Sandiford, Stoddart
333). [3]
Race, class and gender segregation
is seen today within the communal cricket teams and leagues on the island
today.
Caribbean gender studies sociologists such
as Manners, Mintz and Scheele have espoused the concept of gendered spaces in
Caribbean societies. This is applied predominately to the Hispanophone
Caribbean, with the idea of ‘calle/casa’ or street/home dichotomy. [4]
Applicable to the Barbados and the Anglophone Caribbean, certain spaces in
society have become feminised and masculinised. The home and educational spaces
have become feminised, promoting a hegemonic matrifocal family unit. Thus, the
‘street’ and outside spaces have been masculinised. This characterisation has
impacted the safety and recreational accessibility of women outside of the
home, especially in regards to sport and exercise. Recent studies have
highlighted these limitations, which have resulted in the increase of obesity
and related non-communicable diseases in the female Afro-Caribbean population
of Barbados (Alvarado, Guell, Murphy).[5]
This is a direct correlation of the rise in sedentary lifestyles and
occupations of Barbadian women, promoted by the impact of gendered spaces and
expectations.
In terms of housing, it is also important
to reflect on the continuing battle for space and land between the middle
classes, historically the merchants, and the working class. Due to the
insecurity of tenure faced by many Barbadians throughout the last century, and
the allocation of plantation land to housing, an argument can be made that
social hierarchies have even impacted the recreational use of gardening and
self-sufficiency. This is due to the close proximity and lack of land ownership
of those living in chattel house structures, especially in urbanised parts of
St. Michael. This is also problematic as working class Barbadians rely upon the
‘Basket of Goods’ (a VAT-exempted list of goods), which has a limited selection
of affordable fruits and vegetables, thus exacerbating aforementioned health
problems.
Following Independence, many recreational
spaces have been donated to the public from private ownership. This feeds into
the philanthropic history of the colonial elite in Barbados. Some of these
areas include Barclay’s Park in St. Andrew, gifted by Barclays Bank to the
government at Independence in 1966, King George V Park in St. Philip and Farley
Hill which all boast memorial plaques of colonial figureheads or donors.
Other recreational areas reflect colonial
and hierarchal heritage in Barbados through name and aesthetic. Some of these
areas include Queen’s Park and The Garrison, both in St. Michael, which
continue to serve ceremonial purposes. The traditional nature of these areas is
exacerbated by their beautification efforts; spatially marginalising the
working class in context of their elite heritage and thus their ‘aesthetic
distance’ which reflects this (Downes). Efforts of beautification by the elite
in the twentieth century can be seen in the influence of people such as Lady
Gilbert Carter, the wife of a colonial Governor who took great interest in
civic matters in the island. This implication of exclusion through aesthetic is
comparable to a restaurant dress code, however it also encompasses race, class
and gender marginalisation. This suggests that these spaces are continually
intended to serve the recreational purposes of middle and upper classes in
Barbados.
This spatial segregation is also prominent
between ordinary Barbadians and the tourism sector on the beaches of Barbados.
Although no beaches in Barbados are privately owned, attempts at exclusivity
have materialised. It can be argued that deck or beach chairs are used as both
spatially and socially segregating temporary barriers. Due to the changing
nature and weathering of the coastline, especially in the light of climate
change, the property lines are becoming increasingly contested and
controversial. Little legislation has been enacted to confront the growing
tensions between the tourism industry and local use of the beaches. In the
1980s, The Mighty Gabby released the song “Jack” which condemned the continued
marginalisation of ordinary Barbadians on their beaches. Gabby’s most recent
protest was held at Crane Beach in 2018. In an interview, he suggested the
failures of the National Conservation Commission (NCC) in the lack of attempt
to stop the subtle privatisation of beaches and minimal effort in securing
‘windows to the sea’ for the Barbadians who do not own beachfront property.[6]
In the post-emancipation period, beaches in
Barbados were dominated by the recreation and use of black working class
Barbadians for washing, bathing and disposing of household waste - including
‘night-soil’ (excreta). Not seen as economically significant in comparison to
the agricultural land in the interior, beaches were considered to be marginal. Even
Batts Rock beach in St. Michael was another burial space for thousands
following the aforementioned 1854 Cholera outbreak*. These spaces are
historically working class recreational spaces.
Government has always assured the public
nature of these beaches through legislation, however public access points to
the beachfront have been criticised as limited, and it has even been noted that
private business owners have made attempts to block access to locals. In a
speech in October 2018 at UWI Cave Hill campus, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley
condemned the fact that most Barbadians cannot swim, despite living on a small
island. This is indicative of the disconnect between policy and the reality of
those able to recreate on all beaches. Carrying on from this, Mottley claimed
that all Barbadian children must learn to swim. Other than the beaches, only
one public pool exists on the island – the Barbados Aquatic Centre in Wildey.
Recent studies have also looked into the exclusion of recreational spaces in
regards to scuba diving and snorkeling. There is a growing tension between
tour guides and recreational snorkelers, which reflects the rise in touristic
willingness to pay to see more diverse marine life on the island’s coasts.[7]
Social hierarchies continue to influence
the use of recreational spaces in Barbados. Although much has been done to
ensure the access of certain spaces to the working class, the characterisation
of these spaces through colonial heritage and the nuanced merchants of tourism
marginalise ordinary Barbadians and their access to recreate. Continuing issues
reflect the inadequacy of current social policy in ensuring this access, and
perpetuate pre- and post-independence social hierarchies. There is a necessity
for policy/ legislation, which addresses the historically structural and
systematic inheritance of intersectional exclusion in regard to recreational
spaces in Barbados, and the needs of those who are continually excluded.
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[1] Bolland, Nigel. The Politics
of Labour in the British Caribbean (Kingston, 2001) p. 42.
[3] Sandiford, Keith, Brian Stoddart. ‘The Elite Schools and Cricket in
Barbados: A Study in Colonial Continuity’, International
Journal of the History of Sport, Vol. 4 No. 3 (1987), p. 333.
[4] Reddock, E. Rhoda, Interrogating Caribbean Masculinities: Theoretical and Empirical
Analyses, University of the West Indies Press (Kingston, 2004) p. xviii.
[5] Alvarado, M, Madhuvanti M. Murphy, Cornelia Guell. ‘Barriers and facilitators
to physical activity amongst overweight and obese women in an Afro-Caribbean
population: A qualitative study.’ International
Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 12:97 (2015)
[7] Bass, Brittany E., James F. Casey, David A. Gill, Peter W.
Schuhmann. ‘Visitor preferences and willingness to pay for coastal attributes
in Barbados’, Ocean & Coastal
Management 134 (2016)
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