In This Promised Land is a 12-month ethnographic fieldwork study across several communities in St. Thomas, Jamaica. This research explores the various contradictions and tensions embedded within several state-led development projects in St. Thomas as the parish continues to be reimagined in national discourse as the face of modern infrastructural transformation on the island. I aim to understand how concepts of progress and development are continuously being negotiated among residents, NGOs and political representatives, and how such negotiations are complicated by structures of informal political control; political violence; and the existence of high-risk informal economies. In other words, what becomes revealed when we decide to also explore the darker, less picturesque side of development? What does such an endeavour reveal about the current and future state of democratic governance in St. Thomas and Jamaican society at large? How do St. Thomas residents make sense of (and make life in the face of)  various forms of political dysfunction?

In addition to working along these lines of inquiry, my research also explores spirituality in St. Thomas with key focus on three main African-derived religions/spiritual practices (ADRs): Revivalism, Kumina and Obeah. How do St. Thomas residents engage with African-derived religions and spiritual practices (ADRs)? What value is attached to ADRs in contemporary St. Thomas? What moral/ethical tensions surround different uses of ADRs? How do ADRs intersect with high-risk informal economies? Where do ADRs fit in visions for the “new” St. Thomas?

Data for this project is obtained through participant and non-participant observations, interviews, focus groups, audiovisual techniques (photography, audio recordings & videography), engagement with historical archives and document analysis.