Jamaica: Political Parties Material

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0101 PP.JM
Held at	: Institute of Commonwealth Studies   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://commonwealth.sas.ac.uk/resources/library ›
Full title	: Jamaica: Political Parties Material
Date(s)	: 1938-
Level of description	: Collection (Fonds)
Extent	: 3 boxes
Name of creator(s)	: Institute of Commonwealth Studies
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Jamaican politics, like those of many nations in the region emerging from British rule, has been dominated by parties with close trade union links. The founder of the Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) gave his name to its main affiliated union, the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU), while its leading rival, the People's National Party (PNP), is supported by the National Workers' Union (NWU). The JLP won the first elections conducted under full universal adult suffrage in 1944 and later the 1962 elections to determine which party would lead Jamaica to independence (following four years in which the country was part of the Federation of the West Indies). In 1972 the PNP's Michael Manley (son of the party's founder Norman Manley) was elected on a programme of social reform whose attempted implementation led to conflict with vested interests on the island (now increasingly represented by the JLP and Edward Seaga) and with the United States. The PLP won the following elections but were defeated at the polls in 1980, both campaigns being marked by violence between the supporters of the two parties. Following a decade of JLP rule Manley and the PLP, having essentially abandoned their previous political stance, returned to power in 1989 and have remained the governing party since.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Manifestos, speeches, pamphlets, leaflets, letters, newsletters, journals, posters and miscellaneous election material, 1938 onwards, issued by the Jamaica Labour Party, the People's National Party (Jamaica), the People's Political Party (Jamaica), the Revolutionary Marxist League of Jamaica, the Socialist Party of Jamaica, the Women's Freedom Movement (Jamaica), the Workers' Liberation League (Jamaica), the Workers Party of Jamaica, and Young Jamaica.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Alphabetically by party, and then in rough chronological order.

Conditions governing access:

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.

Finding aids:

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT).

Archival Information

Archival history:

The ICS political parties collection was begun in 1960-1961, with special emphasis being placed on primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos. Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of the major parties.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Allied Materials

Related material:

See also Jamaica: Trades Unions Material (TU.JM) and Jamaica: Pressure Groups Material (PG.JM), as well as Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institutes of Commonwealth and Latin American Studies.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Created 26/04/2004 AIM25