Gangs and governance: Citizenship beyond the state in Jamaica

Dr. Rivke Jaffe
Department of Human Geography
Planning and International Development Studies
Universiteit van Amsterdam

Discussant: Prof. dr. Kees Koonings, CEDLA & Utrecht University

In inner-city neighbourhoods in Kingston, Jamaica, criminal “dons” have taken on a range of governmental functions, from security and conflict resolution to welfare and taxation. Rather than imagining such criminal actors as heading “parallel states,” they should be seen as part of a hybrid state. Criminal organizations share control over urban spaces and populations with politicians, police and bureaucrats. This talk considers the implications of this diversification of governmental actors for the ways that residents of downtown Kingston experience and enact citizenship.