Carl Stone, a Jamaican Sociologist

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Biography
The Sociologist’s Theoretical Positions
Significant Contributions Made to Society
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The Jamaican people referred to Carl Stone as the political pollster throughout his professional career. He obtained this title because he used polling as his primary tool for social research. He believed that Jamaica’s political system was perfect for this tactic. He claimed that because Jamaica has a two-party system and a fiercely competitive pattern of party voting and allegiance among the electorate, it has provided a favorable setting for the development of sample survey methods for the study of political opinions and voting in third world political systems.

Biography

In June 1940, Stone was born in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. He attended the boys’ schools at Kingston College and Wolmer’s for his high school education. Stone worked as an executive officer in the KSAC town clerk’s office before attending college. In 1968, he graduated from the University of the West Indies with a BSc in Government. His MA and Ph.D. in political science were earned at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. From 1970 to 1971, he lectured in political science at the University of Michigan. He returned to his native Jamaica to lecture at the University of the West Indies (Austin-Broos, 2017). He progressed through the university’s ranks, becoming a senior lecturer in government from 1974 to 1978, a reader in political sociology from 1978 to 1983, and finally, a professor of political sociology.

The Sociologist’s Theoretical Positions

Stone studied topics relating to class structures and societal inequalities in addition to his deep interest in politics. Stone used a survey to gather information for his investigation on social stratification; he asked his respondents about their opinions of their social standings. He discovered the most intriguing findings: individuals regarded their social status as dependent on their materialism rather than their culture, ethnicity, or even skin color.Their riches, earnings, possessions, and assets made up this materialism. Stone also discovered from the information that the individuals believed themselves to be from the upper class, middle class, or lower class. Stone acknowledged that race and skin tone exists in the Caribbean and could even affect a person’s life prospects, but their influence was fading.

In his research, Stone postulated urbanization as a source of political disaffection. He explained that rapid urbanization tends to raise political discontent in a neocolonial economy facing spiraling unemployment and proletarianization of the labor force (Curta, 2022). The urban native rather than the so-called peripheral rural-to-urban migrant is the leading cause of political disaffection to the level that urbanization reduces political support.

Stone also pointed out thoughts on political polling in Jamaica in the social and economic studies (Stone, 1985). According to the study, Stone concluded that rather than providing academic support, the social sciences faculty in Jamaica served to undermine and harm the initiative. He also stated that Jamaican political polling showed the utility of one social science technique in a society with significant misunderstandings and doubts about the social sciences as practical disciplines (Abidogun & Falola, 2021). Stone also talked about the challenges he faced at work. He stated that a significant problem with the growth of political polling in Jamaica was the concern of negative responses by party leaders and activists who were inevitably threatened by unfavorable voting results.

The political order is made up of parties, whereas the social order is made up of status groups, classes, and the economy. Each order has an impact on and is impacted by another. In the English-speaking Caribbean, the upper class, upper-middle class, lower-middle class, as well as lower class are distinguishable (Penissat et al., 2020). There is a growing middle class in the Caribbean, and this will help the region’s economy. Status groups are present in the Caribbean, and this cannot be disregarded. Standing in these groupings is more heavily influenced by social customs and history than possessions and accomplishments. In the English-speaking Caribbean, determining a person’s position frequently depends on ethnicity, race, and family history.

Stone, in his research, also addressed the issue of social class and partisan attitudes in urban Jamaica. Stone concluded that the two major political parties and their partisan supporters have emerged around a multi-class coalition approach (Penissat et al., 2020).

The first pattern of mass politics is tied to the social class structure of metropolitan Jamaica. The second has to do with class radicalism that is growing in the lower class and is at odds with the structure of a multiple-class alliance that competes with it. According to Stone, the Peoples National Party in Jamaica attempted to capitalize on the alienation of urban ghetto youth in the 1970s to create a base of support that was class-aware (Nevins, 2019). He emphasized that the manipulation and amplification of mass alienation was the immediate power or tactical objective to seize control of state authority. The development of organizations or alliances to gain or exert control over power is associated with the party as a social stratification factor.

Significant Contributions Made to Society

Stone’s significant work in the political and social spheres shows that he was undoubtedly enthusiastic and determined to inform political decision-makers of the significance of the public’s opinion. This led to raising civic awareness and encouraging individual citizen participation in society. Research conducted by Stone in the area of political analysis demonstrated that understanding the demographic makeup of the voter can help anticipate elections using opinion polls. The survey study method used by Stone revealed a lot about how people vote in elections in Jamaica. Providing some grounds for comparing and contrasting Jamaicans’ voting behavior now and maybe in the future, as well as understanding the elements that are likely to affect non-voters

Stone also significantly contributed to both analytical and empirical democratic theory. In order to inject empirical facts into the Jamaican political system in the year 1972, Stone did introduce the public opinion polling initiative (Przeworski, 2020). He developed a series of ideas on voter political behavior based on this evidence. His empiricism made an important contribution to Caribbean political studies by making facts on the political views and beliefs of the majority lower classes, on whose support the democratic political structure is undoubtedly based, available for the first time. While including distinctive Jamaican political culture traits as they impact mass electoral behavior through theoretical study, Stone’s quantitative analyses employed a framework consistent with the bulk of electoral research.

Stone happened to be the first person to introduce the sample survey methodology into the political sphere to examine voters’ voting patterns in Jamaica. The sample survey approach enabled a more in-depth investigation of the voting pattern by using the demographic, socioeconomic, and political elements that affect voters’ decisions. The sample survey approach enabled the application of the social structure model to research voting behavior. Nevertheless, this method placed greater emphasis on presenting statistical evidence of social heterogeneity in voting than on understanding the connections between social structure and cleavages, vote, and party preferences.

Stone argued that material disparities were the basis for stratification in the Caribbean. He pointed out that Jamaica’s economic trends had made it possible to expand new social strata and alter the structure of social stratification (Stone, 1973). A more broad and dispersed social structure was made possible by expanding the manufacturing and service sectors, which also created new avenues for movement. Stone recognized that financial levels were more important in determining social standing in the Caribbean than factors like race, color, and professional reputation.

Conclusion

The introduction of the systematic study of voting behavior in Jamaica was made possible by Stone. Stone accomplished this by incorporating public opinion polling into Jamaica’s political system and employing first-hand information, which helped to build a core set of beliefs about the country’s electorate. He predicted the results of every national election held in Jamaica between 1976 and 1990 regarding the winning party. As a result of this prediction, Stone earned a reputation as an expert in election forecasting. Stone’s interest in the political issues affecting Jamaican society was fundamental to the work for which he became well-known throughout the nation and the entire region.

References

Abidogun, J., & Falola, T. (2021). The Palgrave handbook of African education and Indigenous lnowledge. Palgrave Macmillan.

Austin-Broos, D. J. (2017). Urban life in Kingston Jamaica: The culture and class ideology of two neighborhoods. Routledge.

Curta, F. (2022). The Routledge handbook of East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1300. Routledge.

Nevins, A. S. (2019). Working Juju: Representations of the Caribbean fantastic. University of Georgia Press.

Penissat Étienne, Spire, A., & Hugrée Cédric. (2020). Social class in Europe: New inequalities in the old world. Verso.

Przeworski, A. (2020). Crises of democracy. Cambridge University Press.

Stone, C. (1973). Stratification and political change in Trinidad and Jamaica. Sage Publications.

Stone, C. (1985). Democracy and clientelism in Jamaica. Transaction Books.

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