Contextual Presentation – The History of Corruption in Antigua

Antigua was initially first “discovered” in 1684 by Sir Christopher Codrington. He was interested in creating a large-scale sugar cultivation, similar to the other islands in the Caribbean, and was successful. It was eventually known as the “gateway to the Caribbean” because of the control it had over sailing routes to the different wealthy islands in the Caribbean. Similar to the sugarcane cultivation in the Caribbean, Africans were brought over as slaves in the 1670s in large numbers to Antigua, soon becoming the largest racial group in each country. Antiguan slaves were emancipated in 1834, but remained reliant on their plantation owners due to difficulties in obtaining labor.  

In 1967, Antigua became an associated state to the United Kingdom, meaning it was fully self governing concerning all internal affairs, but when it came to external affairs and defense, the UK was in control. In the 70s, under Prime Minister George Walter, an independence movement surged but soon died down when he lost in the 1976 elections to Vere Bird, who stood by regional integration. By 1978, the country reverted back to the want for independence, achieving it by 1981.

In more recent years, the main form of corruption occurring in the country regards the government’s involvement with the banks and being known as a “lax tax haven”. The country gained independence from the UK in 1981 with Prime Minister Vere Bird, being succeeded by his son Lester Bird in 1994. Ten years later, Lester Bird was defeated by Minister Baldwin Spencer, who formed a new government and has been ruling since. 

Similarly to many freshly independent countries worldwide, a new government allowed for untroubled corruption. There was always suspicion when the country was under the Bird ruling, with the family accepting money for political favors and different forms of abuses of power. The country is a host of major internet gambling sites, and has enacted legislation for strict bank secrecy. They are also deemed untrustworthy because of their encouragement to be used as an offshore financial center for banks and international companies. In 2009, the country’s economy suffered when Robert Allen Stanford, one of their largest investors, was charged with fraud.

(2014). Antigua and Barbuda / Antigua’s history and culture. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from http://www.antigua-barbuda.org/aghis01.htm

Bak, Mathias, et al. Overview of Corruption and Anti-Corruption in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. Transparency International, 2019, www.jstor.org/stable/resrep20499. Accessed 11 Apr. 2021.

Clarke, S. (2011, January). Antigua and Barbuda: History of corruption and the Stanford case. Retrieved April 11, 2021, from https://www.loc.gov/law/help/ag-corruption/stanford.php“History of Antigua and Barbuda.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/place/Antigua-and-Barbuda/History.

Contextual Presentation-Regarding the Pain of Others

                                                              Research Blog on Regarding the Pain of Others
The work Regarding the Pain of Others by Sontag has explored how the war is perceived and lots of factors including sex, culture, and status have been considered. The visual representation of war and violence has been considered from Goya’s The Disasters of War to photographs of the American Civil War and some contemporary wars such as Palestine and Israel wars were considered. The documentary and the photography of the pictures of wars were quite impressive. It is quite interesting that instead of using pictures to criticize the cruelty of wars from visual representation, Sontag tried to discuss how photographs of wars influenced the perception of people towards violence.

In fact, I found that photographs have strong power in impacting the perception of people towards wars and many other issues. One of the most impressive events for me is the use of pictures to arouse the sympathy of people is a drowned boy by the sea, which shows the cruelty of the Syrian war. The picture was so striking that it aroused the great sympathy of lots of people. When the picture was shown online, it stole the attention of the netizens online and arouse a heated discussion. In fact, I think it might be the catalyst for the EU to determine receiving refugees from Syria.

At its best, the book Regarding the Pain of Others offers an intriguing history of some war photos and it started from the innocent times to the unbearable battlefield realities such as the Vietnam War about the combats of photos. I used to visit Vietnam and the Vietnam museum about the Vietnam wars. I was quite struck by the photos about how those people were destructed by the Vietnam War. For instance, lots of people got sick after the war because of the use of different weapons. For me, photos might speak a thousand words. Even though we are exposed to television and online violence a lot, we are still impressed by photos in real life. Sontag first problematize how people read photos and proposed that an image would reveal a captured moment of reality, and the interpretation of photos are quite subjective and to some extent, they reaffirm our beliefs and understandings by stating that “mages of dead civilians and smashed houses may serve to quicken hatred of the foe” (p. 10).

In general, Regarding the Pain of Others could be considered as a persuasive investigation of the complexities of how to look at the suffering of others. Sontag has offered enough data and facts that persuade readers that photography depicting pain and suffering might change a person’s perspective on history. For instance, Sontag mentions that by means of photography depicting cancerous lungs, strokes of clotted brains or damaged hearts to produce the “shock” image to persuade smokers to quit smoking. It is true that photography might persuade people to do something to some extent. For instance, I remember that when I was a primary school student, my school always encouraged students to watch videos or the actual photos of those taking drugs and it left a deep impression on me. It is a root that developed in my heart that taking drugs is horrible and would destroy our life. But some people might still be not touched by those photos that might only leave a temporary impression in the minds of some viewers.

However, since photography is so powerful, Sontag also worried that it might be misused and misguided, with which I completely agree. For instance, lots of politicians or some social media might use photos to touch people and displayed completely different facts. Hence, we need to consider a fact that did the photos we see really demonstrate the fact?

                                                                                                References
Ariella, A. (2005). The Ethic of the Spectator: The Citizenry of Photography.
Afterimage. 33(2), 38 – 44
Balken, D. (2019). Alfredo Jaar: Lament of the Images’ essay in Lament of the Images,exh. cat. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT List Visual Arts Center.
Kathy, B (2010). Models of thinking: Alfredo Jaar. (Interview). Art Monthly, 342,1-4
Okwui, E. (2018). Alfredo Jaar’s Art of Illumination’ essay in book Alfredo Jaar. The Sound of Silence, Paris: Kamel Mennour, 18-29.
Feinstein, C. (2005). Destruction has no covering: artists and the rwandan genocide.
Journal of Genocide Research, 7 (1), 31-46
Sontag, S. (2003). Regarding the Pain of Others. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux

Context Presentation:A Small Place ————Hengyuan Chang

                   Context Presentation:A Small Place

A small place re-examined the harm done by the colonists to the colonized area through the perspective of the author, Jamaica Kincaid. Antigua was originally a small island, but it was named Antigua after it was discovered by Columbus. Later, the streets of Antigua were named after some criminals in the UK. Columbus was an explorer who discovered the continent and an Eluor who was a colonist. He was the first writer of Antigua colonialism. In fact, colonists always think that the people and societies in the colonized areas are unable to manage social resources and obtain a better quality of life, so they can colonize these areas in a justified manner. “Every place they have been to has been transformed into a place in the UK, and everyone they met has been transformed into a place in Britain, but no place can truly become a place in Britain, no place that does not look like an Englishman. Of people will become British, so you can imagine the destruction of the local people and the land by these changes.”

The damage done to Antigua by the British colonists was lasting damage. Although the colonists believed that they brought order and wealth to Antigua, for the locals, it was like Jamaica Kincaid said, “Even if I live on a tree like a monkey, it is better than after I met you. It is better to encounter these humiliation and become a slave to the colony. ’

From an economic perspective, because Antigua’s local natural resources are very limited, Antigua has to choose to develop tourism and service industries to drive economic development. Antigua has indeed become a favorite holiday destination for many Westerners. But for the locals, the scenery and rapid development of the tourism industry have not brought them a richer life and a higher quality of life. In order to cater to the development of the service industry, local residents have to participate in tourism-related service industries, and they cannot go to the beach to enjoy life. Although the tourism industry has brought benefits to the country, the country has not spent the money on investments related to local residents. At the same time, in fact, a large number of the bosses of the tourism industry are not local residents of Antigua but some foreign investors. Therefore, the scenery of the tourism industry is more like a punishment for the local residents of Antigua rather than happiness.

At the same time, colonialism in the past and the current tourism industry led to the lack of local culture in Antigua. This is also the greatest harm that colonialism does to the colonized areas. Because the colonists imported some ideas and culture into the colonized area with a higher identity, the local residents would be caught in a dilemma, which eventually led to the lack of local culture and the fault of cultural inheritance. “They did so with little regard for the people living in the newly controlled areas, or for existing geographic or cultural boundaries.”(Marker, 2016)

Although Antigua is already an independent region and country, local residents are still suffering from cultural erosion and suppression brought about by the tourism industry.

The harm of colonialism is long-lasting, while more harm is hidden. First of all, the economic and cultural damages mentioned above may be the beneficiaries of colonization for foreign observers, Antigua, but for the local residents, they continue to suffer from the pain caused by colonialism. . At the same time, because colonialism has rapidly accelerated the development of the entire society in a short period of time, this will cause the use of various local resources to be more unreasonable, and it will also cause the local government or leaders to lack sufficient experience. ”Intervening for selfish interests by overlooking human responsibility doesn’t make a nation more powerful. Although the human species is a single community, divisions have been drawn as provinces, countries and continents. It’s thus imperative and obligatory to openly provide selfless assistance of an unworldly nature looking beyond the contrived boundaries.”(Porrvi, 2019)

For a country and region, true freedom means that it can develop its own country and region’s economy and culture through the desire of its citizens, and it does not need to cater to the needs of other stronger and wealthier countries. At the same time, only when people no longer define themselves as a higher-level identity to demean others or conform to others with a lower-level identity, can people gain true freedom and get rid of the continuous and invisible harm of colonialism.

citation:

Effects of Colonization. (2016, July 5). Beyond Intractability. https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/post-colonial

Modi, P. (2019, March 20). Consequences of Colonialism: How It’s Still Having an Effect Today. Loyola Phoenix. https://loyolaphoenix.com/2019/03/consequences-of-colonialism-how-its-still-having-an-effect-today/