Dr Hume Johnson focuses civil society and protest in book

Dr. Hume Johnson Puts Spotlight on Civil Society and Protest in New Book.

Former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Most Hon. PJ Patterson as Guest Speaker will join Political Analyst, University Lecturer and Broadcast-Journalist, Dr. Hume Johnson to launch her first book, entitled “Challenges to Civil Society: Popular Protest and Governance in Jamaica” on Thursday, June 28, 2012.

The book signing will take place at the JAMPRO Training Centre, Trafalgar Road beginning at 6pm The event also features remarks from a Co-convener of the Jamaica Civil Society Coalition, and Jamaicans United for Sustainable Development (JUSD), Richard ‘Dickie’ Crawford and, Executive Director of the Broadcasting Commission Cordel Green, as Emcee/Host.

This highly praised book takes an in-depth look at the challenges to building genuine civil society in Jamaica by examining the character and consequences of popular protests undertaken by Jamaican citizens.

“Despite the presence of over 5000 community-based organisations, civil society is still weak in Jamaica. Historically, Jamaican citizens have always expressed themselves angrily in numbers through street demonstrations. Whether or not this aids or hinders real civil society and obtains for protestors their collective goals required serious scholarly investigation”, says Dr. Johnson.

“The focus of academic and political discussions has been on the role of the state, but governance is also taking place at the level of civil society. Jamaicans citizens need to be more than mere spectators in our own society. Becoming involved and fully engaged in resolving the myriad problems that confront our country is part of the obligation of citizenship. The book does not condemn dissent, but highlights the limitations of the protest model for creating real civil society”

This pioneering work also explores the question of violence and asks what is the right relationship between popular protest and violence and whether civil society’s claims to civility be maintained if the former resorted to violence. The book also disentangles the dynamics between protestors, the mass media and the state, and questions whether dons and other outlaws can belong in the construct of Jamaican civil society.

Copies of “Challenges to Civil Society: Popular Protest and Governance in Jamaica” will be donated to the libraries of the University of the West Indies, as well as the National Library of Jamaica.

A copy of the book will also be presented to Pauletta Chevannes, widow of the late UWI Professor Barry Chevannes, to whom the book is dedicated.

The book is published by Cambria Press, New York.

The event is sponsored by eCom Technologies ( New York); Peart Consulting (Rhode Island) and Plan B Designs (Jamaica).
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For further information, and interviews contact the author directly: Dr. Hume Johnson, at humepela@gmail.com or 876 391 6866.

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