Field Study of St. LuciaAuthor(s): Beate R. SalzSource: Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 7, No. 4 (DECEMBER, 1958), pp. 238-239Published by: Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the WestIndiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27851190 .

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RESEARCH NOTE

Field Study of St. Lucia

Early in 1958 a field project in St. Lucia, Windward Islands, was initiated

by Dr. Beate R. Salz, Associate Professor in the College of Social Sciences of the University of Puerto Rico, who, on a year's secondment to the Institute of Social and Economic Research of the University College of the West Indies, is to carry out sociological ( and cultural ) anthropological studies in that island under the auspices and on behalf of the Institute.

This investigation, broadly conceived of as a structural-functional study, is in line with the Institute's endeavour to build up a sociology, in the modern

sense, of the British West Indies and to extend the body of knowledge of West Indian society and culture which has already been secured for other territories of the new West Indian Federation, particularly British Guiana,

Jamaica and Trinidad. Such systematic knowledge, hitherto notably scant in the case of many of the smaller islands, such as St. Lucia, is felt to be indis

pensable at this juncture of political development and economic planning and at the present stage of social and cultural change occurring in all parts of the West Indies. The presently projected studies of St. Lucia are thus part of the Institute's programme of comparative social studies among the several

which intend to illuminate the character, variation and complexity of the societies in different parts of the West Indies and to explicate the

nature, form and extent of political and sociological differences between the federal units and in the British and wider Caribbean as a whole.

The study of St. Lucia, then, seeks to contribute to an appraisal of the British Caribbean both as an area and as a politically organized entity by furnishing the basic information required for a comparative analysis of uni formities and differences within the West Indian region as regards social structure, governmental systems, political organization, economic activity, and other formally and informally organized arrangements of collective life.

Beyond this, the present study, like the others, seeks to contribute, on the theoretical plane, to a comparative science of man, society and culture not

only with specific reference to the Caribbean, but in a wider, more general sense as well.

St. Lucia appears to be an especially attractive object of such studies in various respects: it has a population of less than 100,000, a considerable pro portion of which is concentrated in Castries, its capital and chief harbour; its admittedly limited potentials for economic development are not, or not as yet, critically influenced by a high population density; the accidents of history have implanted in the island two main Western traditions, French

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RESEARCH NOTE 239

and English, most conspicuous in the co-existence of two functioning languages (Creole and English), and in that of two distinct legal systems; on the other hand, the vast majority of the islanders are of the Roman Cath olic faith. St. Lucia repays attention, furthermore, in that much of its history, and much of its present-day social and economic situation, have been shaped by the island's peculiarly strategic location, rather than by a growth or spurts of growth brought about "internally" or by the more usual pressures of an

external kind exercised by overseas civil administration and overseas markets on a

colony. At the time of writing (June 1958), the urban section of the island as repre

sented by and reflected in its capital is under exploration, with specific atten tion being paid to: (a) social stratification (mode and criteria of class or other structure and its fluctuations in the course of time); (b) institutions, among

which the governmental and administrative institutions are mainly considered, both in their formal, normative aspects as well as in their informal, actually operating aspects and their relations to other, not strictly governmental in

stitutions; (c) political processes and behaviour, parties, their organization composition, and leadership, etc.; (d) groupings other than "class", associations and formal organizations in so far as they impinge upon or reflect the social structure in its historical formation and the political process.

At a later date a broad exploration of the non-urban sections of the island is expected to be undertaken in several parts of the island, partly to relate the above-mentioned features in their operation upon peasant agricul ture or other activities of the rural or village dweller, and partly to investigate,

more specifically, kinship and family organizations, systems of land tenure and succession, the status of labour in relation to existing arrangements and

opportunities, and village or community life more generally, with due atten tion to changes and re-orientations in these and other areas of rural life and culture.

Other aspects of St. Lucia falling within the purview of this year's investi

gation will be explored as opportunity offers and time permits, such as dis tinct economic activities (markets and marketing organization on various

levels; fishing; and other non-agricultural economic pursuits); economic

planning and development; old and new-style co-operative arrangements, and other features.

It is hoped that these aspects of the contemporary social and cultural scene of St. Lucia, can be traced to some extent historically, even though the situa tion regarding research in St. Lucian social and cultural history seems in

auspicious. It is recognized, nevertheless, that while the several research

topics are couched in terms of the contemporary society, a sociologically descriptive and interpretative appraisal of a society implies ipso facto and in principle an orientation towards a historical sociology.

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