Jamaica’s “Bitter Medicine”: Education and Women Teachers in Debt and Austerity скачать в хорошем качестве

Jamaica’s “Bitter Medicine”: Education and Women Teachers in Debt and Austerity

CLACS Caribbean Studies Seminar Jamaica’s “Bitter Medicine”: Education and Women Teachers in Debt and Austerity Speaker: Shari-Lee Carter (NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development) 21 October 2025 The scale of sovereign debt in the Caribbean region is among the highest in the world (jules and Brissett, 2025, p.115). Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like Jamaica exemplify this crisis, with its debt-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio exceeding the “60% threshold that defines high-public-debt vulnerability” (ibid). In response, the government is compelled to adopt austerity measures such as underspending its public budget, budget cuts, or hiring freezes and/or wage freezes in vital public sector services such as education. These measures undermine the quality of public service provided and deeply impact the ‘flesh and blood realities’ of those who participate in the sector (Sparr, 1994). This doctoral project currently draws on a range of academic, policy and media sources to broadly explore the impact of Jamaica’s Sovereign debt and austerity measures on the education sector. It centres the disproportionate impact of austerity measures on women and focuses particularly on women teachers who comprise 80% of the entire teaching profession in basic education (Beuermann et al, 2024). The study connects broader macroeconomic policy to the gendered-everydays of those at the micro-level who are among the most affected by debt and austerity measures. It reveals the various ways women teachers respond, resist, and thrive within a system that not only exploits their labour but also their social locations within and beyond education. The project sheds light on a relatively underexplored area in scholarship offering insights into broader conversations on education financing and reform, sustainable development, and Caribbean reparations.