Michael Manley Bibliography free essay sample

Autobiography Michael Manley was born on the 10th of December, 1924 in the parish St. Andrew, Jamaica and died on the 6th of March, 1997 in the capital of Jamaica, Kingston. He was a politician who served three terms as prime minister of Jamaica (1972-80 and 1989-92) and was a powerful champion of Third World issues (Manley: A Legend in His Time). He was the son of noted sculptor Edna Swithenbank Manley and national hero Norman Manley, the founder of the Peoples National Party (PNP) and Jamaicas prime minister from 1959 to 1962 (Michael Manley Biography). While attending Jamaica College, the colonys exclusive secondary school. Manley excelled mostly in athletics, but showed early signs of his rebellious nature by publicly challenging the authoritarian approach of his headmaster and ultimately he resigned from the college (Manley: A Legend in His Time). Following service in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II, he attended the London School of Economics, where he studied with socialist Harold Laski (Jamaica Calling). We will write a custom essay sample on Michael Manley Bibliography or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page According to biography. om he worked as a freelance journalist in London, Manley returned to Jamaica in 1951 and went to work for Public Opinion, a leftist weekly newspaper. He soon became active in the trade-union movement, attaining positions of union leadership and gaining recognition as a skilled negotiator. In 1962 he was appointed to Jamaicas Senate, and in 1967 he was elected to the House of Representatives. Two years later Manley succeeded his father as president of the PNP, and when the party won the election in 1972, he became prime minister. In 1973 he was one of the founders of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom), and he cultivated close relationships with Cuba and the socialist countries of eastern Europe and the Far East, a move that did not sit well with the United States and led to a loss in international foreign aid. Manley proved popular with Jamaicans, who nicknamed him Joshua after the biblical prophet, and in 1976 he was reelected (Michael Manley). His policies, however, eventually proved to be financially disastrous. Violence between the left and the right escalated, and he lost the 1980 election to the conservative Edward Seaga of the Jamaica Labour Party. By the late 1980s, however, Manley had adopted a more moderate outlook and favoured closer relations with the United States. In 1989 he was again elected prime minister. Still claiming to be a socialist, he nonetheless pursued free-market policies and privatized many state-owned enterprises. In 1992 Manley was forced to resign because of poor health. He later died in 1997 (Michael Manley). National Contribution and Impact Being influenced by Harold Laski, he gravitated towards the democratic social ideas that were prevalent in England at the time. Manley came to be dubbed by the sugar workers. Initially a highly nervous public speaker, he grew over the next 20 years of active and successful trade unionism into an impassioned speaker. He also came to acquire a deep awareness of the many social and economic ills, above all the deep-rooted inequality, at the heart of Jamaican society. When Michael Manley came back to Jamaica, he was union organizer and negotiator in the National Workers Union (NWU), which was affiliated to the Peoples National Party (Michael Manley Biography). Being a negotiator for the National Workers Union (NWU) earned him respect from prominent figures in society. The NWU represented a worker at Radio Jamaica, Graham Binns, The Manager at the time, disciplined an announcer, Michael Manley confronted him about it. His exuberant personality had Binns succumbed to his arguments. Binns described him as a charismatic political leader (Payne n. d. ). He was elected as Prime Minister in 1972, at this time; seventy percent of the Jamaican economy was already foreign dominated. The mineral industry was completely controlled by multinational corporations. The unemployment rate was 24 percent (doubled since independence) and illiteracy was between 30 and 50 percent. Forty- five percent of arable land was owned by 0. 2 percent of the farmers, with the remaining 55 percent of the land shared by 99. 8 percent of farmers. Michael Manley set about instituting policies for redistributing wealth, and he became a champion of the less-developed nations nonaligned movement. He implemented plans to improve the wellbeing of the country, by improving the literacy rate and reduce the unemployment rate. Manley made a number of changes before during and after he came into power. Some of these changes were: minimum wage for all workers, free education at secondary and university level, to the extent of spaces available, institution of literacy campaign, subdivision of idle lands to poor blacks, formation of agrarian cooperatives, price controls on numerous staples to benefit the oor, reduction of voting age to 18 years, thus increasing the black vote, institutionalizing paid maternity leave free milk to mothers, public utilities, a large bank and part of the tourism business were rationalized, the repeal of the Masters and Servants Act, the establishment of a National Housing Trust and the introduction of a bauxite levy, and a Status of Children Act which ended discrimination against children born out of wedlock (Michael Manley Foundation, n. d. ). As part of the solution Michael Manley experimented with Karl Marxs ideas of socialism. The aim of socialism was to state-own the countrys resources and central planning relating to the production. Manley succeeded in owning some of these companies, and those which he could not control he lifted the industrialization by invitation policy which was introduced by the previous Government. Because of the economic condition that the country was faced with, Manley proposed a eat what you grow mentally, this idea did not went well with the populace; hence, he lost the next General Election. Before Manley came to power there was job discrimination directed towards Rastafarians. Most Jamaican employers and even black employers would not hire Rastafarians. Michael Manley encouraged employers to employ (hire) Rastafarians in the work place and many did. Manley helped increase social economic mobility for the poor. Foreign investors dominated Jamaicas economy for a long time but Manley cut foreign domination by 50%, putting Jamaicas economy in the hands of the Jamaican people by using businessmen, companies, and Jamaican financial investors. ? He encouraged Jamaican people to be united as one people regardless of race and social class. He used the slogan better must come to encourage the people, He instilled a sense of pride and hope that economic development is possible for Jamaica. Under the Michael Manleys mulatto leadership from the 1970s and 1980s the quality of life improved for all Jamaicans, Rastafarians, and including the majority black population. Self-reliance is a fundamental aspect of Manleys political philosophy. In his first book, The Politics of Change, he wrote: Self-reliance implies the ability on the part of the people of a country to make common efforts towards the general development and welfare of the group. The Michael Manley Award for Community Self-Reliance, presented annually to a community group that has demonstrated exemplary achievement in improving the wellbeing of its members and the wider community, is the flagship project of the Michael Manley Foundation and a reflection of one of the more abiding retentions from the Michael Manley years (Michael Manley Foundation, n. d. ). This awa rd encourages community members to participate in community development, as part of our cultural retention. The winner is then rewarded in cash and prizes. Regional, International Contribution and Impact Michael Manley was one of the great figures of modern Third World politics. His standing as an inspirational leader spread beyond his native Jamaica to all parts of the Caribbean and to many other Third World societies as well. Manley always saw clearly that the politics of reform which he advocated in Jamaica depended upon associated changes in the wider international economy (Michael Manley Biography, n. d. ). This led him to take up articulate and brave, if sometimes foolhardy, positions in the debate about the shaping of a new international economic order which brought the plight of the developing world to the centre of the international stage during the course of the 1970s. Less changed than he imagined or hoped, but Manley succeeded nevertheless in stamping something of his huge and vibrant personality on that phase of world history. Michael Manley was one of the most outstanding political figures in the post-colonial history of the Caribbean. He made an influential contribution to Jamaican, Caribbean and international politics. His pioneering legislative programme of social reforms in the 1970s, his role in the formation of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and later the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). The formation of ACS widened regional representation. His advocacy of a New International Economic Order (NIEO), his defense of sovereignty for countries that were colonized, and his leading role among world statesmen in confronting racial oppression, especially in southern Africa, make him an international figure of enormous consequence for world politics during the decade of the 1970s. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which was formed with the assistance of Michael Manley. Made it easy for the Caribbean countries to trade with each other, hence, placing the entire region in a better economic position. All members of CARICOM had strong trading powers with extra regional countries. At the international level, his was a highly respected voice, especially in such bodies as the Commonwealth of Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Countries, the Group of 77, and the Socialist International. He was a leading advocate of South-South cooperation and was in the vanguard of world statesmen who applied international pressure to assist in the dismantling of apartheid and of minority rule in southern Africa (Michael Manley Biography, n. d. ). In 1977, because of his consistent advocacy of a New International Economic Order with a more equitable deal for developing countries, Manley was elected Vice President of Socialist International. As a distinguished leader of the organisation, he chaired the Socialist International Economic Committee. The findings of that committee were later published in 1985 as Manleys fifth book, Global Challenge: From Crisis to Cooperation: Breaking the North-South Stalemate. The Socialist International made him its honorary President in 1992, a position he held until his death on March 6, 1997. His politics were those of a radical social democrat, but wisely or unwisely he worked with Marxist elements in Jamaican society and quickly came to be seen from the outside, especially in the United States, as a dangerous anti- imperialist. At home, his policies were characterised by nationalisation, higher taxation and a commitment to extending literacy; abroad, he befriended Castro, took a leading role in the non-aligned movement and deeply alarmed the Americans. Manley benefitted from the services of Cuban doctors and Cuban builders who provided the country with the Jose Marti School in St. Catherine and with a number of small wells designed to boost the islands water supply. Manley was also a critique of the World Bank. In an attempt to put Jamaica in a better financial position, Manley borrowed from the IMF. This impacted positively in the short-run, in that the country could afford its oil bill among others things, however, in present day the country is still in debt than ever before, and this indebtedness is allegedly stemming from the contract with the IMF made by Michael Manley. The economy has broken on the back of disinvestment and IMF imposed strictness. This caused conflicts within the party. The 1980 election, which saw the PNP severely defeated, was marked by great violence (Haynes, n. d. ).