1 option
Scammer's yard : the crime of black repair in Jamaica / Jovan Scott Lewis.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Lewis, Jovan Scott, author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Swindlers and swindling--Jamaica.
- Swindlers and swindling.
- Poor--Jamaica--Social conditions.
- Poor.
- Black people--Jamaica--Social conditions.
- Black people.
- Crime--Sociological aspects.
- Crime.
- Economic conditions.
- Social conditions.
- Jamaica--Social conditions--21st century.
- Jamaica.
- Jamaica--Economic conditions--21st century.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (236 pages)
- Place of Publication:
- Minneapolis, MN : University of Minnesota Press, [2020]
- System Details:
- text file
- Summary:
- Tells the story of Jamaican "scammers" who use crime to gain autonomy, opportunity, and repair There is romance in stealing from the rich to give to the poor, but how does that change when those perceived rich are elderly white North Americans and the poor are young Black Jamaicans? In this innovative ethnography, Jovan Scott Lewis tells the story of Omar, Junior, and Dwayne. Young and poor, they strive to make a living in Montego Bay, where call centers and tourism are the two main industries in the struggling economy. Their experience of grinding poverty and drastically limited opportunity leads them to conclude that scamming is the best means of gaining wealth and advancement. Otherwise, they are doomed to live in "sufferation"--an inescapable poverty that breeds misery, frustration, and vexation. -- In the Jamaican lottery scam run by these men, targets are told they have qualified for a large loan or award if they pay taxes or transfer fees. When the fees are paid, the award never arrives, netting the scammers tens of thousands of U.S. dollars. Through interviews, historical sources, song lyrics, and court testimonies, Lewis examines how these scammers justify their deceit, discovering an ethical narrative that reformulates ideas of crime and transgression and their relationship to race, justice, and debt. -- Scammer's Yard describes how these young men, seeking to overcome inequality and achieve autonomy, come to view crime as a form of liberation. Their logic raises unsettling questions about a world economy that relegates postcolonial populations to deprivation even while expecting them to follow the rules of capitalism that exacerbate their dispossession. In this groundbreaking account, Lewis asks whether true reparation for the legacy of colonialism is to be found only through radical--even criminal--means.
- Contents:
- Introduction: To Be Poor Is a Crime
- The Planation Remains: A History of Sufferation
- Free Zones: Manipulated Development after Structural Adjustment
- Black Markets: The Color of Crime
- Repairing Blackness: Seizing Reparations through the Scam
- Conclusion: Black Life beyond Repair.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Electronic reproduction. New York Available via World Wide Web.
- Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on November 04, 2020).
- Other Format:
- Print version: Lewis, Jovan Scott. Scammer's yard
- ISBN:
- 9781452964355
- 1452964351
- 9781452964362
- 145296436X
- Publisher Number:
- 40030191448
- Access Restriction:
- Restricted for use by site license.
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.