Conclusions: The Proletarianisation of Women in Jamaica

The emergence of industrial capitalism and the associated growth of urban labour markets have typically coincided with rising levels of open unemployment, rapid rates of migration into urban areas, and the use of diverse mechanisms designed to transform workers into a proletariat, a committed labour force of stable, disciplined workers. But where, as in Kingston, widespread urban poverty and unemployment become chronic the mass of workers will not develop the behavioural traits of a proletarianised work force without a protracted period of disorder or uncertainty.