I think it is especially important to consider soudscapes in a historical context because of the information it could give us regarding everyday life at the time. That is, though it cannot be considered a primary source, it provides in insight into what you may hear just walking down the street in a certain historical period. That being said, if we take a look at soundscapes through an addition contextual lens of the relationship between rampant capitalism and our relationships with people in the community, we can learn much about how exactly this capitalism affects communities.
The presence of the Hakka Chinese people exemplify this idea. Originally coming from China to Jamaica as indentured servants, the chinese struggled to find their footing in a foreign nation. But through the introduction of the sound-system and the Chinese shop (popularly known as “Chiney Shops”). The Chinese quickly found their place in Jamaica. In Goffe’s piece on extra-coloniality, we see the melding of Jamaican and Chinese culture as through the soundscapes of cultural Jamaican music. The evolution Jamaican folk music from mento to ska and now in reggae is not just the evolution of music, but also an evolution of the relationships of between the cultures on the island. That is, there would be no modern Jamaican reggae music if it were not for the soundscapes that the Chinese introduced to the island.
The Chinese culture parallels the Jamaican in ways that allowed to cultures to combine smoothly, incorporating concepts suc as the hui, which paralleled the practice of sou-sou. With the Chinese having such a foothold on a majority of the capital on the island, through the use of their shops, we can see why this eventually led to the destruction of relationships among each other. If we examine the origins of large distributors of reggae outside of the island of Jamaica, we see examples of Thomas Wong, Byron Lee and his Dragonaires, Sammy Chong, and Vincent and Patricia Chin, all extremely important influencers in the global world of reggae.
Thus if we consider the relationships between the Chinese and Jamaican people at the introduction of the Chinese, we see that the Chinese were outsiders, foreign nationals in a country brought against their will. But we see the evolution of this relationship as the Chinese established themselves as businessmen, controlling most of the capital on the island through their shops. Now there is a commercial relationship. Then, with the introduction of the soundsystem, we see another evolution of the relationship on the island. Now instead of the Chinese being an outsider, we see the cultures interact and form reggae together from Jamaican folk music. It is important to note, howoever, though the music was created together, their still existed a sense of “contempt” for the Chinese, as evident through the idea of being “Chinese colored.” (contempt for lack of a better term)
If we try to examine this evolution and engage with Goffe’s concept of extra-coloniality, we should try to understand how the Chinese influence on the island could be related to the continued derivation of capital. That is, we must understand how much hold the Chinese truly had over the capital in Jamaica, and how it affected the people who lived there. We see the origins of this in the Chiney Shops, many of which offered a line of credit to Jamaicans. Now in the present day, we see this debt amassing at a record rate. The Chinese hold over Jamaica never stopped. Take the North South Highway: completed in 2016 it has allowed Jamaicans to cross the island by car in record time. What is not often reported is the fact the Jamaica now owes a $730 million debt to a Chinese-state-run company, yet it is treated as a “win-win.” Another example of this is the state-run Belt and Road Initiative, extracting capital from Jamaican natural resources and irrevoably damaging the land. Though they were brought to Jamaica as indentured servants, the lasting shadow that China casts over Jamaica is undeniable.
Now we can take this understanding and apply it to Honolulu’s Chinatown. They too originally went to Hawaii as workers which had already affected the Native way of life. That is, plantation owners did away with sustainable farming for farming methods that damaged the land in order for more profit. But as time went on and the Chinese established their own foothold into the land, their own venture for capitol put them at odds with the native Hawaiians, labelling them lazy and not willing to work. This is just another example of how rampant capitalism destroys otherwise beneficial relationships between two cultures, and an example of extracoloniolism conceptualized by Goffe.
