Horace Levy

According to Horace Levy, a part-time university lecturer who spoke on behalf of the four who comprised what was termed the Culture Group, their action was rooted in what he described as the "myopic and narrow" presentation document handed out at the think tank's December 7 launch.

"Nonsense," was how Levy responded to the argument about a money dispute."When we agreed to participate, no one asked how much would be paid or when it would be paid.In fact, as far as we knew, only the research assistants would receive a stipend anyway, and we agreed to participate just the same."

Levy said the four researchers - Anthony Bouges, professor of African Studies at Brown University and distinguished fellow at the Centre for African Studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa; Sean Ffrench, lecturer; Obika Gray, professor of Political Science, University of Wiscon-Eau Claire; and himself - were disappointed with the final document presented by the Taking Responsibility group because it ignored the role of culture in the development process.
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"Only the most myopic, narrow view of the society today, in a world where multi-disciplinary and cross boundary approaches are critical for understanding any society, could propose that what was necessary for transforming the Jamaican society were purely economic interventions," said Levy.

The Culture Group, he said, had tabled its objection after a draft of the final document was presented.
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Levy's group said.

The think tank, he said, failed to give weight to the cultural dimension of colour or race in the Jamaican society, and its absence "reverberates throughout the document and reflects badly on a project that claims to be inter-, or trans-disciplinary".Levy, the rapporteur for the Culture Group, said among the absurdities presented was the suggestion that the 1970s and 1980s differed only by the rhetoric of the leaders of each decade - the socialist Manley in the 1970s and capitalist Edward Seaga in the 1980s.
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In the meantime, Levy said, he and his colleagues will instead concentrate on the Jamaica Nation Project, under the aegis of the Centre for Caribbean Thought.

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