Paper short abstract:

This article discusses the ways in which popular culture reflects and reinforces criminal governance structures in Kingston, Jamaica, where so-called “dons” are central to extra-state forms of political order.

Paper long abstract:

This article discusses the ways in which popular culture reflects and reinforces criminal governance structures in Kingston, Jamaica, where so-called "dons" are central to extra-state forms of political order. The continued existence of criminal governance structures - like other forms of political order - relies both on the authority and legitimacy of individual leaders and on the institutionalization of the collective (such as the gang or cartel). I argue that the continuation of Jamaica's donmanship relies on the iconization of individuals - an aesthetic fashioning of an elevated social status that combines religious, political and celebrity culture elements - and on the naturalization of the power structure surrounding these individuals. This consolidation of power is achieved not only through material incentives, but also through symbolic and discursive practices. The legitimacy of Jamaican dons at the neighborhood level is explained in part by their informal provision of material services that the Jamaican state is not perceived as providing: welfare, employment, security and justice. I argue that to appreciate the ways in which donmanship has developed as an enduring form of political order, attention must also be paid to the imaginative, aesthetic underpinnings of criminal authority. In this paper I draw on ethnographic research and cultural analysis to discuss how various popular culture expressions - dancehall music, dance events and urban murals - feature in legitimizing donmanship.