Cell Phone come like a Blessing: Religion and the Cell Phone in a Rural Jamaican Town

Abstract

This article suggests that kinship exemplifies a pattern that may be found in a wider range of Jamaican networking strategies including the creation of spiritual and church communities. The rapid adoption of cell phones and the patterns of their use by low-income Jamaicans are discussed and the importance of understanding the local incorporation of cell phones and local forms of networking enacted through new communication technologies are highlighted. The authors conclude that there is no aspect of phone use that could or should be considered exclusively 'religious' and thereby isolated from other aspects of people's lives.

Citation

Miller, D.; Horst, H. Cell Phone come like a Blessing: Religion and the Cell Phone in a Rural Jamaican Town. Jamaica Journal (2005) 29 (1-2) 12-17.

Cell Phone come like a Blessing: Religion and the Cell Phone in a Rural Jamaican Town

Published 1 January 2005