Connaught project to explore beach privatization and access in Jamaica 

A new research project led by Rachel Goffe will examine beach privatization in Jamaica and how restricted access affects the livelihoods and rights of people who rely on the beach for informal economic, recreational and cultural activity.  

The research will analyze Jamaican laws, regulations, colonial and post-colonial histories, and the country’s dependence on mass tourism to situate contemporary beach privatization within longer patterns of displacement and dispossession. Goffe’s research has largely covered land rights as well as informal settlement in Jamaica. 

“The beach offers a way to think about a collective space of livelihood, recreation, healing and spiritual practices, memorial, socializing, and courtship,” says Goffe, an assistant professor in the department of human geography at the University of Toronto Scarborough. 

“The goal of this project is to gather information that will locate the immediate question of beach privatization in longer histories of displacement and dispossession.” 

The project is funded by the Connaught Major Research Challenge for Black Researchers, which provides up to $250,000 for new Black-led, multidisciplinary research teams. This year’s recipients – which include Myrtede Alfred, an assistant professor of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering and Associate Professor Beverley Essue of the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation – are advancing work ranging from geography to engineering and public health.  

Public access to beaches in Jamaica has been limited by The Beach Control Act of 1956, enacted six years before the country gained independence from Britain. Section 3(4) of the Act leaves it to the government’s discretion to decide who may access the shoreline, and states that Jamaicans do not have an inherent right to beach access.  

“That means that Jamaicans’ access the beach is on the basis of permission, not a fundamental, recognized right,” as Goffe initially learned through her community partner in the research, the Jamaica Beach Birthright Environmental Movement. 

Tourism is a cornerstone of Jamaica’s economy, contributing to roughly a third of gross domestic product. The country’s sun-sand-and-sea tourism model has driven the expansion of all-inclusive resorts since the 1980s, many of which operate with private beaches.  

Current laws allow private land ownership down to the water’s edge without requiring public access. As a result,Jamaicans are increasingly excluded from beaches and from participating in tourism beyond employment in resorts. As coastal resort development has expanded – particularly along the north coast, the country’s main tourism belt, and imminently on the south coast – local communities have steadily lost access to beaches. 

“For resort development or expansion, the surrounding community immediately becomes aware that they will no longer be able to access that beach,” Goffe says. 

“Our community partner is shifting the conversation, so it’s no longer a conflict at the local level, but one where communities across the island can work together toward a more holistic solution.” 

Goffe’s research team brings approaches from law, Caribbean histories, political economy and Black economic geography to the project. It consists of Professor Beverley Mullings of the department of geography and planning;Assistant Professor Kevin Edmonds of the Center for Caribbean Studies; Professor Melanie J. Newton of the department of history; and Associate Professor Bhavani Raman of cultural and historical studies at U of T Scarborough. 

“We’re hoping that students will be able to gather some of those stories to support this learning between communities…”

In Jamaica, Goffe has partnered with the Jamaica Beach Birthright Environmental Movement, who will coordinate grassroots initiatives and activities laying the groundwork for a regional symposium.  

A goal of the project is to ultimately equip partner communities with additional research and documentation to support advocacy efforts.  

A regional research symposium will bring together local scholars and community groups to rethink shared coastal space. It will also examine the history of The Beach Control Act of 1956, placing it within the broader context of British imperial laws governing coastal land and access. 

University of Toronto undergraduates of Caribbean heritage will also have an opportunity to take part in community-based learning across several beaches, helping them understand local histories of beach use and displacement. 

“We’re hoping that students will be able to gather some of those stories to support this learning between communities, as well as to document iterative dispossession,” Goffe says.