How have religious and secular festivals influenced modern day ways of living in the caribbean?

The idea of "Carnival" has become virtually synonymous with religious and secular festivals of all kinds in the Caribbean. The predominance of this image of the lively, celebratory character of Caribbean culture has often obscured the challenges people face, including widespread poverty, as a legacy of plantation colonialism and related enslavement of the islands' residents.
Tourism, the main source of income for many people on the islands, capitalizes on this image. One result is that other forms of development and much-needed social programs are set aside in favor of tourism-related investment. In the face of catastrophes, such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, these imbalances become pronounced; in such a situation, Carnival may offer a rallying point of cultural pride.
Music and dance are two of the domains in which Carnival culture has had significant impact. The earlier calypso and later ska and reggae music, both celebrating and delving into the darker sides of Caribbean life, often take festival as their themes.
Garth Green's 2002 article on the Trinidad and Tobago carnival, "Marketing the Nation," Critique of Anthropology, might be useful here.
Benjamin Ramm in 2007, BBC online, offered insights into calypso's subversive power, including its complex historical context. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20171010-the-surprising-politics-of-calypso
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20171010-the-surprising-politics-of-calypso

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