It is proposed to publish a Special Edition of the journal Social and Economic Studies (SES) focusing on the Caribbean and Pacific regions in the Global Political Economy. SES is a leading refereed academic journal published at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus in Kingston since 1953.CALL FOR PAPERS
SPECIAL SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES JOURNAL EDITION ON SOCIO-CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC ISSUES AFFECTING SMALL ISLANDS STATES IN THE CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC REGIONS
Introduction
The special journal issue will be edited by a cross-regional and multi-disciplinary team of academics drawn from the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the University of the South Pacific (USP).
This special issue represents a new form of collaboration between the Pacific and Caribbean region. It is facilitated by the Islands of Globalization initiative, a collaborative project of the Honolulu-based East-West Center and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The Ford Foundation-supported project aims at assessing the impacts of globalization on island states and territories in these two regions. Its joint editors are Dr. Patsy Lewis, Dr. Hopeton Dunn and Dr. Matthew Smith, of the University of the West Indies, Mona, and Associate Professor Biman Chand Prasad, University of the South Pacific, Fiji Islands.
Background to Call for Papers
The island states of the Caribbean and Pacific regions share much in common, arising, in part, from their shared colonial past and post-colonial relationships and the global political and economic climate in which they operate. The two regions also have shared realities deriving from their existence as islands, which in turn, have some bearing on their economic activities, their natural resources and cultural expressions. These commonalities do not mask the particularities of their social histories, cultural identities and differing political challenges. The historical, economic and social affinities, however, present an opportunity for the exploration of what can potentially unite these regions as they seek to negotiate their own spaces – economic, political and cultural – in an international environment that, at the best of times, appears indifferent to their problems or vulnerabilities.
The island states of the Caribbean and Pacific regions, many of which are minute in size and population on a global comparative scale, are already experiencing the tugs of the centrifugal forces of globalization. Many are finding themselves being drawn, oftentimes reluctantly, into the mainstream of trade liberalization processes, which have been facilitated by external global, corporate and State actors.
For example, both groups are either participating in, or are contemplating entering into trade arrangements with larger regional trading partners and are having to adjust to restructured trading relationships with major trading partners. There is shared reliance on the European Union as a primary source of development funding and they are participants in liberalization processes at the multilateral level, with their membership in the WTO. Both groups of countries are anxious to carve out special regimes at both the regional and multilateral levels to address what they view as the constraints attendant on their size and related economic challenges. The location of most of these countries at the micro-state end of the global spectrum of states provides an important testing ground for gauging the effects of globalisation and liberalization processes on their social, political cultural and economic systems.
The effects of globalisation extend beyond their economic and social performance and prospects to include their governance structures and institutions. Both regions have complex constitutional arrangements, with evident neo-colonial vestiges. Both also have large regional neighbours with strong cultural and economic influences on lifestyles, governance and business development. These relationships could provide fruitful bases for analysis of how regional policies may develop in response to bi-lateral and global hegemonic processes. Traditional cultural and ethnic cleavages in both regions offer the prospect of potent research and analyses as varied social groups throw up significant challenges to governance, and to the accepted social and cultural norms. Their relationships with one another and with the State are dynamic factors that are influenced also by the escalating pressures of globalisation and liberalisation.
The commonalities between both regions extend beyond the challenges they confront from globalisation and extend to the environment and the eco-systems existing within and around small island states. Actors in both the Pacific and the Caribbean areas are concerned with the possibilities of the negative effects of global warming and climate change on sea levels and the consequences these are already having for low-lying areas. Hurricane and cyclones are long-standing annual occurrences that have the potential for wide scale damage in small societies, as the 2005 hurricane season in the Caribbean and its effect on Grenada and the Cayman islands, among others, shows. The recent widespread loss of human lives, severe property damage and acute environmental degradation are likely to retarded economic growth on a scale second only to the impact of the tsunami in Asia in December 2004. These events have served to illuminate the potentially devastating effects of natural disasters on small low-lying land formations, including islands. These environmental challenges provide a rich vein for exploring the ways in which the different regions have responded to such occurrences or are preparing to respond to potential disasters and the lessons that could be drawn from their experiences.
By focusing on these two regions in a single issue, the editors hope to shed further light on the commonalities, even while acknowledging their differences and peculiarities, as a basis for fostering an increased understanding between the Caribbean and the Pacific regions. Contributions to the Special Issue will offer scope for collaborative scholarly work and, hopefully, lead to concrete efforts at even deeper levels of collaboration and cooperation at the cultural and political levels.
Themes
Submissions are therefore invited of articles on the effects of globalisation and liberalization on these small states and societies. Comparative studies, analytical pieces and joint research reports are particularly encouraged. Suggested broad themes include, but are not limited to, the following:
The Pacific and the Caribbean in the global political economy, including liberalisation at the multilateral and regional levels.
Communication, Globalization and Small States in the Pacific and the Caribbean
Globalization and its challenges to governance in these regions
Globalization and its effects on specific groups and/or sectors such as women, workers and youth.
Environmental challenges to small states in the Caribbean and the Pacific
Science, Technology and Development in the Caribbean and the Pacific
Economic and cultural vulnerabilities and advantages of small states, using the Caribbean and/or the Pacific as context.
Music, Sports and the Arts in the Pacific and the Caribbean. The popularity of Reggae music in the Pacific presents a particularly interesting phenomenon for study.
The internationalization/commodification of Caribbean and Pacific culture under globalization processes.
The deadline for abstracts is May 31, 2005, and for final papers, September 30, 2005. Attached are guidelines for articles in the SES journal with information on length, style, format inter alia. Queries relating to style should be referred to Annie Paul, Head, Publications Section and Managing Editor, Social and Economic Studies, annie.paul@uwimona.edu.jm. Abstracts and Final papers should be sent to both Biman Chand Prasad at chand_b@usp.ac.fj and Patsy Lewis at Patsy.lewis@uwimona.edu.jm.
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