Call for Papers: Globalization, Climate Change and Rural Resilience

Globalization, Climate Change and Rural Resilience: The Challenge of Sustainable Development in the Caribbean and Beyond. May, 9-11, 2012, Kingston, Jamaica

The English-speaking Caribbean will start celebrating 50 years of independence in 2012.  In reviewing the past 50 years and anticipating the next 50, the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) has implemented an initiative entitled Fifty-Fifty: Critical Reflections in a Time of Uncertainty. Within this context, an initiative supported by C-Change Canada Caribbean, has been launched to foresight the future face of agriculture and rural spaces for Caribbean states and plan for their resilience in the face of many uncertainties, including those associated with Climate Change.

The Caribbean region contains one of the world’s largest concentrations of vulnerable small island and mini-states all faced with the common challenge of sustaining their development processes in the face of climate change and special socio-ecological constraints. Rural spaces in these states (which typically reflect the highest intra-state poverty rates), are especially challenged by a spectrum of changes, ranging from climate induced changes in the ecosystem to socioeconomic impacts such as the triple F crises (global food, fuel and financial shocks). Effectively addressing these challenges will require multiple approaches to sustainable development.  As the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has stated in their recent rural poverty report:

Putting a proper appreciation of risks and shocks at the center of a new agenda for rural growth and development requires a multipronged approach. On the one hand it involves strengthening the capacity of rural people to manage risk…. and develop new strategies. On the other hand, it requires that the conditions that they face be made less risky…

Small states are, however, especially challenged to respond to the asymmetric and competitive pressures of globalization given, in particular, the structural and political vulnerabilities they have inherited from their peculiar legacy of development.

In light of these trends and vulnerabilities, research is needed to provide answers to many questions.  How best can we equip rural people, as well as vulnerable populations and groups in these island states, to manage such risks? What imaginations and strategies are needed in order to reduce the profile of risks faced and support the resilience of small states seeking to make the most of their opportunities and progress in a risk fraught global development process? Half a century is a short time in the history of a region, yet it is sufficiently long to begin stocktaking. Indeed, how successful have the new nations been in improving the quality of life for their citizens dwelling in ‘rural spaces?’ And how far away are these states from achieving ‘rural resilience,’ defined as “the capacity of a rural region to adapt to changing external circumstances in a way that a satisfactory standard of living is maintained, while coping with the ecological, economic and social vulnerability?”

This conference is motivated by the possibilities opened up when applying resilience thinking for analyzing, evaluating and coming to grips with the post independence challenges facing small states operating in today’s risk-fraught global systems. The following areas represent the major themes on which papers and panels are invited. We encourage cross-disciplinary proposals for panels and individual papers around these themes, reflecting on the independence experience for Caribbean and other small states, and looking forward to the next half century.

CONFERENCE THEMES and LEADING QUESTIONS:

1. Globalization, Climate Change, and the Future of Rural Development? What methodologies, innovation strategies and strategic planning approaches are required for rural resilience to climate change in small states? How does globalization shape the politics and dynamics of sustainable rural livelihoods and food security?
2.  Climate Change Impacts on Vulnerability, Risk and Resilience- Who are the vulnerable and resilient in rural spaces? How has climate change altered the vulnerability and resilience of rural dwellers? How may risks and vulnerability be reduced in rural spaces to effect sustainable transitions to resilience?
3. Effective Risk and Resource Management for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth- What challenges have the legacy of sugar, the plantation economy and structural adjustment created for effective risk and resource management? What sorts of governance and integration approaches are needed to support sustainable enterprises, inclusive growth and resilient socio-ecological systems? What lessons may be drawn from China on growth and sustainable rural development for small states?
4. Reframing Rural Resilience: The Role of the Non-farm Economy and Rural Enterprise Growth - How important is the non farm rural economy for sustainable and inclusive growth, or socio-economic resilience?
5. Policy and Aid Processes for effective resilience- How well do policy and aid processes succeed in achieving pro-poor or inclusive and sustainable growth? What policy measures are needed to enhance socio-ecological resilience?
6. Globalization, Governance and the ‘Will to Improve’- What are the effects of globalization on rural spaces? What forces shape the politics for system resilience and sustainable futures?

Please send all abstracts to Ms. Ruby McFadden at rubyline.mcfadden@uwimona.edu.jm and copied to Dr. Patricia Northover at patricia.northover@uwimona.edu.jm or pat.northover@gmail.com . Abstracts should not be more than 250 words and panel proposals not more than 1000 words. A brief bio and contact information should be sent with all abstracts and panel proposals.

The deadline for abstracts and panel proposals has been extended to Feb. 29, 2012. Acceptance of abstracts and panel proposal will be communicated to authors by March 10, 2012. For further information and updates on the conference, visit our fifty-fifty website at: http://thesalises5050project.blogspot.com. 

Vision 50|50: Rural Women and Resilience to Poverty

Grenada: Retrospective on a Revolution

Caribbean Child Research Conference 2011

The Caribbean Child Research Conference will be held on October 19-20, 2011 at the Jamaica Conference Centre. The theme of this year's conference is “Promoting Child Rights with Equity: Our Children in Post- Independence Times”. The conference aims to share research on children, strengthen the network of researchers on children issues, and encourage research in areas that are often “under-researched.” For further details please contact Ms. Kimberley Wilson at 927-1234/927-1020 or email childconferenceresearch@gmail.com .

You can also visit the Caribbean Child Research Conference website at http://ocs.mona.uwi.edu/index.php/ccrc/ccrc2011

Through Women’s Eyes: Conversations on Independence

Seminar on Growth Inducement Strategy

The Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the UWI, Mona, in collaboration with the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) and the Department of Economics, will host a seminar entitled: The Growth Inducement Strategy: A Critical Analysis, on Thursday, September 29, 2011 at the Mona Visitors’ Lodge and Conference Center. The seminar will begin at 8:45 a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m.

The PIOJ will present its recently published strategy for the growth of the Jamaican economy for discussion by participants drawn from several departments at the UWI Mona as well as the general public.

The seminar is part of an on-going series of SALISES’ Fifty-Fifty conferences leading up to its major conference in August 2012. This series of conferences is being organized around research themes to assess the 50 years of post-Independence experience of development in all spheres of Jamaican life, as well as other parts of the Caribbean.

The seminar seeks participation from students and faculty of secondary and tertiary academic institutions, the business community, organized labour, civil society organizations, and the general public. 

Call for papers!

University College
of the Cayman Islands

21 – 23 March 2012

CALL FOR PAPERS

The University College of the Cayman Islands, in collaboration with the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), the University of the West Indies, Mona, will be staging the 50-50 Conference, 21-23 March 2012. The theme of this conference is Surveying the Past, Mapping the Future.

The significance of the 50-50 insignia is that the year 2012 marks 50 years since the end of the West Indies Federation.This milestone is therefore a fittingtime for retrospectionby the territories that opted for independence, entered into autonomous political arrangements, became integrated into extra-regional states, or remained dependent territories.

It is also an opportunity for collective examination of the future possibilities for, and direction of, territories with varying political arrangements, and of the region as a whole.

With regard to the non-independent territories, while the conference focusses primarily on the British Overseas Territories (BOTs), the non-independent Caribbean (Dutch, French, and U.S.) territories are important participants as they are direct sources of information on functioning of alternative models of constitutional arrangements, such as integration, free association, and independence.

This UCCI conference can therefore serve to begin the process at the institutional level of broadening perspective on the options, other than continued colonial status or independence, available to the BOTs.

Conference Objectives

The objectives of the 50-50 Conference are to:

• bring together the main thinkers and political
  actors from all Overseas Territories (regardless of
  metropole) and from all the independent territories,
  to discuss the last fifty years and to consider the
  next fifty;
• foster an intellectually rich environment in which
  to discuss critical and urgent issues related to the
  divergent paths taken by various societies at the end
  of the “Federal Experiment”.
• consider trajectories for the next 50 years of
  development of Caribbean societies.

50-50 Opportunity for Reflection,
Analysis and Projection

The Conference will focus on the
following questions:

1. How have the independent countries fared in
all dimensions of society, compared to the non-
independent countries?

2. How did British Overseas Territories (BOTs) relate to
the West Indies Federation?

3. What are the comparative experiences of the French
integrated departments, Dutch autonomous countries
and U.S. dependent territories?

4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of
continued dependent status, integration, or autonomy?

5. What are the challenges posed by dependency?

6. What are the pros and cons of independence from
Britain from the perspectives of the BOTs?

7. What is the role of international law in the process of
the BOTs’ self-determination?

8. Do BOTs have sufficient independence in domestic
governance?

9. Does the British government fully reflect the views
of BOTs in international fora and what are the options
and rights at present with regard to the BOTs’ direct
participation in international organisations?

10. What are the sources of contention between the
dependencies and the UK?

11. What can overseas dependent territories not do
that they would like to were they independent?

12. What is the current form of Government and its
constitutional and ministerial relationships with the
Governor and the British Government?

13. How important are issues of migration and
multiculturalism to these islands?

14. Is there a relationship between non-independence
and cultural emancipation?

15. How viable are the twin pillars of tourism
and banking for these islands and what are other
possibilities?

16. How viable is the independence option for BOTs?

17. What other options for political equality exist for the
In addition to papers focussed on
the above questions, the Conference
invites presentations on the following
areas as they relate to the overall
conference theme:

• Government, Parties and Policy
• Public Administration
• Security and Crime
• Economic Policy
• Agriculture
• Manufacturing
• Mining
• Energy
• Social Policy
• Caribbean Integration
• Health
• Education
• Tourism and the Hotel Industry
• Popular Culture
• Literature and the Arts
• Critical Thinkers
• Role of UWI (Including SALISES)
• Role of Medicine
• Gender
• Technology
• Environment

Deadline for abstracts is 30 December 2011.
Full papers are due 28 February 2012.

Forward abstracts and papers to:

Dr. Mark Minott, mminott@ucci.edu.ky, or
Dr. Stephanie Fullerton-Cooper,
sfullerton-cooper@ucci.edu.ky

For further information contact:

Dr. L Smith, lsmith@ucci.edu.ky, 1-345-326-3276

or visit www.UCCIconference.ky

Call for papers: SALISES 50/50 Conference

Call for papers: SALISES Fifty-fifty Conference, Kingston, Jamaica

August 20-25, 2012.

The Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) will host a conference entitled Fifty-Fifty: Critical Reflections in a Time of Uncertainty in Kingston, Jamaica from August 20-25, 2012.
August 2012 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of independence in the Commonwealth Caribbean, as in the same month both Jamaica (August 6) and Trinidad and Tobago (August 31) gained their independence from Great Britain. This set the stage for the rapid transition to statehood in Barbados and Guyana and numerous other Caribbean islands and territories over the following three decades.

Half a century is a short time in the history of a nation, yet it is sufficiently long to begin stocktaking. How successful have the new nations been in improving the quality of life for their respective citizens? To what extent have they been able to forge a new and self-confident national culture? To what extent do the political systems - democratic in form – reflect principles of transparency and genuine accountability? How far have the economies moved away from traditional markers of dependency to become poles of dynamism and development? And for the next fifty years: what changes need to be made to the constitutional and more broadly political systems of government to deepen democracy and popular participation? What new economic models and approaches might be appropriate to confront the environmental and energy challenges that face the entire world, but especially small states? What combination of social, political and economic strategies might most effectively combat, reduce and ultimately eliminate the scourges of drugs, violence and criminality that threaten to engulf the region? What have we learned from the experience with regionalism over the past fifty years and what are the new approaches that might be taken to advance Caribbean integration? These and many other questions need to be asked and answered as we collectively seek to explore the meaning of independence and chart a way forward for the next fifty years.
We encourage proposals for panels and individual papers around these and other social, political economic and cultural themes, reflecting on the independence experience in the Caribbean and looking forward to the next half century.

While the August 2012 date is specific to the nations of the Anglophone Caribbean, we particularly encourage papers reflecting on the experiences and trajectories of the countries with a longer history of independence, including Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and the contiguous mainland countries of the Caribbean region. Special focus will also be given to the non-independent countries of the region, whose experiences are an important counterpoint to those that have chosen sovereign paths.

Please send all abstracts to Arlene Supersad: arlene.supersad@uwimona.edu.jm

Deadline for abstracts is January 31, 2012.

Acknowledgement of acceptance of abstracts: March 2, 2012.

For further information and updates on the conference, visit our fifty-fifty website at: http://thesalises5050project.blogspot.com/

Fifty:Fifty CALL FOR PAPERS

         

 50|50 CONFERENCE: LAW & JUSTICE IN THE POST-INDEPENDENCE ERA – Reflecting on the first fifty years, projecting beyond

February 2-3, 2012

Kingston, Jamaica

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

The Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Research (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica, under its flagship Fifty-Fifty* research project, will host a conference entitled: Law & Justice in the post-independence era: Reflecting on the first 50 years, projecting beyond.   In keeping with the overall concept behind the Fifty-Fifty project, the conference will examine law, legal institutions and justice in the context of post-independence societies, particularly those of the Caribbean.  Although law is the springboard for this conference, the themes are designed to include a variety of other disciplines which can help to explain and bring meaningful perspectives on the law as a feature of post-independence societies.  The aim is to begin a dialogue between legal professionals and professionals of other disciplines with a view to bridging the gap between our legal system and our society.  Papers are thus welcome from academics, practitioners and policy makers across a wide cross-section of disciplines relating to the topics identified below.

TOPICS

·         THE LEGAL SYSTEM, JUSTICE AND NATIONHOOD

o   Owning our rules and legal institutions

o   The justice system at 50 – aging or ailing?

o   Folk/religious/popular concepts of justice and the law

o   Judicial ideology and nationhood

o   Gender, law and justice

o   Legal education and professional regulation

o   Role and impact of international norms

·      THE CONSTITUTION AND THE STRUCTURE FOR GOVERNANCE

o   Tracing constitutional developments since 1963 – implications for independence

o   Human rights – from Chapter III to the Charter of Rights

o   State governance structure – the need for alternative models

o   Law and ethics in governance

• FROM INDEPENDENCE TO CARIBBEAN INTEGRATION
• Regional integration and the law
• From Privy Council to the Caribbean Court of Justice
• IMPACT OF LAW ON DEVELOPMENT
• Competition and Trade
• Intellectual Property
• Corporate Governance
• Industrial Relations
• Dispute Resolution

ABSTRACT/PAPER SUBMISSION

Abstracts of no more than 150 words may be submitted to:

                                                 5050lawandjustice@gmail.com

Deadline for submission of abstracts:  June 30, 2011

Notification of acceptance of abstracts:   by July 29, 2011

Deadline for submission of completed papers: January 9, 2012 

ENQUIRIES may be directed to Marsha Grey-Lewis at (876) 927-1020 or (876) 927-1234 or by emailing 5050lawandjustice@gmail.com

*More information on the Fifty-Fifty project is available at http://salises.mona.uwi.edu/

Prime Ministerial Reflections: Patterson Takes the Podium

It's about that time for another installment of 'Prime Ministerial Reflections'! Join the SALISES 50/50 project once again on May 12, 2011 at the Jamaica Pegasus, 5:00pm, to hear former prime minister, P.J. Patterson deliver his reflection on the post-independence period.  Will it be stimulating? Have we heard it all before? Only you can decide.

Prime Ministerial Reflections Bulletin!

Prime Ministerial Reflections

SALISES announces  'Prime Ministerial Reflections Fifty  Fifty', a major component of the 50/50 Project where sections of each of Jamaica’s living former Prime Ministers will present their views on the period since independence as well as their vision of the decades ahead, taking into account constraints and opportunities derived from Jamaica’s modern history and location in the regional hemispheric and international community.

The series shall take place at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel and starts with Former Prime Minister the Most Honourable Edward Seaga on April 14 at 5:00  p.m.,  followed by former Prime Minister the Most Honourable PJ Patterson on May 12 at 5:00  p.m., with former Prime Minister the Most Honourable Portia Simpson-Miller  concluding the series at a date to be determined in June.

The Chairman of the SALISES 50/50 Governance Committee, Professor Trevor Munroe, regards the series as  an important contribution to civic education and to building public awareness on issues vital to Jamaica’s development.  Special invitations have therefore been issued to youth and students’ organizations, as well as the principals of major high schools and teacher training institutions to ensure full attendance from their respective organizations.

Each former Prime Minister is invited to speak for 1 hour within a common framework.  A panel of UWI graduate students shall open the questions after each presentation and thereafter the public shall have the opportunity of an hour of questions to and answers from each former Prime Minister.

SALISES director, Prof. Brian Meeks, notes that this important Prime  Ministerial Reflections on 50/50 follows the highly successful 12 th Annual Conference of SALISES, themed: “Challenges of the Independence Experience in Small Developing Countries.”

ALL ARE INVITED!

For pictures and updates on the 12th Annual conference visit our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sir-Arthur-Lewis-Institute-of-Social-and-Economic-Studies/192308010807763

or follow us on Twitter: @salises5050

Letter from the Director

Dear participants in the 12^th Annual SALISES conference ‘Challenges of the Independence Experience in Small Developing Countries’, I want to say on behalf of the entire faculty and staff that it was a pleasure being your hosts at this the first major conference in our Fifty-Fifty project.

As I indicated at the closing ceremony, we don’t see this as an average conference in which you leave and go home, but a recruiting event for Fifty-Fifty. The purpose of Fifty-Fifty is to critically review fifty years of the independence experience in the Anglophone Caribbean and to elaborate proposals for the region’s possible development in the next fifty years. We use the important fiftieth anniversary of Anglo-Caribbean independence as a useful hook, but the purpose is always to move beyond narrow linguistic barriers to look at the region as a whole.  Thus, in our recently concluded conference, we had a special plenary on Haiti and there were participants from all the linguistic areas of our Caribbean. We are also intimately concerned with the historical experience and prospects for the non-independent territories that together constitute a significant part of the population and land area of the region.

In terms of the next steps, I elaborate some of the points made at the closing of the conference.

1. The Fifty-fifty Conference is scheduled to be held in Kingston from August 20-25, 2012. We have not yet fine-tuned whether it will be all of those days, but it would be wise if you are thinking of coming to block them all off now.
2. We are approaching this event somewhat differently than the typical conference with a call for papers, by establishing clusters far in advance of the event that would focus research around a set of clearly defined areas. The aim would be for the clusters to meet, identify research questions and establish an agenda that might include, seminars, talks, panel discussions between now and 2012, but would culminate with a panel/plenary/workshop at the 2012 conference.
3. Some sixteen clusters (see list below) have already been established at SALISES Mona; however, a cluster need not be chaired by someone from Mona, nor necessarily from someone from SALISES. Indeed, we encourage the broadest participation of scholars and practitioners in establishing research clusters across the region. All that we ask is that you stick to the thematic lens of Fifty-Fifty, give us information on who is the chair/convenor and who are the members of the cluster, keep us informed as to the progress on your research and come to the conference with a developed panel. We are also open to individual paper proposals, particularly, though not exclusively from scholars outside of the region, who might find it difficult to assemble a cluster.
4. Clusters might focus on a single territory, a comparative study involving two or more territories, or may be Caribbean-wide in scope. We are open to different lenses.
5. Please get in touch with us if you have an idea for a cluster or if you wish to join an existing cluster. We would be happy to include you in this exciting project. Write to Arlene Supersad, the overall administrator arlene.supersad@uwimona.edu.jm or brian.meeks@uwimona.edu.jm or go to our website http://salises.mona.uwi.edu for further information. Our website is not quite where we want it to be, but we are working on it and also on our Facebook page!
6. We are still in the process of raising funds for Fifty-fifty. We are therefore asking you to try to be as self-sustaining as possible. To the extent that we are able to secure a major grant, then we will let you know and see how best we can facilitate research and the necessary movement associated with the project.

Existing Clusters and Chairs

1. Economy: Michael Witter
2. Governance and Politics: Trevor Munroe
3. Social Policy: Aldrie Henry-Lee
4. Health: Helen (Kristin) Fox.
5. Housing: Jimmy Tindigarukayo
6. Public Sector: Philip Osei
7. Education; Maxine Henry-Wilson.
8. Sustainable Agriculture: Pat Northover.
9. Caribbean Integration: Patsy Lewis.
10. Grenada Case Study: Patsy Lewis.
11. Information Systems: Evan Duggan.
12. Labour and Employment: Noel Cowell.
13. Visualizing Independence: Annie Paul.
14. Law and Justice: Celia Blake.
15. Gender: Taitu Heron and Judith Wedderburn.
16. Caribbean Language Policy: Hubert Devonish. 
17. Words to Refashion Futures: Nadi Edwards

Proposed clusters

1. Immigration: Jay Mandle.
2. Growth and Development in the Caribbean: Patrick Watson.
3. Climate Change in the Caribbean: Patrick Watson

There is also a media plan for Fifty-Fifty that film-maker Esther Figueroa has elaborated for interviewing and archiving critical individuals in politics, academics, the arts etc as well as the production of a film and a number of web-ready audio-visual products out of the deliberations leading up to the conference and the big event itself.

We look forward to hearing from you and to your involvement in this important and literally, once in a lifetime opportunity to critically engage with our situation and make concrete proposals for the future.


Sincerely,


Brian Meeks
Director, SALISES, Mona.