Thinking about the Caribbean from the perspective of Juan Bosch and Eric Williams
NEW CLOSING DATE: December 9, 2020
CALL FOR ESSAYS
From Christopher Columbus to Fidel Castro was the title that prominent Caribbean intellectuals Juan Bosch and Eric Williams gave to their respective histories of the Caribbean. Although Bosch's book was originally intended to be titled "The Caribbean, Imperial Frontier," both works were published in 1970 and titled almost identically: "From Christopher Columbus to Fidel Castro: The Caribbean, Imperial Frontier" and "From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean 1492-1969."
Juan Bosch and Eric Williams shared not only intellectual stature but also a political vocation. Both were anti-colonialist writers and politicians. Bosch was the first democratically elected president after the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. In September 1963, he was overthrown in a coup that led to the 1965 Revolution and the subsequent US invasion. Bosch remained active in the struggle for a government of democratic, popular, and emancipatory reforms for his country.
Eric Williams served as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1962 to 1981. He was the first to hold this position after the country's declaration of independence in 1962. Prior to this, Williams had founded the People's National Movement (PNM), which decisively propelled the demand for independence for the former British colony. As early as 1944, he had published the important work *Capitalism and Slavery * , a seminal work for understanding the history of colonial exploitation suffered by the Caribbean and upon which the "prosperity" of European capitalism was built.
Bosch's work marked a turning point in the study of the Caribbean and in the self-perception of its historical role as a frontier of modern empires—Spain, France, the Netherlands, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Williams's work offers a historical study of the Anglophone Caribbean islands from the perspective of the plantation economy and the relationship between slavery and abolition, anticolonial movements, and hegemonic colonial centers.
Both Bosch's and Williams's works are fundamental to understanding the Greater Caribbean: its history, its particularities, and its conflicts. Furthermore, tracing the paths these two books have taken over five decades makes the persistence of regional fragmentation clear: while Bosch's book has remained confined to the Spanish-speaking world and has become a classic in these latitudes, Williams's text is an essential reference in the Anglophone and Francophone worlds.
That is why CLACSO, through the Working Group Crisis, Responses and Alternatives in the Greater Caribbean , together with the Juan Bosch Foundation of the Dominican Republic, are organizing this Call for Essays “Thinking about the Caribbean from Juan Bosch and Eric Williams: 50 Years After From Christopher Columbus to Fidel Castro ”, in order to promote reflection and a critical look at these works of undisputed historical significance for the Caribbean, Latin America and the countries and territories of the Global South.
The Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) and the Juan Bosch Foundation of the Dominican Republic invite researchers in training, that is, those who are pursuing master's or doctoral studies or researchers with a degree, although in the latter case with an age limit of up to 45 years.
Submissions from individuals or groups (up to three authors) related to the theme of this call for papers will be accepted. Teams must respect gender parity and must select one member to be responsible for submitting the essay. Furthermore, each researcher may only submit one proposal to this call.
The International Jury for the competition will be chaired by Suzy Castor and made up of prestigious international experts in history and Caribbean studies such as Chiqui Vicioso (Dominican Republic), Félix Valdés (Cuba), Camille Chalmers (Haiti), Daniel Montañez (Spain), Pedro San Miguel (Puerto Rico), Jessica Byron (St. Kitts and Nevis), Patricia Mohammed (Trinidad and Tobago) and Humberto García Muñiz (Puerto Rico).
The call is aimed at recognizing and promoting unpublished and original essays about the works of Eric Williams “From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean 1492-1969” (1970) and of Juan Bosch “From Christopher Columbus to Fidel Castro: the Caribbean, imperial frontier” (1970).
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The competition will be held in a single category with three prizes. Prizes will be awarded based on the quality, originality, and depth of the analyses of the two aforementioned works. Consideration will be given to the reflection on the impact of both books on socio-historical studies, decolonial thought, and political-emancipatory processes in the Greater Caribbean region. Analyses addressing their relevance and current importance for the formation and development of critical thinking, education, and research, as well as their limitations and contributions to the construction of the cultural and intellectual identity of the Greater Caribbean, will also be valued.
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The prizes consist of support for participation in a seminar where the winning essays will be presented, and the publication of these essays in a book in both print and digital formats, available as open access, co-published by CLACSO and the Juan Bosch Foundation. The authors will transfer the original publication rights of their works, given that CLACSO adheres to and defends the principles of open science and open access to knowledge, ensuring that the resulting work is easy to find, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. Subsequently, the works may be published in any other medium, always citing the original call for submissions. Applicants must inform CLACSO of any subsequent publication of the works resulting from their participation in this call.
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The jury's decision will be final. Furthermore, the jury may select up to 10 additional essays from among the entries, depending on their quality, to be included in the compilation of the winning essays.
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Essays should be between 15 and 20 pages long, written in Times New Roman font, size 12, with 1.15 line spacing. Essays written in Spanish or English will be accepted. The text structure is flexible, respecting the conventions of academic writing and the CLACSO editorial guidelines, as well as APA style and genre considerations. The work must be an original and unpublished work by the author(s) and must not have been previously submitted to any publisher. Provisional versions or previously published works, or works that have received any local, national, or international award, will not be accepted.
It is an essential requirement that the submission be made through the online registration system provided by CLACSO.
Printed or emailed submissions will not be accepted. Applications that do not comply with the established guidelines will be technically rejected.
It is recommended to access the online system to learn about the registration format.
- Visit the CLACSO website, www.clacso.org, to access the registration system. Register in the CLACSO Single Registration System (SUIC). Each time an applicant wishes to access the system to consult, modify, add, or submit information for this or any other CLACSO activity, they must log in with their personal username and password. Applicants submitting essays authored collectively must designate one of the authors as responsible for the registration.
- Identify the essay by indicating its title and the pseudonym of the applicant(s). Submissions with pseudonyms that correspond to the applicant's name and/or surname will not be accepted.
- Complete the personal and academic data form and attach the curriculum vitae in free format; the digital copy of the passport, the digital copy of the highest academic degree obtained (or proof of degree in process), and a color photograph of each applicant.
- Attach the essay respecting the characteristics established in this call.
- To finalize your application, click the CLOSE REGISTRATION button. The system will generate an electronic certificate that will serve as proof of successful submission. The system will only consider applications that have been successfully submitted.
- The application period closes on Monday, November 16, 2020.
- The results of the competition will be announced at a press conference held by the organizing entities in February 2021 and will be published on both institutions' websites. The winners will be contacted by email.
- Participation in the Contest implies acceptance of its Rules.
NEW CLOSING DATE: December 9, 2020
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Results
Opinion
The Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) announces the results of the Call for essays “Thinking about the Caribbean from Juan Bosch and Eric Williams: 50 years after From Christopher Columbus to Fidel Castro ”, organized jointly with the Juan Bosch Foundation and the Working Group Crisis, responses and alternatives in the Greater Caribbean.
This call for papers aligns with CLACSO's mission to promote reflection and critical analysis of Caribbean thought and the valuable contributions of its intellectuals to the social sciences and political life in the region. We congratulate the young researchers who responded to this call and submitted their essays, whose work we recognize as initial efforts on what we hope will be a long and fruitful journey dedicated to the study of Caribbean issues.
All applications received were deemed eligible for evaluation by the International Committee. The Committee considered the quality, relevance, coherence, and currency of the essays in accordance with the call for submissions guidelines.
The evaluation assessed the quality of the submitted essays, as well as their rigor and intellectual contribution to the issue addressed in the call for papers. Given the quality and excellence of the majority of the submissions, it was decided to award two prizes and two honorable mentions, which will be included in the open access publication, available in both print and digital formats, co-published by CLACSO and the Juan Bosch Foundation.
The evaluation process was carried out by an International Committee chaired by Suzy Castor (Haiti) and made up of prestigious experts in History and Caribbean Studies: Chiqui Vicioso (Dominican Republic), Félix Valdés (Cuba), Camille Chalmers (Haiti), Daniel Montañez (Spain), Pedro San Miguel (Puerto Rico) and Humberto García Muñiz (Puerto Rico).
According to the evaluation carried out, the list of the 2 (two) winning essays that will be part of the publication and that will receive support for participation in a seminar in which it will be presented is presented below:
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Researchers |
Country |
Essay title |
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Abdiel Hernández Mendoza and Claudia Edith Serrano Solares |
Mexico |
Williams and Bosch: Two Perspectives on Our Caribbean |
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Enrique Toledo Hernández |
Puerto Rico |
Juan Bosch and Eric Williams: Epistemological Caribbeanness and Corporeal De-Ontologization |
The following is a list of the other 2 (two) essays with honorable mention , which will be recognized with their publication in the collective book:
|
Researchers |
Country |
Essay title |
|
Martín Arcila Rodríguez |
Colombia |
Secular Notes on Caribbean Psychology |
|
David Ernesto Domínguez Carbajal |
Mexico |
The Caribbean, imperial frontier, as a strategic territory in the historical geography of capitalism |
This ruling is irrevocable and cannot be appealed.
Buenos Aires, March 19, 2021
