SALISES 2016 Conference in motion

“REVOLUTION, Socio-Economic Change and Freedoms” is the theme that will guide the conference of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) for 2016. The conference was officially launched last Wednesday night; and in incorporating the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Independence of both Barbados and Guyana and the bicentennial of the 1816 Bussa revolt, the launch came off at Bayley’s Plantation, where the revolt began some two hundred years ago.

 

Given brief welcome remarks by the Director of SALISES, Don Marshall, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Prof. Eudene Barriteau noted that the conference not only marks significant milestones; but also bears signal testimony to the innate courage and resilience for which Caribbean people are renowned.

 

Barriteau continued to state, “I am indeed delighted that my colleagues form the SALISES have chosen to interrogate several socio-economic, political and developmental dimensions of our contemporary Caribbean.” Moreover, she pointed out that they have chosen to do so against the backdrop of three historic points of departure in Barbados and the wider Caribbean and believes that the wide range of issues on which conference papers will be presented, underscore the continued relevance of the social sciences as a collective discipline in helping us to better understand the societies in which we live.

 

Showing that our societies are not totally different, was Monique Jackman, Officer in Charge at the Guyana Consulate. Jackman explained that the push for independence in the 60’s was a result of demands for higher wages and seeking improved working conditions; noting that Barbados and Guyana have been at the fore-front of the anti-colloquial struggle. Additionally, Jackman made mention of General Bussa who led a revolt in Barbados and is now a National Hero; while similarly, Cuffe, also a National Hero in Guyana led the well-known Berbice revolt, as she reiterated that they were both symbols of resistance to oppression.

 

Since these times, Barbados and Guyana have worked bilaterally and multilaterally to achieve their development goals. To this end, Jackman stated that there are a wide array of pertinent issues impacting islands in the region to be discussed, including the needed transformation of economies and the role of education, and charged that the SALISES conference would not fall short in doing so.