Questions for CSA Past Presidents

Responses from Hilbourne A. Watson
CSA President 1994-95

How did you come to specialize in Caribbean Studies?

My fields of concentration in graduate school were International Relations, Comparative Politics (Africa), Political Theory, and International Political Economy. I did not complete any formal study of the Caribbean as a college student. I came to Caribbean Studies in an indirect way, when I decided to conduct doctoral dissertation research on the Political Economy of Foreign Direct Investment in the Commonwealth Caribbean since World War II.

How did your interest in and commitment to Caribbean Studies evolve?

My interest in Caribbean Studies began with studying the Caribbean from the angle of foreign investment and international migration, and it expanded as I introduced new areas of emphasis including U.S.-Caribbean relations, social and political thought, globalization and issues about the State. It became clear to me that no single academic discipline could be adequate for making sense of the complex reality of the Caribbean which is why I have stressed multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary strategies. Through the years I have made a conscious decision to retool in order to educate myself about the Caribbean Region.

When did you first join CSA and what did it mean to you then?

The first CSA conference I attended was held in Castries, St. Lucia in January 1976. I joined the CSA in 1979 at the Martinique conference, which I thought was well organized: the panels were stimulating and I was impressed, so I decided to make the CSA the academic association around which I would try to cultivate my core intellectual relationships and interests. I had a perfect attendance and participation record at the CSA from 1979 to 2002. I served on the CSA Executive Council for several consecutive years, became Vice President (1993) and President (1994). Clearly, my involvement meant a lot to me. The only CSA conferences I missed since 1979 were in 2003-2005 and 2007.

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