About Us

Our Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies (JECS) began in 1997 as a printed, double-blind peer reviewed quarterly periodical appearing in March, June, August and December.  What our subscribers received each issue was 3 academic articles and some commentaries and other communications.  Essentially It has remained the area studies scholarly journal focusing on Eastern Caribbean island states, extending to the archipelago islands in the wider Caribbean.  Over the years the signal distinction of JECS has been on small island states sui generis.  In 2015, Volume 40, the Journal became a bi-annual publication partly in response to internal workflow adjustments and in response to the rate of peer review publication acceptance. However rather than the 12 articles per Volume, readers and subscribers were treated to an average of 15 articles in subsequent Volumes.  The Volume 42, Number 3 2017 Special Issue on Gender, Sexuality and Feminism in the Caribbean marked our first open access issue.

With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have had to reimagine the worksphere and the production of our flagship JECS.  The solution takes advantage of the shift of the Journal to an open access one.  Volume 45 of the JECS marks the commencement of what shall be a bi-annual publication, appearing in June and December.

The Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) undertakes a number of activities, contributing to its vibrant and diverse research culture. Prominent amongst these is the publication of a tri-annual, double-blind peer reviewed journal, the Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies (JECS). This is the only area studies journal dedicated to the showcasing of research and knowledge about the small state experience in the Eastern Caribbean, their economies, their relations of power, their cultural affect and socio-economic challenges. The JECS’ Editorial Advisory Committee comprises faculty drawn from multiple departments at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, reflecting its avowedly multidisciplinary approach to knowledge creation. Its Editorial Advisory Board extends to other scholars drawn from across the Caribbean diaspora.

We publish original articles interrogating social and economic conditions relevant to this region as well as to other small island states. JECS also welcomes articles interrogating cultural, educational and anthropological issues. In addition to original academic articles we also publish commentaries, book reviews, interviews and technical notes. Some of the published thematic topics include:

• the navigation of the current socio-economic, trade and geopolitical world order;
• the regional integration experience of the Member States making up the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS);
• coloniality, cultural identities and the reimagining of nationhood; and,
• the role of the State, civil society, business class and households in shaping the everyday life of capitalist modernity, with attention to the intersectionality of gender, sexuality, race and class.
• crime, deviance and security in small states

Contextually, the JECS links the academic terrains of the Eastern Caribbean, the Commonwealth Caribbean, and other developing countries in the Americas. However, it remains committed to rendering Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines visible to a global community of students, researchers, policymakers, and a host of non-governmental actors. To further increase our authors’ visibility internationally, and to expand our readership and exchanges, we have embarked on a strategic decision to convert the JECS to an online open access platform. This is a journey we entreat you to join for the experientially newer publics we shall engage and entreat in the track-laying of the journal’s future.

“We welcome your contributions!”