Lynn Bolles

Questions for CSA Past Presidents
Responses from Lynn Bolles                                                                                                                                  *                                               CSA President 1997-1998

1) How did you come to specialize in Caribbean Studies?

My graduate work focused on the African Diaspora from the very beginning with designs of working on the Black communities in Peru.  After an opportunity to do a summer school session at the African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica, I knew that the work in Latin America would have to wait.  I have done most of my scholarship in the Caribbean.

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

I lived in Jamaica in the late 1970s and what a remarkable time that was for me as a young scholar, but one who was asking questions that were new – feminist ones – political economy of women’s work, and family.  There is so much work to be done, so I keep on doing it alongside of my colleagues at UWI and in the trades union movement.

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

I joined CSA in 1981 and attended my first meeting in St. Thomas, USVI.  It was a welcoming moment, even though there were mostly political scientists and mostly men. I did not have to explain what I was doing, where I was doing it, and why it was significant to understanding a part of the world.read more