As a university focused on using research for the upliftment of its community, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine (UWI STA), the premier tertiary institution in the region, producing world-class scholars, believes science should be accessible to the public.
We are pleased to present our media series, “UWI Scientists Speak”. In this series, our scientists—three of whom received the nation’s highest honour, the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, in 2023 and one in 2024—will showcase some of their work.
This week, we hear from Dr Talia Esnard, who discusses the role of the social sciences in understanding social solidarity and justice.
Dr Esnard is a sociologist, Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine.
—Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, Principal, UWI STA
There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has opened the door for many new ways of communicating and relating as a people and as a region. Yet, this pandemic has also unmasked some of the many inequalities that continue to disadvantage some while benefitting others. If anything, the pandemic has signalled to us that we cannot continue to minimalise the importance of the “social” nor to engage in the treatment of symptoms without grounding our actions within an understanding of the complex ways in which social currents underpin structural, cultural and psychological outcomes.
Though we must acknowledge that many aspects of our social lives are continually enhanced, we must also take to task the still too many concerns from specific groups of workers, such as women, mothers, migrant farmers, and people with disabilities, who are differently positioned within the social structure and relations of our societies.
The urgency of this call to action is within the ongoing struggles for decent work, gender equity, equitable access to resources, and with the potential for personal and professional growth.
Beyond all of these contestations, there is a clear need for action that challenges ongoing expressions of indifference and inequality. The Social Sciences offer many fields through which we can locate and address these concerns. Of note, for example, is a line of research within sociology that recognises the need to work through communities and institutions as sites of social justice action.
This approach to building solidarity demands that we think through the systems, practices, and values that can be embraced and actioned to ensure that these goals of leading a fair and just society materialise. This line of thinking also pushes one to consider the value of disruption and subversion within social justice agendas.
Disruption, however, does not necessarily translate into violence but can be strategically and culturally achieved through meaningful and collective social action that redistributes and enhances relational systems.
While this may seem somewhat of a tall order, there are many vantage points at more micro levels from which we can learn and grow. We can all learn from some of the long-standing cultural practices of Indigenous peoples and those of their descendants who work through principles of cooperation and collective labour to ensure the general well-being of all. In Tobago, we are familiar with gayap as a socio-cultural framework or practice of solidarity and sustainability of people within a community. The same is true in St Lucia, where this cultural practice is referred to as Koudmen, and in Dominica, where it is referenced as Koudnet and used to reclaim the value of a community. These have also been used to cultivate social attentiveness and reciprocity that build critical safety nets.
We can also grow from the scaling up of such self-help or organising systems to support those who are most disadvantaged across institutions. This type of collective action can be formally and loosely developed based on specific events, goals or situations as they arise and resonate with members of the group.
Informally, for example, colleagues across the social sciences and humanities within The University of the West Indies (The UWI) explore the idea of a Koudmen as a practice of care and support for early career scholars.
Beyond the writing and the researching, this type of engagement also allows for organic moments of sharing and working through the struggles, milestones and achievements. These moments represent the building of social and community capital where one can harness the connections and cultural assets, whether defined as linguistic, aspirational, familial, or navigational, using Tara Yosso’s notion of community cultural wealth as a point of reference.
Formally, we are actively working within the Department of Behavioural Sciences (UWI) to build collaborative structures through research clusters, inter-disciplinary professional development training programmes, and the strengthening of public-private partnerships to address some of the burning challenges that we face as a society.
These practices, though always a work in progress, represent a way of humanising workspaces, institutions, and relations to leverage ties that bind and build self and others. While we are increasingly moving away from some of our culturally sustaining heritage, there are many lessons that we can take forward and action into tangible social justice interventions.