Tennyson D Joseph

Associate Professor, Political Science

Dr. Tennyson Joseph teaches courses on political theory, post-colonial political economy and third-world revolutionary politics. He is the author of four books and several book chapters and journal articles related to Caribbean political thought, post-colonial decolonization and political economy, and general elections and voting in the Caribbean.

Prior to his association with NCCU, Dr Joseph served as a senior lecturer in political science at the Cave Hill (Barbados) campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), where he worked for over 17 years. He has conducted research and delivered lectures and papers in Africa, the UK and the Caribbean. During the course of his Ph.D. studies, he was awarded a post-graduate fellowship at the Institute of Commonwealth of Commonwealth Studies, University of London (1999–2000).

Education

Ph.D.	University of Cambridge	2001
M.Phil.	University of the West Indies	1994
B.A .(1st Class Hons.).	University of the West Indies	1992

Research and Professional Work

Dr. Joseph’s research focus has revolved around questions of post-colonial political economy and the continuation of decolonization projects both in their theoretical and practical dimensions. His research intersects radical thought with revolutionary practice in the post-colonial project. An important dimension of his research focuses on identifying contemporary modes of imperialism and neo-colonialism in the global economic system and related modes of resistance both at the ideational and activist levels, particularly in the Caribbean and the African diaspora.

Dr Joseph has also undertaken several consultancy engagements, most notably around questions of youth development and youth policy on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the early 2000s, on foreign policy development on behalf of the Government of St. Lucia in 2012 and reparations for slavery and indigenous genocide on behalf of Project Repair in 2023.

In addition to his academic and professional research work, Dr Joseph has lived the life of an engaged public intellectual in the Caribbean. Since 2010, he has been a regular columnist in the Daily Nation, a Barbados newspaper. He has also served as the administrative attache to the prime minister of St. Lucia between 2000 and 2003; as an electoral candidate in 2006; and as an opposition senator in the Parliament of St. Lucia in 2007.

Publications

CLR James and the 21st Century Caribbean (Kingston: University of the West Indies Press), Forthcoming
General Elections and Voting in the English-Speaking Caribbean 1992-2005 (With Cynthia Barrow-Giles) (Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers), 2006
Decolonization in Saint Lucia: Politics and Global Neo-Liberalism (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi) 2011
Defending Caribbean Freedom: Press Articles 2010-2016, Christ Church, Barbados: Carib Research and Publications Inc, 2020. (207 Pages). [With Foreword by George Lamming]

Select Book Chapters

“‘An Extended Debate with Europe?: G.K. Lewis, Paget Henry, Denis Benn and the Epistemological Challenges in the Writing of Caribbean Political Thought”, in Freedom, Power and Sovereignty: The Thought of G.K. Lewis (Caribbean Reasonings Series) (Ed. Brian Meeks and Jermaine McAlpine), Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2015, pgs.46-68.
“Peasant Revolts and Political Change in St. Lucia: The rise and fall of peasant movements, 1952-1957 and 1992-1997”, in Contemporary Left-Wing Activism Vol. 1: Democracy, Participation and Dissent in a Global Context, (Ed. John Michael Roberts and Joseph Ibrahim), London: Routledge, 2019, pgs. 89-108.
“Elite Authoritarianism Versus Individual Liberty: The Politics of COVID-19 Management in Barbados” (With Sonjé Greenidge), in Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Covid-19 and the Caribbean, Vol. 1. The State, Economy and Health (Eds. Sherma Roberts, Halimah A.F. Deshong, Wendy C. Grenade and Dwayne Devonish) (London: Palgrave Macmillan) pgs. 77-100, 2023

Select Journal Articles

‘Reclaiming W. Arthur Lewis for the Caribbean Political Thought Tradition’ in Social and Economic Studies Vol. 58 Nos. 3&4 Sept./Dec. 2009, pgs. 29-62
‘C.L.R. James’s Theoretical Concerns and the Grenada Revolution: Lessons for the Future’ in Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies; Vol. 35, Nos. 3 & 4, September/December, 2010, pgs. 4-31.
‘Neo-Liberalism, 21st Century Caribbean General Elections and the Post-Colonial Development Challenge’ in The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs, vol. 104, Issue 5, Oct. 2015, pp. 585-604
‘The Intellectual Under Neo-Liberal Hegemony in the English-Speaking Caribbean’, in Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 66 Nos. 3 & 4 2017, pgs. 97-122
‘Technology, Airbnb, Technological Change and Disruption in Barbadian Tourism: A theoretical framework’, in Third World Quarterly. (With Troy Lorde) Vol. 40, Issue 12, 2019, pgs. 2190-2209