Vol. 38, Nos. 1 and 2, March/June 2013 pp.1-34 Civil Society Consultation in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM): Why Conceptual Clarity Matters Kristina Hinds-Harrison Department of Government, Sociology and Social Work The University of the West Indies, Barbados Abstract This article uses a social constructivist approach to evaluate the ways in which the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has communicated the need to institutionalise civil society participation in the region’s decision-making processes. This article analyses the CARICOM’s construction of language pertaining to ‘civil society’, ‘consultation’ and other participation related terms. What emerges from this discourse analysis is the observation that for just over twenty years, the CARICOM as an institution has transmitted unclear and sometimes contradictory signals surrounding the identity of individuals and groups to be included in proposed consultative arrangements. CARICOM’s failure to imbue terms such as ‘civil society’ with meaning for this institution’s context is connected to the institution’s inability to create participatory mechanisms for CARICOM. Key words: Caribbean Community (CARICOM), civil society, consultation, participation, regional integration, social partners, stakeholders. Copyright © Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, UWI, (Cave Hill), 2013