Small Island Societies Research Articles

What happens when tourism is turned off: Exploring the outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions for Indigenous people in Rarotonga, The Cook Islands

The sea, sand, and sun allure of the Cook Islands has seen tourism become the most significant driver of the country's economic development. However, the increasing reliance on the tourism sector since the 1980's has created a mono-economy at the expense of diversification and alternative economic models. The COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the risks and consequences associated with an over- reliance on international tourism as the lockdown measures and international travel restrictions caused the sudden shutdown of international tourism, resulting in serious negative economic consequences for tourism-dependent communities. However, the pandemic also offered an opportunity for small island societies to reflect on pre-existing challenges associated with the tourism industry. Through qualitative semi-structured interviews with Indigenous Cook Islanders in Rarotonga, this study aimed to develop a deeper understanding of how the lived experiences of participants responding to the sudden collapse of tourism may have influenced how Indigenous Cook Islands peoples perceive the role of tourism in supporting the wellbeing of their small island nation. The presented study is the result of a collaborative research partnership between an Indigenous Pacific scholar and non-Indigenous European scholar. While the research adopted a western methodology, the relationships developed between the researchers and participants were guided by the cultural values of reciprocity and respect, which are key principles underpinning Indigenous research in the Pacific. The findings revealed that participants adapted to the adverse impacts of COVID-19 through the revitalization of their traditional socio-economies, the resurgence of customary practices, a strengthened connection to nature, and a renewed sense of community spirit and pride in cultural identity—all of which were perceived to positively impact their spiritual, social, cultural, environmental, physical, and mental wellbeing. By demonstrating the positive adaptive responses of participants, this article aims to emphasize the non-economic dimensions of wellbeing that are critical to supporting the cultural values, social priorities, and the Indigenous ways of life that preceded the development of tourism. These findings can be used to inform and guide international development policy makers and tourism stakeholders who seek to reduce the adverse impacts of tourism on the wellbeing of Indigenous communities in the Pacific.

The motive of initiation and the problem of evil in W. Golding’s novel “Lord of the Flies”

The article explores traces of the motive of initiation in the given literary work. The relevance of the study is that the motive of initiation in the novel “Lord of the Flies” has not yet been traced by any of the researchers of the writer’s literary path. The aim of the research is to reveal the motive of initiation in the novel, which, owing to the revealed motive of the ritual transition, acquires a new in-depth coverage. The authors of the study trace in the work allusions to certain symbolic signs of the initiation ritual, in particular, the allocation of a group of adolescent boys, a territory closed to outsiders (in this case it is an uninhabited coral island), the performance of a ritual dance (dance of the hunters), the application of signs to the initiating persons (painted faces – masks in Jack’s tribe) etc. The novel even features the image of a beast’s head (a boar’s head), and the writer casually uses a phrase that is important for the symbolic meaning of initiation: swallowing by the mouth (at the moment when Simon loses consciousness). This article draws attention to the specifics of initiation in the work: we have a group initiation of adolescents without a mentor, without a shaman. Instead, two leaders appear among the boys, two chiefs who lead the teenagers in completely opposite directions in the development of their small island society. One of them, Ralph, tries to worry about their possible rescue by adults, tries to take care of the little ones, and is also based on a completely democratic version of governance and humanity. The second boy, Jack Meridue, is offended that he was not chosen as the leader; he becomes the leader of hunters’ group. He is very ambitious, gaining prestige by hunting wild pigs and holding meat-eating banquets; he violates Ralph’s orders regarding the boys doing their duty (for example, maintenance of a fire on a mountain for a smoke signal when a ship appears on the horizon), incites them to games and entertainment etc. As a result, most of the boys follow Jack and create a tribe in which the boys paint their faces, dance ritual dances, hunt wild pigs, and tolerate a tyrant little chief, who hates dissent. Eventually, the tribe kills Piggy, and then hunts the only “dissident”, the only owner of “common sense” Ralph. In order to “smoke” Ralph out of the forest, the jungle is set on fire, turning the green island into black ashes. Before us there is the degradation of well-bred English boys into a tribe of cruel savages. Such degradation is confirmed both by the religious motifs present in the novel and by the symbolic features of the ritual – an initiation that turned out to be unsuccessful. Instead of developing and improving, a group of boys on a deserted island degrades as a result of life’s trials, turning into a herd of selfish and cruel savages. Looking for an answer to the question of where evil comes from in the world and why even cultured European nations often forget about spirituality and culture and become cruel killers and often even sadists (as it happened to the SS in World War II), the writer in his novel-experiment comes to the conclusion that evil is created not only by society, the environment, but it is inherent in the potential state of human nature; and under certain conditions, when indulging mundane desires and interests, a person becomes a carrier of evil, which we see in the novel “Lord of the Flies”.

The perception of climate change: Comparative evidence from the small-island societies of Bougainville and Palawan

In this study we investigate and compare factors that influence local people's perception of climate change and understanding of its causes in the coastal small island societies of Bougainville (Papua New Guinea) and Palawan (Philippines). According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) small island societies are among the most vulnerable to climate change. However, the majority of the existing studies focus on Australia, the United States and Europe and few carry out cross-country comparisons to find general trends or cross-national differences. Based on a quantitative analysis our empirical research suggests that factors such as education, access to information via mobile phones and radios and market integration increase people's awareness of climate change independent of their cultural background. At the same time, these factors do not seem to affect people's understanding of the causes of climate change, while subjective vulnerability partly does. Misperception of climate change causes is quite heterogeneous suggesting that local factors such as beliefs, values, and other short-term pressing problems (such as poverty and food security) limit understanding. The results of the present paper provide valuable insights for the design of climate policies at national as well as the local level.

Family-centred work motility in a small island society: the case of the Faroe Islands

Coping with distance is a key feature in the making of remote societies in the North Atlantic such as the Faroe Islands. Historically, Faroese men have travelled far, working at sea and in other countries and been absent for long periods of time. Although a much smaller proportion of Faroese men today work far from home, I argue that even today women’s mobilities are heavily influenced by such long-standing gender arrangements. I will use the concept of mobility potential to explore how cultural expectations of gender and work mobility intersect with family values. Mobility potential involves looking beyond actual mobilities to explore contexts and personal circumstances that enable or motivate mobility practices. Mobility potential can be analysed through two spheres of mobility potential: societal and individual mobility potential. Societal mobility potential analyses not just geographical displacement but also history, structures (e.g. family policies and labour market regulations) as well as material and geographical infrastructures that make mobility possible. On a micro level, I analyse individual mobility potential, referred to as motility, as one approach to connect issues of family, gender and work. This article is based on group interviews with women conducted in three locations in the Faroe Islands. The analysis is structured around two main, but interlinked themes; (1) family-centred motilities and (2) mothers’ and children’s interconnected motilities.

Exploring the intersection of settlement, subsistence and population in Manuʻa

The archaeology of Sāmoa has been structured around the investigation of settlement patterns and systems since the 1960s, and such investigations have been variously used to explore questions of temporal change relating to, among other things, political structure and subsistence. This same intellectual structure is applied here to the evaluation of variation between the geographically close islands of Ofu and Olosega, extending previous approaches by considering population estimates. These analyses, which include a calculation of carrying capacity and population estimates based on settlement patterns, suggest that Olosega supported a higher population density than Ofu, perhaps because of investments in tree cropping on the former. Variation in settlement distribution, subsistence strategies and population density has important implications for population resiliency and vulnerability in small-island societies.

Lighthouses, pilotage and technology: the impact on small island societies

This paper discusses how lighthouses and pilot services have been bearers of technology intended to improve the safety and reliability of maritime shipping. The introduction of technology has had a considerable impact on many small island societies through state involvement meant to reduce hazards in navigation and shipping. The impact has, however, been manifold and varied, and including positive and less positive impacts. Indeed, small islands and islanders have generally never been the beneficiaries of large scale, state-driven technology programs seeking to modernize society. As an exception, however, certain small islands have traditionally been of interest to the state due to their locations, either for defence purposes or to assist seafarers’ navigation in hazardous waters. This paper reviews the thrust and effects of investment in lighthouses and pilotage services on small islands. It concludes with a brief case story from a small populated island in Sweden that has undergone several periods of development and stagnation as a result of technology and state involvement.

On the rationality of Manx crabs

This paper accepts the challenge posed by Godfrey Baldacchino in “Islands and despots”, published in Commonwealth & Comparative Politics in February 2012, to acknowledge and investigate the implications of the “expressions of harmony and solidarity” often observed in small island societies. To do so, aspects of the Isle of Man’s political and social life are discussed from the perspectives of popular rule and rationality. This paper argues that a homogeneity in preferences and the political practices of small island states might be a rational way of protecting a vulnerable economy and thus ensuring economic growth and a sufficient allocation to each island resident of the scarce resources required to survive. Such small island homogeneity and consensualism is therefore not necessarily indicating a deficient democratic practice, but might just connote another way of conducting democratic governance, spawned from a particular way of living and a particular range of needs.

Islands and despots

This paper challenges a conventional wisdom: that when discussing political systems, small is democratic. And yet, can there be paradises without serpents? The presumed manageability of small island spaces promotes and nurtures dispositions for domination and control over nature and society. In such dark circumstances, authoritarian rule is a more natural fit than democracy. By adopting an inter-disciplinary perspective, this paper argues that small island societies may be wonderful places to live in, as long as one conforms to a dominant cultural code. Should one deviate from expected and established practices, the threat of ostracism is immense. Formal democratic institutions may and often do exist, and a semblance of pluralism may be manifest, but these are likely to be overshadowed by a set of unitarist and homogenous values and practices to which many significant social players, in politics and civil society, subscribe (at least in public).

Portrait of a Vincy Artist: Caroline “booops” Sardine

Nothing of him but doth changeInto something rich and strange.-Shakespeare, The TempestCAROLINE BOOOPS SARDINE WAS, as she says, one uv the very few children uv European-Creole blud 'born and bred' in St Vincent and the Grenadines [population 100,000] - BLACK was di culah uv my x-istance.1 Thirty-two years later, booops still lives in her parents' house on the outskirts of Kingstown, a stone's throw from the nearby coffee plantation house, Grand View, now a small hotel run by her parents. The family home on its small hill overlooking the bay she describes as a tabernacle, with its connotations of enclosure, protection and consecration. Its sacred contents are things old, all things weathered, all things broken.2This description is the key to Caroline's transformation into booops, an artist with a remarkable vision; a lower-case persona whose thoughts in Sycorax video-style nation language are graffiti-ed across large canvases and inscribed on assemblages. The house she grew up in is itself an assemblage of old things, a family history told in piles of accumulated clutter, juxtaposed with natural incursions in the shape of birds' nests or creepers. The views framed by the windows - of exclusive Young Island and Dove Island with its giant white cross marking a rich man's grave - are a feature of her imagery. I first saw her work when, wandering into Grand View for a drink, I found myself in the bar confronted by a six-foot-high naked woman bleeding from the vagina. I hadn't met booops then, and could not imagine how these uncompromising canvases had come to rest in the tranquil surroundings of a boutique hotel. I was shocked and puzzled by the violence done to dismembered or wounded female bodies with graffiti-like slogans scrawled across them (Figures I, 2). The disturbingly personal iconography of the paintings gestured towards something autobiographical, some painful experience which had driven the artist to represent it over and over again. What, for example, could explain the preoccupation with blood in the paintings - red tears seeping from eyes as well as menstrual blood gushing from the vagina, red footprints, bloodied hands? (See Figure 3.) At the same time the paintings were large, bold of line and vibrantly colourful, not austere at all. I sensed conflicted experience and a complex vision, and was driven to find out more.Since then, I have seen booops's work in many contexts - in her small studio in a converted garage; in galleries in Barbados and Jamaica; in the little craft shop she ran for a while and on the walls of offices in Kingstown, as well as those of private collectors in Barbados where she first went to study art. It takes the form of paintings, embroidered hangings, collage and box-like assemblages of found objects and cheap, throwaway materials like hardboard, plastic and metal bottle caps. When you see a booops piece you know it's hers not only because of obsessively recurring themes of violence and abuse, with their attendant motifs of dismembered body parts (hearts, overgrown feet, watchful eyes, blood), but by its combination of naivety of line, bold colour and distinctive iconography which demands to be decoded. For example, the small house on a small island surrounded by sea, the sheltering roof under a sunburst sun, the cross on a hill seen from a window (Figures 6, 7), are icons of safety and refuge which can also take the form of a box, a reliquary or a shrine enclosing precious personal totems. But the childlike sun beaming on a place of innocence belies the rupture which is the subject of the work. The sheltering space is also a kumbla, an ambivalent image of protection perpetually under threat.What happened to booops to bring about such a disturbing vision of a small-island society? The first and most obvious rupture was leaving home to study fine art at Barbados Community College in 1996; then at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Jamaica where she gained a diploma in painting in 1998; and finally leaving for London to gain an MA in painting at the Royal Academy of Art in 2000. …

Researching Pacific island livelihoods: Mobility, natural resource management and nissology

Small island literature is vast in focus and aim, and is rooted in many different disciplines. The challenge is to find common grounds for researching small islands conceptually and theoretically. The aim of this article is to comment on how to research small islands, including a discussion on contemporary theories of nissology and conceptual analytical frameworks for island research. Through a review of selected case-study-based island literature on changing livelihoods coming out of the South Pacific, we wish to illustrate and discuss advantages of finding common grounds for small island studies. The focus is on two dimensions of island livelihood, migration and natural resource management, both of which are significant contributors in making island livelihoods and shaping Pacific seascapes. We argue that there is still a substantial lack of studies targeting small island dynamics that are empirical and interdisciplinary in focus and link socio-economic and ecological processes of small island societies at temporal and analytical scales.

Small island sustainability in the Pacific: Introduction to the special issue

Small islands in the Pacific periodically hit the headlines following cyclone damage,political unrest or threats from rising sea levels and loss of biodiversity. The imagegenerally portrayed is one of vulnerable societies that are victims of climate and envi-ronmental change, inept or corrupt leadership, smallness of scale, limited resourcesand extreme isolation. However, as the papers in this special issue on small islandsustainability in the Pacific show, these small island societies actually demonstrate aremarkable resilience and an ability to maintain and/or modify traditional practicesand adapt to new challenges. One of the main themes of this special issue is howlivelihoods have changed over a number of decades, primarily approached throughadopting an historical perspective using longitudinal data. A second theme is theimportance of biodiversity, the richness of indigenous knowledge on biodiversity andsoils, and how this knowledge has enabled islanders to respond to fluctuating eco-nomic and cultural contexts. A third theme is the future facing these small islands: isthe future really as pessimistic as is often portrayed or are small island societies sur-viving, even thriving, despite the odds? At a time of global financial crisis where evencountries of the global north are struggling, it may even be that small islands offermessages of hope and lessons for sustainability.The papers stem from a conference on ‘Sustainable livelihoods and resource man-agement in small islands’ held in Copenhagen in August 2007 when scholars fromDenmark and the University of the South Pacific presented work carried out underthe auspices of the Danish Galathea 3 expedition, alongside invited experts from theUK, US and Australia. Galathea3–sonamedfollowing two previous expeditions:Galathea 1 (1845–47) and Galathea 2 (1950–52) – took place in 2006–7 when theDanish ship

Adaptation of Human Coping Strategies in a Small Island Society in the SW Pacific—50 Years of Change in the Coupled Human–Environment System on Bellona, Solomon Islands

Coupled human–environmental timelines are used to explore the temporal coevolution of driving forces and adaptive strategies from the 1960s to 2006 on Bellona in the SW Pacific. Climatic events and agro-environmental conditions are assessed in conjunction with issues such as population dynamics, agricultural strategies, non-agricultural activities, transport and infrastructure, migration, education, political conditions, etc. Satellite imagery and aerial photos reveal relative stability in agricultural land use intensity despite an increase in de facto population (51% from 1966–2006). Results of questionnaire survey of 48 households show that the utilization of natural resources (notably shifting cultivation and fisheries) remains widespread, although it is increasingly supplemented by other income generating activities (e.g., shopkeeping, private business, government employment). Group interviews are used to discuss ways in which the local communities’ adaptive resource management strategies have been employed in the face of climatic and socioeconomic events and changes in the recent past. Fifty years’ development is described as a combination of continuity and change. Resource management practices are only marginally impacted by different stress factors, but the importance of agriculture has been decreasing in relative terms. Culturally determined bonds have become a main ‘mechanism’ to cope with environmental or socioeconomic stress and the Bellonese have become less vulnerable to external shocks.

Caribbean Transnational Return Migrants as Agents of Change

AbstractThis article challenges several of the firmly held convictions drawn from extant research on return migration to the Caribbean. For many contemporary small island societies undergoing rapid change and transformation, modernization and integration into the wider global economy, today's younger and more youthful return migrants are no longer an ineffective demographic cohort. Despite their numerically small size, many are demonstrating they can be influential “agents of change.” No longer merely returning retirees, they are more diverse, in terms of age, life‐course transitions, class and gendered social positions, family networks, and migration histories. Multiple identities are the rule, rather than the exception, as returnees of different ages choose to live, work (and play) in island society, to give something back to the island home of their parents or of their youth. Many embrace transnational strategies to live in and between two worlds, or more if their family network's reach is multilocal.

Networking Island Societies under Globalization The Case of the Pacific Islands

Network activities are particularly important in the context of small, remote island societies where the benefits from network externalities are greater than one might think. The intensity of networking depends on several factors including: geographical location, culture, socio-economic interdependence, political affiliations and information and communication technology (ICT), all which are examined in this paper.This paper has focused on external and internal networking of Okinawa's islands as a case study. Externally, Okinawa's “Worldwide Uchinanchu” network, which was created by overseas emigrants from Okinawa, is unique because it is progressing beyond a mere network of Okinawan identity. Internally, this study reveals that the networking structure within Okinawa's inhabited islands has been changing dynamically, reflecting the islands' changing lifestyles and rapidly progressing information technology.It is important to realize that the seemingly irreversible trends of globalization and the ICT revolution have merits as well as demerits for small island societies. Globalization, on the one hand, has brought about the increasing integration of island societies into larger ones, thereby enlarging socio-economic opportunities for islands. On the other hand, it has increased their socio-economic vulnerability. The ICT revolution has also created new and wider opportunities for island societies where distance has been a “tyranny” imposing severe handicaps on islands' socio-economic activities. There are, however, mounting fears among islanders that the new ICT technology may create a “digital divide” by-passing small, remote islands.

The Contribution of ‘Social Capital’ to Economic Growth: Lessons from Island Jurisdictions

This paper is concerned with the relationship of ‘social capital’ to economic development, with a deliberate focus on island territories. It argues that an appreciation of ‘social capital’ theory makes for a more informed understanding of how many (though not all) small, peripheral and network-driven island societies develop ‘good governance’ practices and manage a commendable standard of living. ‘Island neo-corporatism’ merits recognition on its own terms as the deep structure to ‘good governance’; and, in combination with jurisdictional powers, it is a key primer of economic development.

THE BALLAD DANCE OF THE FAEROESE: ISLAND BIOCULTURAL GEOGRAPHY IN AN AGE OF GLOBALISATION

ABSTRACT Boundary issues are central to globalisation – the expansion and time‐space integration of human societies – and to both biological and cultural diversity. The latter are, in turn, intrinsically related in processes of coevolution that generate change in the patchwork quilt of cultural and natural landscapes. These processes are especially discernible in small island societies. This paper argues that island studies can enhance our understanding of globalisation processes and how these are involved in the displacement of boundaries and the historically unprecedented decline in both biological and cultural diversity.

Energy flow analysis as a tool for developing a sustainable society—a case study of a Swedish island

Abstract In order to develop a sustainable society, tools are needed to analyze the relationships between human activities and ecosystems and to estimate the carrying capacity of the natural resource base. In this paper, energy analysis is applied in a study of the small island society Namdo in the Stockholm archipelago, Sweden. Namdo has a permanent population of 41 persons and ca. 1000 summer residents. We estimated the energy and material flows on the island, including the primary and secondary production in natural and cultivated ecosystems, human production and consumption of food, and production of waste. Our results show that the island society's consumption exceeds the natural carrying capacity of the island. A great deal of food and energy is imported while only a minor amount of local resources are utilized. The island society is, at present, not constrained by the local resource base, but instead depends heavily on functioning transport communications with the mainland. Based on our findings we make recommendations for greater self-sufficiency, including use of locally available renewable resources and increased recycling.

Letter from Reykjavik.

Medical care in Iceland can be viewed as an experiment of nature. This small island society has combined the Nordic social and welfare structures with advanced international medicine. The Vikings settled Iceland in the ninth century, and the population has remained biologically homogeneous because of its remote isolation. This homogeneity may provide a unique opportunity to contribute to the understanding of the genetics of common disorders. Iceland's isolation has also limited the resources that are available for clinical training. Therefore, it has been necessary for most physicians who graduate from the medical school at the University of Iceland to obtain postgraduate training abroad. This has been of enormous benefit to Icelandic medicine. Fewer opportunities for foreign medical graduates to train in the United States would have a substantial effect on the future practice of Icelandic medicine. The Icelandic health care system faces many challenges. Because health care spending has been reined in, priorities must be set more clearly than in the past, and heated discussions have erupted about gatekeeping and merging of hospitals. These have been "interesting times" for Icelandic medicine. Other countries may learn lessons from our medical situation: a microcosm, to be sure, but no longer an isolated one.

Women, men, and aggression in an egalitarian society

Vanatinai, a small island society off New Guinea, is egalitarian, with no indigenous formal systems of rank or authority. Assertiveness and autonomy are highly valued as personal qualities and equivalent for males and females. Overt aggression is condemned and violence is rare. Women were the aggressors in four out of five incidents over ten years. Sexual jealousy was the dominant motif in all five cases. This article considers, in historical contexts, indigenous concepts of the gendered person and their relations to anger, violence, and the supernatural aggression of sorcery and witchcraft. The Vanatinai case is evidence that the rarity of intragroup violence, especially of attacks by men on women, is a characteristic of egalitarian societies.