Despite their relatively small landmass – only 2% of the earth’s surface (Ratter 2018, 2) – islands have played a march larger role in history than their small size may suggest. With 13% of world heritage sites on their land (Baldacchino 2006: 3), islands have stimulated abundant interest among researchers employing methods from the field of island studies to compare island(er) histories.
Before the field of island studies was established, island history was a part (and sometimes a very small part) of maritime history. Islands in maritime history often appeared as transitory locations along the way to somewhere else or as navigational obstacles on route. Useful as refueling stations, locations to wait out a storm, to recruit laborers, or sources of natural resources, islands in maritime history were more often studied as steppingstones along the way rather than as destinations in and of themselves. Island history within the field of island studies instead starts first with island-specific dynamics and then works ‘bottom-up’ or ‘inside-out’ to draw conclusions on the larger context (Baldacchino 2008). Several historians have been instrumental in their inclusion of islands and islanders, as well as promoting island studies as a bridge between maritime history and global history (Edmon and Smith 2003; Gillis 2012; Sivasundaram 2014; Sicking 2014; North 2018).
Island studies historians ask: what about the people who lived in the middle of the ocean? What about islanders who never boarded a boat (because they could not afford to or because they did not want to)? What is unique about their experiences, and can they be compared with other islands, coasts, or ports areas on the mainland? Indeed, islanders can teach us about a long past of coping with waves of migrations, epidemic outbreaks, and climate and environmental changes (Contable 2004; Santana-Pérez 2016; Abulafia 2000). Notably, many island societies, due to their locations along trade routes, needed to cope with cultural diversity, making them important locations to study multilingualism, integration, cross-cultural communication, hybrid religious practices, and peace-keeping initiatives (McCusker and Soares 2011; Wilkens 2014). Reoccurring traits, such as the use of islands for exile, prisons, or holy sites, or the changing of island environments by colonial invasive species, or the impact of weather on island life (e.g. from monsoons, floods, hurricanes) can be compared. Analyzing specific characteristics of islands because they are islands, leads to critical reflections that can contribute to larger public and academic debates, for example on innovative solutions to freshwater scarcity (see article on: Island Water Scarcity).
References
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Baldacchino, G. (2006). Islands, island studies, island studies journal. Island Studies Journal, 1(1), 3-18.
Baldacchino, G. (2008), Studying Islands: On Whose Terms? Some Epistemological and Methodological Challenges to the Pursuit of Island Studies. Island Studies Journal 3(1), 37-56
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