DIFFERENT PEOPLES, ONE WORLD

Multicultural Societies in Island States

H A R I S R I N I VA SR O O M : I - 3 1 2 / 0 7 9 - 5 6 5 - 7 4 0 6

Studies in Multicultural Societies

Islands

Islands are a laboratory for the study of unique biology and geography. The biota of an island is simpler than that of a continental area, and the interactions are easier to understand.

There are three types of islands:

a. Islands that were originally part of a nearby continent, but were separated by rising sea levels (land-bridge islands).

b. Islands that are part of a volcanic island arc.

c. Seamount chains which formed over geological “hotspots”.

The islands of Indonesia were once part of a larger land bridge.

The Marianas – part of an volcanic island arc in the Pacific

The Hawaiian Islands have formed as a plate passed over a geological hot spot.

Local Example – the Pacific SIDS

Pacific Island

s

Physical Features

Pacific Ocean = over 1/3 of the planet’s surface

Not counting Papua New Guinea, the region comprises 21 island states, 200 high islands and 2500 low islands and atolls

Four largest states (Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Fiji, and Vanuatu) account for most of the land mass

Except for the Pitcairn group and the southern part of French Polynesia, all lie in the tropical zone

Cultural Sub-Regions

u Ethnically, culturally, and linguistically there are three sub regions:

Melanesia: Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and New Caledonia

Micronesia: Palau, FSM, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, and Kiribati

Polynesia: Tuvalu, Tokelau, Samoas, Niue, Cook Islands, and French Polynesia

Melanesian Countries

Western Pacific (Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and Fiji)

Large, mountainous and mainly volcanic islands. Considerable natural resources: fertile soils, large forests, and mineral deposits

Rural and agricultural (about 85% of the people live in rural areas; 90% of Solomon Islanders are farmers)

Cultural and social diversity. More than 100 dialects are spoken each in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu

Ethnic conflicts (in Fiji there are major conflicts between Indian and Melanesian groups)

Fast growing cities (7.3% in Vanuatu, 6.2% in the Solomon Islands)

Mid-sized Islands of Polynesia and Micronesia

Mid-sized islands of Polynesia (Tonga, Samoas, French Polynesia) and Micronesia (Palau, FSM, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands) have limited land resources, little or no commercial forests, and no commercial mineral deposits

Few tradable natural resources and virtually no manufacturing industry

But…many of these islands enjoy a high standard of living from foreign assistance and remittances from expatriate island communities

Small, Low, Island States

Small coral islands and atolls spread over vast areas of the ocean

Cook Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, FSM, Marshall Islands, Niue, and Nauru

Land and soil poor 60,000 Marshall Islanders live on 181 sq km of land, giving

each person only 0.3 hectares of land Natural resources are mostly limited to the ocean High urban area growth rate (e.g. Marshall Islands, 8.2%

per year) The most vulnerable places on Earth to the adverse

impacts of climate change and sea level rise. Elevation usually only 1-2 meters (Kiribati, Marshalls, Tokelau, and Tuvalu)

Key problems: shore erosion, vulnerability to storms and droughts, fresh water scarcity, ground water pollution, solid waste disposal

Global Example - UN and SIDS

The United Nations has special programmes for “Small Islands Developing States” or SIDS

38 UN Member States

+ 14 Territories and Associate

Members of UN Regional Commission

= 52 SIDS

UN Office of the High Representative for

Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing

Countries, and Small Island Developing States

(UN-OHRLLS)

Website: www.un.org/ohrlls

Three SIDS “regions” Caribbean SIDS Indian Ocean SIDS Pacific Ocean SIDS

Alliance of Small Island States

SIDS+20

SIDS “Special Case” at the Rio Summit (UNCED) 1992

Barbados Programme of Action for SIDS (BPOA) 1994 GA Special Session 5yr.

Review 1999’

Mauritius Strategy for Further Implementation BPOA 2005 GA High Level 5yr. Review

2010

Two of the most important and related global programmes /

documents on SIDS

The Mauritius Strategy - 2005

Extract from the Mauritius Strategy (Chapter XIX, Para 82)

Sustainable Development

Economic Development

Cultural Identity

Cultural Activities

The Mauritius Strategy - 2005

Extract from the Mauritius Strategy (Chapter XIX, Para 82)

Develop and implement national cultural policies and legislative frameworks to support the development of cultural industries and initiatives in such areas as music, art, the literary and culinary arts, fashion, festivals, theatre and film, sports and cultural tourism;

Develop measures to protect the natural and cultural heritage and increase resources for the development and strengthening of national and regional cultural initiatives;

Improve institutional capacity for advocacy and marketing of cultural products and the protection of intellectual property;

Seek finance and access to credit to small and medium -sized cultural enterprises and initiatives, including through the establishment of culture support funds in small island developing States regions.

Why SIDS?!

So why do we need to look at small islands as

significant multicultural societies?

Historical Timeline of SIDS

Post-World War II Phase

Colonization Phase

Ancient Migration

Phase

Ice age to 10 century

10th -20th century

1945 ~

Special case of small islands

• Lack of natural resources and skilled endogenous human resources.

• Remoteness

• Smallness

• Geographical dispersion

• Fragility of ecosystems

•Heavy dependence on imports

Image of a Small Island

The usual image of a small island: Remote, isolated, insular, paradise

In fact, islands are places where different cultures have encountered each other and lived closely

Islands are better understood as dynamic centres of cultural interaction

Islands are in fact sometimes called as the as ‘crossroads of cultures’.

Uniqueness of SIDS

‘Overlapping uniqueness’:

Environmental uniqueness leading to economic opportunities, that in combination lead to socio-cultural uniqueness

Contact me …

Send me an email anytime!

Hari Srinivashari.srinivas@kwansei.ac.jp

IMPORTANT: When you send an email, please always put “[SMS]” in the subject

line!

Resources, websites, ideas, notes will be available online:

www.gdrc.info/sms/