Greenland is a strongly autonomous subnational island jurisdiction (SNIJ) within the Kingdom of Denmark. This paper takes its point of departure in studies of politics in small island territories to ask to what extent Greenland matches findings from other small island states and SNIJs in terms of personalisation of politics, party performance, and political cleavages that do not follow left-right divides. Even though Greenland possesses a strongly multiparty system, supported by elections involving party-list proportional representation within a single multimember constituency, a single political party, Siumut, has led the government for all but a brief period since the advent of Greenlandic autonomy in 1979. By considering Greenland’s political ecosystem, spatially and personally conditioned aspects of voter behaviour, and coalition-building processes, paying particular attention to the 24 April 2018 parliamentary elections, we argue that it is inappropriate to study Greenland as a monolithic political unit or to draw oversimplified analogies with party politics from large state Western liberal democracies. Instead, Greenlandic politics must be understood in relation to the island territory’s particular historical, geographical, and societal characteristics as well as its electoral system.
{"title":"Electoral politics, party performance, and governance in Greenland: Parties, personalities, and cleavages in an autonomous subnational island jurisdiction","authors":"Yi Zhang, Xinyuan Wei, Adam Grydehøj","doi":"10.24043/ISJ.146","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24043/ISJ.146","url":null,"abstract":"Greenland is a strongly autonomous subnational island jurisdiction (SNIJ) within the Kingdom of Denmark. This paper takes its point of departure in studies of politics in small island territories to ask to what extent Greenland matches findings from other small island states and SNIJs in terms of personalisation of politics, party performance, and political cleavages that do not follow left-right divides. Even though Greenland possesses a strongly multiparty system, supported by elections involving party-list proportional representation within a single multimember constituency, a single political party, Siumut, has led the government for all but a brief period since the advent of Greenlandic autonomy in 1979. By considering Greenland’s political ecosystem, spatially and personally conditioned aspects of voter behaviour, and coalition-building processes, paying particular attention to the 24 April 2018 parliamentary elections, we argue that it is inappropriate to study Greenland as a monolithic political unit or to draw oversimplified analogies with party politics from large state Western liberal democracies. Instead, Greenlandic politics must be understood in relation to the island territory’s particular historical, geographical, and societal characteristics as well as its electoral system.","PeriodicalId":51674,"journal":{"name":"Island Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68944813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The present study analyzes the difference between the Åland Islands — an insular and peripheral part of Finland — and Finland as a whole in terms of firm local embeddedness. The analysis utilizes matched employee-employer longitudinal data for all businesses in Finland, including the Åland Islands, from 2006 to 2014. Local embeddedness is modelled both as tenure (the number of years a key stakeholder in a firm has lived in the same municipality as the firm) and by calculating the geographical distance the key stakeholder lives from the focal firm. Contrary to our expectations, we find that for our tenure measure of local embeddedness, firms are actually less locally embedded in the peripheral region than in the larger country. However, our distance measure of local embeddedness performs as expected with firms in the peripheral region. We hypothesize that that there may be an optimal level of local embeddedness, above which a local firm does not necessarily gain by further increasing its local embeddedness.
{"title":"Firm local embeddedness in an insular region: The Åland Islands compared to Finland","authors":"Edvard Johansson, J. Kinnunen, Juhana Peltonen","doi":"10.24043/isj.171","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24043/isj.171","url":null,"abstract":"The present study analyzes the difference between the Åland Islands — an insular and peripheral part of Finland — and Finland as a whole in terms of firm local embeddedness. The analysis utilizes matched employee-employer longitudinal data for all businesses in Finland, including the Åland Islands, from 2006 to 2014. Local embeddedness is modelled both as tenure (the number of years a key stakeholder in a firm has lived in the same municipality as the firm) and by calculating the geographical distance the key stakeholder lives from the focal firm. Contrary to our expectations, we find that for our tenure measure of local embeddedness, firms are actually less locally embedded in the peripheral region than in the larger country. However, our distance measure of local embeddedness performs as expected with firms in the peripheral region. We hypothesize that that there may be an optimal level of local embeddedness, above which a local firm does not necessarily gain by further increasing its local embeddedness.","PeriodicalId":51674,"journal":{"name":"Island Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68945553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tourism has the potential to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed to by United Nations member states. For sustainable tourism to be successful, stakeholders must be involved in the process. The aim of this study is to consider the extent to which sustainable tourism contributes to achieving the SDGs and how tourism stakeholders understand and implement sustainable tourism. Specifically, the study adopted a qualitative approach and used the case study of Tobago. The data were collected using focus groups of tourism stakeholders. The research revealed that stakeholders embraced the SDGs despite a lack of understanding. They were unable to provide a comprehensive definition of sustainable tourism and their relation to the SDGs, but recognised its traditional components along with specific island features. Stakeholders more easily listed sustainable tourism practices and potential and their link to the SDGs. The barriers to sustainable tourism centred mainly on the role of the local governing body and political affiliation, dependency on the mainland, and prohibitive costs. Action is needed to facilitate broader stakeholder awareness and collaboration in support of efforts to enhance sustainable tourism and the achievement of the SDGs, where policymakers need to act as a catalyst for change.
{"title":"Sustainable tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals in sub-national island jurisdictions: The case of Tobago","authors":"Preeya S. Mohan","doi":"10.24043/isj.183","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24043/isj.183","url":null,"abstract":"Tourism has the potential to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed to by United Nations member states. For sustainable tourism to be successful, stakeholders must be involved in the process. The aim of this study is to consider the extent to which sustainable tourism contributes to achieving the SDGs and how tourism stakeholders understand and implement sustainable tourism. Specifically, the study adopted a qualitative approach and used the case study of Tobago. The data were collected using focus groups of tourism stakeholders. The research revealed that stakeholders embraced the SDGs despite a lack of understanding. They were unable to provide a comprehensive definition of sustainable tourism and their relation to the SDGs, but recognised its traditional components along with specific island features. Stakeholders more easily listed sustainable tourism practices and potential and their link to the SDGs. The barriers to sustainable tourism centred mainly on the role of the local governing body and political affiliation, dependency on the mainland, and prohibitive costs. Action is needed to facilitate broader stakeholder awareness and collaboration in support of efforts to enhance sustainable tourism and the achievement of the SDGs, where policymakers need to act as a catalyst for change.","PeriodicalId":51674,"journal":{"name":"Island Studies Journal","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68945746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shintō, the national religion of Japan, is grounded in the mythological narratives that are found in the 8th-Century chronicle, Kojiki 古事記 (712). Within this early source book of Japanese history, myth, and national origins, there are many accounts of islands (terrestrial and imaginary), which provide a foundation for comprehending the geographical cosmology (i.e., sacred space) of Japan’s territorial boundaries and the nearby region in the 8th Century, as well as the ritualistic significance of some of the country’s islands to this day. Within a complex geocultural genealogy of gods that links geography to mythology and the Japanese imperial line, land and life were created along with a number of small and large islands. Drawing on theoretical work and case studies that explore the geopolitics of border islands, this article offers a critical study of this ancient work of Japanese history with specific reference to islands and their significance in mapping Japan. Arguing that a characteristic of islandness in Japan has an inherent connection with Shintō religious myth, the article shows how mythological islanding permeates geographic, social, and cultural terrains. The discussion maps the island narratives found in the Kojiki within a framework that identifies and discusses toponymy, geography, and meaning in this island nation’s mythology.
{"title":"Island narratives in the making of Japan: The Kojiki in geocultural context","authors":"H. Johnson","doi":"10.24043/isj.164","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24043/isj.164","url":null,"abstract":"Shintō, the national religion of Japan, is grounded in the mythological narratives that are found in the 8th-Century chronicle, Kojiki 古事記 (712). Within this early source book of Japanese history, myth, and national origins, there are many accounts of islands (terrestrial and imaginary), which provide a foundation for comprehending the geographical cosmology (i.e., sacred space) of Japan’s territorial boundaries and the nearby region in the 8th Century, as well as the ritualistic significance of some of the country’s islands to this day. Within a complex geocultural genealogy of gods that links geography to mythology and the Japanese imperial line, land and life were created along with a number of small and large islands. Drawing on theoretical work and case studies that explore the geopolitics of border islands, this article offers a critical study of this ancient work of Japanese history with specific reference to islands and their significance in mapping Japan. Arguing that a characteristic of islandness in Japan has an inherent connection with Shintō religious myth, the article shows how mythological islanding permeates geographic, social, and cultural terrains. The discussion maps the island narratives found in the Kojiki within a framework that identifies and discusses toponymy, geography, and meaning in this island nation’s mythology.","PeriodicalId":51674,"journal":{"name":"Island Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68945320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-01DOI: 10.1007/978-981-16-5285-1
John b. Bratt
{"title":"COVID in the Islands: A comparative perspective on the Caribbean and the Pacific","authors":"John b. Bratt","doi":"10.1007/978-981-16-5285-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5285-1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51674,"journal":{"name":"Island Studies Journal","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"51119102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The establishment of Island Studies within the academe and the introduction of concepts such as ‘islandness’ and ‘islandscape’ have accompanied a general rethinking of the concept of insularity which encompasses the reflection over a cinematic representation of islands and islanders. The use of islands as cinematic landscapes and settings has reinforced cultural, mythical, and identity stereotypes associated with the island imagery built-up in literature, as well as the construction of the islander as a character exhibiting specific behavioural features. The film Cainà. L’isola e il continente (Gennaro Righelli, 1922) is emblematic insofar as it is the first feature film shot in Sardinia and its character is not just a symbol of feminine rebellion against a patriarchal society, but it also serves as an allegory of an unspoiled island, such as it was considered and depicted at that time. As islanders ourselves, we have wondered to what extent Cainà adheres to the stereotypes of islandness and insularity conventionally ascribed to islands and, in this specific case, to Sardinia. Our paper aims to examine the genesis of the Sardinian insular imagination through the lens of the cinematic construction of ‘islanderness’ and ‘islanderscope’, an assortment of agency representing islanders — and islands — on screen.
{"title":"Cainà: Islandscape and ‘islanderscope’ on screen","authors":"Myriam Mereu, Daniele Gavelli","doi":"10.24043/isj.172","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24043/isj.172","url":null,"abstract":"The establishment of Island Studies within the academe and the introduction of concepts such as ‘islandness’ and ‘islandscape’ have accompanied a general rethinking of the concept of insularity which encompasses the reflection over a cinematic representation of islands and islanders. The use of islands as cinematic landscapes and settings has reinforced cultural, mythical, and identity stereotypes associated with the island imagery built-up in literature, as well as the construction of the islander as a character exhibiting specific behavioural features. The film Cainà. L’isola e il continente (Gennaro Righelli, 1922) is emblematic insofar as it is the first feature film shot in Sardinia and its character is not just a symbol of feminine rebellion against a patriarchal society, but it also serves as an allegory of an unspoiled island, such as it was considered and depicted at that time. As islanders ourselves, we have wondered to what extent Cainà adheres to the stereotypes of islandness and insularity conventionally ascribed to islands and, in this specific case, to Sardinia. Our paper aims to examine the genesis of the Sardinian insular imagination through the lens of the cinematic construction of ‘islanderness’ and ‘islanderscope’, an assortment of agency representing islanders — and islands — on screen.","PeriodicalId":51674,"journal":{"name":"Island Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68945590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
While it is frequently invoked, the archipelago is such a vague concept that its deployment in fields such as island studies is only productive when the contingency of its use is specified. In this article, we examine the concept itself and then consider the use of the archipelago as a metaphor and/or model for a future Palestinian state. The creation of the modern nation-state of Israel in Palestine in 1948, various Israeli military actions, and (often related) public and private developments of former Palestinian lands has resulted in a substantial proportion of Palestinians fleeing to neighbouring countries (chiefly Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria). Those Palestinians who have remained have largely been confined to territorial isolates within the Jewish state. These isolates have frequently been understood and analogised as ‘islands’ within Israel, and the aggregation of these isolates has been variously referred to and/or represented as an archipelago. This article examines the development of this metaphoric interpretation of the Palestinian community within Israel in Anglophone, Arabic, and Francophone discourse, and characterises the contortions necessary to imagine Palestinian territories as archipelagic. The conclusion returns to consideration of the notion of the archipelago itself and of its usefulness in island studies and other contexts.
{"title":"Vague and unworkable: The fuzziness of the archipelago as a concept and its unsuitability as model for a 21st century Palestinian nation","authors":"Saba Bebawi, C. Fleury, P. Hayward","doi":"10.24043/isj.182","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24043/isj.182","url":null,"abstract":"While it is frequently invoked, the archipelago is such a vague concept that its deployment in fields such as island studies is only productive when the contingency of its use is specified. In this article, we examine the concept itself and then consider the use of the archipelago as a metaphor and/or model for a future Palestinian state. The creation of the modern nation-state of Israel in Palestine in 1948, various Israeli military actions, and (often related) public and private developments of former Palestinian lands has resulted in a substantial proportion of Palestinians fleeing to neighbouring countries (chiefly Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria). Those Palestinians who have remained have largely been confined to territorial isolates within the Jewish state. These isolates have frequently been understood and analogised as ‘islands’ within Israel, and the aggregation of these isolates has been variously referred to and/or represented as an archipelago. This article examines the development of this metaphoric interpretation of the Palestinian community within Israel in Anglophone, Arabic, and Francophone discourse, and characterises the contortions necessary to imagine Palestinian territories as archipelagic. The conclusion returns to consideration of the notion of the archipelago itself and of its usefulness in island studies and other contexts.","PeriodicalId":51674,"journal":{"name":"Island Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68945707","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kay Bergamini, Robert Moris, Piroska Ángel, Daniela Zaviezo, Horatio Gilabert
The increase of population in Rapa Nui (Easter Island) has fueled concerns within the community, given the uncertainty of its impacts. These concerns have driven a socio-political process that triggered the enactment of Law 21,070, which regulates the access and permanence of visitors in the territory as a way to cushion the pressure on different environmental, social, and infrastructure components that affect the local quality of life. However, for its application, this law requires technical foundations that allow restrictions to be applied and, therefore, knowledge about the demographic capacity of the territory is also needed. To this end, a dynamic model was built, which consists of different variables that are sensitive to population growth and also can be projected into the future, thus delivering timely information for decision-making. This paper describes the socio-political context for the creation of this instrument, as well as its elaboration process and main results.
{"title":"Demographic carrying capacity model: A tool for decision-making in Rapa Nui","authors":"Kay Bergamini, Robert Moris, Piroska Ángel, Daniela Zaviezo, Horatio Gilabert","doi":"10.24043/ISJ.156","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24043/ISJ.156","url":null,"abstract":"The increase of population in Rapa Nui (Easter Island) has fueled concerns within the community, given the uncertainty of its impacts. These concerns have driven a socio-political process that triggered the enactment of Law 21,070, which regulates the access and permanence of visitors in the territory as a way to cushion the pressure on different environmental, social, and infrastructure components that affect the local quality of life. However, for its application, this law requires technical foundations that allow restrictions to be applied and, therefore, knowledge about the demographic capacity of the territory is also needed. To this end, a dynamic model was built, which consists of different variables that are sensitive to population growth and also can be projected into the future, thus delivering timely information for decision-making. This paper describes the socio-political context for the creation of this instrument, as well as its elaboration process and main results.","PeriodicalId":51674,"journal":{"name":"Island Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68944996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andiah Nurhaeny, M. Miharja, Pradono, P. Dirgahayani
Island studies has thus far mostly focused on the limitations, isolation and marginality of island communities. However, recent research into island cities, or urban island studies, provides an analytic lens or research perspective that can be used to understand an island’s diversity and to encourage researchers to identify island characteristics that have an impact on the function of cities and population centers on islands. One of the factors that inhibit the development of island cities is the limited availability of land area and resources, causing island city regions to depend on other regions to fulfill the population’s needs and provide basic services to the population, which puts islands in a vulnerable position because of transportation accessibility problems. This study was conducted using the Transit Opportunity Index (TOI) method to observe the relationship between transportation accessibility and economic growth in island city regions. The result of the analysis showed that transportation accessibility indirectly affects economic growth in every district/city in Maluku Province. Sea transportation accessibility better illustrates the condition of transportation accessibility of Ambon City and other districts/cities in Maluku Province compared to sea and air transportation accessibility.
{"title":"Measuring accessibility and island development in Ambon City","authors":"Andiah Nurhaeny, M. Miharja, Pradono, P. Dirgahayani","doi":"10.24043/ISJ.157","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24043/ISJ.157","url":null,"abstract":"Island studies has thus far mostly focused on the limitations, isolation and marginality of island communities. However, recent research into island cities, or urban island studies, provides an analytic lens or research perspective that can be used to understand an island’s diversity and to encourage researchers to identify island characteristics that have an impact on the function of cities and population centers on islands. One of the factors that inhibit the development of island cities is the limited availability of land area and resources, causing island city regions to depend on other regions to fulfill the population’s needs and provide basic services to the population, which puts islands in a vulnerable position because of transportation accessibility problems. This study was conducted using the Transit Opportunity Index (TOI) method to observe the relationship between transportation accessibility and economic growth in island city regions. The result of the analysis showed that transportation accessibility indirectly affects economic growth in every district/city in Maluku Province. Sea transportation accessibility better illustrates the condition of transportation accessibility of Ambon City and other districts/cities in Maluku Province compared to sea and air transportation accessibility.","PeriodicalId":51674,"journal":{"name":"Island Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68945056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper examines the trajectory, ambitions, and practices involved in the official national and provincial planning for Jeju Island from 1963 to 1985 as it became reimagined as the so-called ‘Hawai'i of East Asia’. Jeju Island has been constantly built, left unfinished, demolished, and rebuilt at each wave and ebb in regional tourism trends. Jeju has thus become a complicated geography of heavy contradictions as South Korea’s prime tourism experiment. Before the 2002 ‘Free International City’ project, the larger region of Jeju Island was identified as a ‘specified region’ from 1963 for experimentation in tourism. By virtue of its historic marginality, Jeju has been portrayed as a pristine internal frontier ripe for tourism and utopian transformation ‘like Hawai’i’. Surprisingly, however, ‘Hawai’i’ does not actually appear in official planning documentation, even while it is a frequent talking point in public discourse. In this paper, I discuss the specter of ‘Hawai’i’ in Jeju tourism development and address the discrepancy between official development planning strategies and colloquial references to Hawai’i, observing that reference to ‘Hawai’i’ was not from initial design but followed the late 1950s to 1960s zeitgeist in which tourism itself became a mark of distinction for modernity.
{"title":"“It’s like Hawai’i”: Making a tourist utopia in Jeju Island, 1963-1985","authors":"Tommy Tran","doi":"10.24043/isj.170","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.24043/isj.170","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the trajectory, ambitions, and practices involved in the official national and provincial planning for Jeju Island from 1963 to 1985 as it became reimagined as the so-called ‘Hawai'i of East Asia’. Jeju Island has been constantly built, left unfinished, demolished, and rebuilt at each wave and ebb in regional tourism trends. Jeju has thus become a complicated geography of heavy contradictions as South Korea’s prime tourism experiment. Before the 2002 ‘Free International City’ project, the larger region of Jeju Island was identified as a ‘specified region’ from 1963 for experimentation in tourism. By virtue of its historic marginality, Jeju has been portrayed as a pristine internal frontier ripe for tourism and utopian transformation ‘like Hawai’i’. Surprisingly, however, ‘Hawai’i’ does not actually appear in official planning documentation, even while it is a frequent talking point in public discourse. In this paper, I discuss the specter of ‘Hawai’i’ in Jeju tourism development and address the discrepancy between official development planning strategies and colloquial references to Hawai’i, observing that reference to ‘Hawai’i’ was not from initial design but followed the late 1950s to 1960s zeitgeist in which tourism itself became a mark of distinction for modernity.","PeriodicalId":51674,"journal":{"name":"Island Studies Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68945373","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}