Nomadic identities, archipelagic movements, and island diasporas

Abstract

Nomadic identities have shaped island histories and archipelagic communities since the emergence of the Westphalian state. In the era of postcoloniality, settler colonial realities, decolonial movements, and now climate change, the processes of forced and involuntary migrations as well as states of internal disaffiliation have accentuated the discontinuities between citizenship and island subjects. This special section of Island Studies Journal offers a comprehensive look at how island mobilities and archipelagic diasporas in formation have shaped contemporary notions of nomadic belonging. Islands have historically been entities whose political struggles for citizenship have been frequently repressed. This section explores island becoming, displaced and migrant archipelagic affiliations, and emerging historical understandings of nomadic citizenship.