Islandness in human rights, human rights in islandness: Missing voices

Abstract

Island Studies literature has rarely engaged with human rights law to scrutinise how the development of human rights standards and/or their (in)efficient implementation on islands contour the lives of islanders and islandness itself. Along similar lines, human rights research and practice do not systematically take into account islandness and Island Studies research. The present article explores the mutual reticence between human rights law and Island Studies, suggesting, though, that both fields can offer each other important opportunities for development. It advocates, in particular, that it is high time for a cohesive human rights and islands approach which is based on the human rights-based approach of islandness and the islandness-based approach in human rights. A potential cross-fertilisation between human rights law and Island Studies can be very promising not only for the advancement of the respective fields from a scholarly point of view, but also for a more efficient understanding of islandness and protection of human rights in practice.