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Studies in Multicultural
Societies
DIFFERENT PEOPLES,
ONE WORLD
Multicultural Societies in
Island States
HARI SRINIVAS
ROOM: I-312 / 079-565-7406
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
Islands
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
 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,
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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
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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
+

UN Office of the
High Representative for
Least Developed Countries,
Landlocked Developing Countries,
and Small Island Developing
States
(UN-OHRLLS)
14 Territories and Associate
Members of UN Regional
Commission
=

52 SIDS
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)
Cultural
Identity
Sustainable
Development
Cultural
Activities
Economic
Development
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
Ancient
Migration
Phase
Ice age to 10
century
Colonization
Phase
10th -20th
century
Post-World
War II
Phase
1945 ~
Special case of small islands
• Remoteness
• Smallness
• Geographical dispersion
• Fragility of ecosystems
•Heavy dependence on imports
• Lack of natural resources and skilled
endogenous human resources.
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 …
Resources, websites, ideas, notes will be available
online:
www.gdrc.info/sms/
Send me an email anytime!
Hari Srinivas
[email protected]
IMPORTANT:
When you send an email, please always put “[SMS]” in the subject line!