Cultural Identities of Island Communities

This text examines the scholarly debate on cultural identities of island communities through the lenses of cultural geography and tourism studies. Moving from the etyminological roots of identity as perfect sameness, it explores how modern philosophers and sociologists introduced spatiality, time, and mobility to the concept. In small island contexts, a distinct tension emerges between globalized tourism hegemonies and local traditional forms. By exploring the deep interconnectedness between the social and spatial realms, the text contrasts essentialist perspectives, which view island identity through fixed, immutable categories like the islander-outsider binary, with relational and intersectionality approaches, framing identity as a fluid, discursive, and politically negotiated tool. To conclude, the text highlights how dominant, monolithic narratives can romanticize island spaces to serve capitalistic and tourism agendas, underscoring the need for a relational conceptualization of island identities.