Confronting Caribbean challenges: Hybrid identities and governance in small-scale island jurisdictions

How did political reforms and intensive migrations affect historically grounded identities and political practices on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, and Saba? This project seeks to answer this question by integrating multiple disciplines to analyze governance and identity in small-scale polities, with a particular focus on non-sovereignty, migration, and (sustainable) development.

After the dismantlement of the Netherlands Antilles, the six islands remain locked in the postcolonial imbroglio resulting from their rejection of full sovereignty. Against the advantages inherent in the asymmetrical link to the metropolis, there are constraints to the insular populations’ autonomy and identities. The constitutional reforms may have deepened the ambivalence of Antillean citizens and politicians towards the Netherlands, while high levels of immigration raise other questions about insular belonging. The ‘Confronting Caribbean Challenges‘ project will analyze the intersection of (recent) political reforms, often intensive migrations, and current practices of governance on four of these islands.

The focus is on the least-studied islands of the former Netherlands Antilles, but the approach is comparative. This project utilizes a three-tiered multi-disciplinary framework linking the past (historical development of hybrid identities), the present (governance, migration and citizenship issues), and the future (sustainable tourism capitalizing on natural and historical heritage). The three sub-projects will combine an historical perspective, contemporary empirical data and fresh insights into the literature on governance and identity in small-scale polities, emphasizing the variables of non-sovereignty and high-intensity migration. The project will feed into ongoing debates about governance, insular identities, and local agency.