Real Imaginary Diasporas

An island might seem an unlikely figure of globalization, and perhaps more appropriate as a model for diasporic communities. This article takes as a starting point the assumption that islands (conceptually as well as geographically) are in fact particularly relevant to pivotal trends within contemporary globalization, even while there are also reasons to consider islanding in relation to diaspora, and in ways that might make us rethink both globalization and the role of diasporas within the global now. The essay will take up some of the central conditions (economic, social, cultural) of contemporary islands and islanding—conditions that are at once Asian but also increasingly everywhere, and definitive of the way cities are being re-formed on continents and on real islands in real oceanic waters. The focal point of the article will be the art forms that come out of, and put expression to, these island worlds

Diaspora · Economic geography · Geography · Globalization · Political science · Sociology · The Imaginary · Computer Science · Gender Studies · History · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Law