Beyond Autarky: Discourses of Islandness-As-Heritage in Islands' Energy Transitions

This article employs heritage as a lens through which to research the roles of islandness in energy transition processes. Both in cases of islanders' initiatives toward renewable energy projects and in cases of resistance against such projects, memories and imaginaries of islandness are evoked....

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Main Author: Marilena Mela
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Island Studies Journal 2023-11-01
Series:Island Studies Journal
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.24043/001c.87733
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author Marilena Mela
author_facet Marilena Mela
author_sort Marilena Mela
collection DOAJ
description This article employs heritage as a lens through which to research the roles of islandness in energy transition processes. Both in cases of islanders' initiatives toward renewable energy projects and in cases of resistance against such projects, memories and imaginaries of islandness are evoked. The heritage of islandness is constructed discursively in response to threats and opportunities represented by the energy transition. Through an analysis of narratives in academic literature, national and local media, branding campaigns, and interview transcripts from islands in the North Sea and the Mediterranean, three common themes of islandness-as-heritage emerge across geographical difference: the island as self-sufficient ground, as laboratory of innovation, and as exploited territory. These uses of heritage are contextualized with critical counter-narratives from island studies literature, showing that the insistence on legacies of autarky, innovation, and exploitation might be contrary to the long-term interests of island communities. Instead, the activation of the heritage of interconnectedness that has historically characterized islands, islanders, and islandness, would highlight the necessary interdependence between places and could lead to an energy transition more aligned with the potentials and challenges facing the different island landscapes and their communities.
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spelling doaj.art-2dec829b85ed4dad83a98b6e30e29fa92024-01-28T01:27:55ZengIsland Studies JournalIsland Studies Journal1715-25932023-11-01182Beyond Autarky: Discourses of Islandness-As-Heritage in Islands' Energy TransitionsMarilena MelaThis article employs heritage as a lens through which to research the roles of islandness in energy transition processes. Both in cases of islanders' initiatives toward renewable energy projects and in cases of resistance against such projects, memories and imaginaries of islandness are evoked. The heritage of islandness is constructed discursively in response to threats and opportunities represented by the energy transition. Through an analysis of narratives in academic literature, national and local media, branding campaigns, and interview transcripts from islands in the North Sea and the Mediterranean, three common themes of islandness-as-heritage emerge across geographical difference: the island as self-sufficient ground, as laboratory of innovation, and as exploited territory. These uses of heritage are contextualized with critical counter-narratives from island studies literature, showing that the insistence on legacies of autarky, innovation, and exploitation might be contrary to the long-term interests of island communities. Instead, the activation of the heritage of interconnectedness that has historically characterized islands, islanders, and islandness, would highlight the necessary interdependence between places and could lead to an energy transition more aligned with the potentials and challenges facing the different island landscapes and their communities.https://doi.org/10.24043/001c.87733
spellingShingle Marilena Mela
Beyond Autarky: Discourses of Islandness-As-Heritage in Islands' Energy Transitions
Island Studies Journal
title Beyond Autarky: Discourses of Islandness-As-Heritage in Islands' Energy Transitions
title_full Beyond Autarky: Discourses of Islandness-As-Heritage in Islands' Energy Transitions
title_fullStr Beyond Autarky: Discourses of Islandness-As-Heritage in Islands' Energy Transitions
title_full_unstemmed Beyond Autarky: Discourses of Islandness-As-Heritage in Islands' Energy Transitions
title_short Beyond Autarky: Discourses of Islandness-As-Heritage in Islands' Energy Transitions
title_sort beyond autarky discourses of islandness as heritage in islands energy transitions
url https://doi.org/10.24043/001c.87733
work_keys_str_mv AT marilenamela beyondautarkydiscoursesofislandnessasheritageinislandsenergytransitions