Abstract:Island living can entail many difficult or challenging experiences for individual residents, as well as for island communities at large. We use a multifaceted understanding of precarity and resilience to conceptualise these island challenges, as experienced by older island residents. We focus on Waiheke Island, an offshore island that sits within the greater Auckland area, where experiences of entangled precarities can be observed. Our work explores older renters' experiences on Waiheke Island in order to unde… Show more
“…The economic precarity of many island communities is well documented in the literature (e.g. Bates et al, 2019). However, there is considerably less acknowledgment of the impact this can have on islander Social Psychological Perspectives on Islandness: Identities, Vulnerabilities and Precarities Island Studies Journal self-identity and mental wellbeing.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Using an immersive, qualitative approach we set out to explore the psychological impact of living on very small islands, whether there was an alleged island 'mindset', and to what extent island factors impacted on this. As with much research (Bates et al, 2019), we started with desk-based work, reading up on our island locations, for example by reviewing local authority plans for them, and their own community consultations to ensure the areas we were concerned with were also pertinent to residents. We also conducted telephone conversations with contacts from small island communities which allowed us to refine our questions and approaches.…”
Although there are many widely perceived attractions to living on a small island, island life is not without its challenges. The physical aspects of these are well rehearsed. The psychological ones, less so. Drawing on social psychological theories, we analyse the experience of living on small islands, with a focus on two small British islands. Data were collected through ethnographic fieldwork, involving observations and interviews with small island inhabitants. We found a range of factors impacting them psychologically, including several that suggest identity and social identity theories may provide a useful psychological lens for understanding these communities. There were also other psychological features identified that suggest a self-perception of vulnerability. These were reflected in concerns around the precarity of employment, but also evident in islanders’ discourses around health (both physical and mental). These findings echo previous authors’ assertions concerning the existence of an ‘island psychology’ evident in the experiences of island residents, but also contribute to discussions around its origins and mechanisms of influence - which we argue have been hitherto, relatively atheoretical. Importantly, a better understanding of island experience, and the relevant theoretical frameworks, can assist in supporting the wellbeing of islanders and the sustainability of their communities.
“…The economic precarity of many island communities is well documented in the literature (e.g. Bates et al, 2019). However, there is considerably less acknowledgment of the impact this can have on islander Social Psychological Perspectives on Islandness: Identities, Vulnerabilities and Precarities Island Studies Journal self-identity and mental wellbeing.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Using an immersive, qualitative approach we set out to explore the psychological impact of living on very small islands, whether there was an alleged island 'mindset', and to what extent island factors impacted on this. As with much research (Bates et al, 2019), we started with desk-based work, reading up on our island locations, for example by reviewing local authority plans for them, and their own community consultations to ensure the areas we were concerned with were also pertinent to residents. We also conducted telephone conversations with contacts from small island communities which allowed us to refine our questions and approaches.…”
Although there are many widely perceived attractions to living on a small island, island life is not without its challenges. The physical aspects of these are well rehearsed. The psychological ones, less so. Drawing on social psychological theories, we analyse the experience of living on small islands, with a focus on two small British islands. Data were collected through ethnographic fieldwork, involving observations and interviews with small island inhabitants. We found a range of factors impacting them psychologically, including several that suggest identity and social identity theories may provide a useful psychological lens for understanding these communities. There were also other psychological features identified that suggest a self-perception of vulnerability. These were reflected in concerns around the precarity of employment, but also evident in islanders’ discourses around health (both physical and mental). These findings echo previous authors’ assertions concerning the existence of an ‘island psychology’ evident in the experiences of island residents, but also contribute to discussions around its origins and mechanisms of influence - which we argue have been hitherto, relatively atheoretical. Importantly, a better understanding of island experience, and the relevant theoretical frameworks, can assist in supporting the wellbeing of islanders and the sustainability of their communities.
“…While the non-comparative approach of this study does not allow for empirical comparisons with other jurisdictions to be drawn, island studies scholarship on islandness (e.g., Gill, 1994;Hay, 2006;Vannini and Taggart, 2013;Bates et al, 2019), and the results presented here, supports the recommendation that researchers interested in policy capacity in other small island jurisdictions should consider how islandness, as constructed in the island jurisdiction under study, interacts with government's ability to develop public policy. As noted by Bates et al (2019: 172), "islandness [adds] nuance to the contours of human experience."…”
The body of public administration literature is missing contributions from practitioners in the field. Emic or insider-led studies of public administration can act as powerful mechanisms to generate new knowledge. This article studies the relationship between place, perceptions and policy work by drawing on the author’s own public administration experience and interviews with civil servants. The results show that societal factors such as political culture and reduced anonymity associated with small place create challenges when developing public policy. However, expedited public engagement and problem identification were perceived by civil servants to be enhanced by a small context. This means that small place can be both limiting and beneficial for high levels of policy capacity. Overall, this article finds that geospatial factors such as smallness impact perceptions of policy work and capacity. Furthermore, this article finds that insider-led studies of public administration can indeed make important and unique contributions to the body of literature and are therefore deserving of more serious methodological consideration.
“…Instead, resilience is performed in the face of adverse circumstances, whereby we adapt to the precarity of Waiheke housing limitations by creating resistance and coping routines. Echoing Molly's conceptualisation of housing (and, in turn, reflecting the precarity documented among others in that island community; see Bates et al, 2019), another student wrote of her mother's resilience when moving into a substandard dwelling after their family separation:…”
Section: Practices Of Resilience: Striving For a 'Sense Of Home'mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Echoing Molly's conceptualisation of housing (and, in turn, reflecting the precarity documented among others in that island community; see Bates et al, 2019), another student wrote of her mother's resilience when moving into a substandard dwelling after their family separation:Mum has always been an exemplification of the New Zealand norm to be resourceful and ‘stick it out’ when the going gets tough. She was quick to paint the entire exterior of the house, and we arranged for the piles to be adjusted so the house sat at less of an angle.…”
Section: Practices Of Resilience: Striving For a ‘Sense Of Home’mentioning
As a collective of students and teachers, we reflect on student experiences of housing in Aotearoa. The commentary began as a reflective diary assignment from a third‐year course offered in semester one of 2023 at the University of Auckland. Using 15 of these diaries as our data, we take stock of the multiple intersecting crises of housing that are currently impacting students and other young people, and suggest potential directions for future research.
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