World Development

In thinking about alternatives to growth-based development, we draw attention to Mediterranean islands and the way they animate imaginaries and practices of a simple life. We follow Franco Cassano’s thesis of ‘Southern thought’ – a critique of Western developmentalism, prioritizing instead values of slowness, moderation and conviviality. These values are central to what Serge Latouche and others call ‘degrowth’. Drawing on fieldwork and ethnography from Ikaria and Gavdos, two remote islands in the Greek archipelago, we show how Southern thought, and forms of real-existing degrowth develop in relation to ‘islandness’ – a physical and cultural condition specific to small islands. Geography, historical contingency, and processes of myth-making combine to re-valorise what otherwise would be seen as ‘undeveloped’ places, thereby generating space for real-existing degrowth.

The Fiji Islands in the South Pacific are highly exposed to climate-induced hazards and have experienced several flood and cyclone events in recent years. Drawing on a series of field studies in the lower Ba River Catchment on Fiji’s main island Viti Levu, the objective of this paper is to determine how climate adaptation strategies – employed by indigenous Fijian communities and households – are influenced by socio-cultural values and access to resources, information and power. Our multi-method approach has been conceptually informed by Agrawal and Perrin’s (2008) climate adaptation framework and included semi-structured interviews at the household level, and participatory hazard mapping with diverse focus groups at the community level. Our study finds that due to diverse value-based assessments of livelihood opportunities and climate-related risks, communal and household adaptive strategies can differ widely, even in a very localized cultural context. We also show how decisions to relocate from ‘risky environments’ are influenced by a combination of local power relations, attachment to cultural and social space, and the provision of external assistance. Our findings comment on the need for disaster risk reduction strategies to recognize how different groups and households respond to climate-related events in distinct socially determined ways.

This paper investigates the problem of scientific uncertainty and the way it impedes planning for climate change and accelerated sea-level rise (CC & ASLR) in Pacific Island Countries (PICs). The paper begins by discussing the problems CC & ASLR poses for PICs, and it explores the limitations of the dominant approach to vulnerability and adaptation. Next, the paper considers the way scientific uncertainty problematizes policies aimed at adaptation to CC & ASLR. It argues that the prevailing approach, which requires anticipation of impacts, is unsuccessful, and the paper proposes a complementary strategy aimed to enhance the resilience of whole island social-ecological systems. Recent developments in the theory and practice of resilience are discussed and then applied to formulate goals for adaptation policy in PICs.

The economic performance of micro-states and those sub-national regions enjoying a high degree of autonomy is a generally under-researched area. This paper builds on earlier research (Armstrong and Read, 1995) by employing quantitative techniques to test: 1.(a) the extent to which the economic performance of micro-states differs, by comparing their GNP per capita with that of the region in which they are located and with the countries to which they are adjacent;2.(b) whether some micro-states perform better than others as a result of differences in their economic structure; and3.(c) whether the rates of growth of micro-states have been faster or slower than those of larger countries. Considerable diversity among micro-states is revealed, although most exhibit strong economic performance.

Many small island developing states (SIDS) face special disadvantages associated with small size, insularity, remoteness and proneness to natural disasters. These factors render the economies of these states very vulnerable to forces outside their control — a condition which sometimes threatens their very economic viability. The GDP or GNP per capita of these states often conceals this reality. In this paper the major vulnerabilities faced by SIDS are discussed and when possible quantified in the form of an index. An attempt is also made to construct a composite index of vulnerability.