“The words of the Chaos-World do not presuppose any normative generalization.”
Eduard Glissant
The Critical Island Studies Consortium (CIS) is an academic network dedicated to challenging prevailing modes of knowledge production centered around the Northern Hemisphere. It aims to explore the epistemological and ontological underpinnings of emerging knowledge paradigms.
Discussions on globalization often center on the expansion of Europe and North America, sidelining other regions and establishing these areas as the “center” while characterizing the rest of the world as the “margin.” However, this perspective is problematic as it neglects the interconnected nature of the global system. To foster a fresh understanding of the environment and nature, it is imperative to move away from this Eurocentric viewpoint and embrace a more planetary outlook. This shift becomes crucial in addressing pressing challenges related to social and environmental crises. Archipelagic thoughts present a potential alternative to the prevalent Eurocentric cosmology of nature, focusing on oceans and islands instead of land and continents. This approach offers the possibility of envisioning and crafting a more sustainable future for our planet.
Hence, a planetary perspective is essential for reshaping the image of the environment and fostering a new sense of nature. This transformation requires challenging established norms and adopting new perceptions, a responsibility that academia can fulfill. Until now, the Eurocentric cosmology of nature, rooted in landscape epistemology, has maintained geopolitical privilege over other regions. To counter this predominant nature narrative, an alternative environmental philosophy, such as seascape ontology, must be created. The paradigm shift from land to ocean, from continents to islands, is a crucial aspect of this transformation. Critical island studies emerge as a theoretical domain challenging geopolitical analyses, focusing on the unique characteristics and experiences of islands across interdisciplinary fields like geography, anthropology, sociology, and political science.
In contrast, geopolitical studies concentrate on the political and strategic importance of geographical space, exploring how a region’s geography can influence its political and economic relationships with other countries. While there may be some overlap between critical island studies and geopolitical studies, they are distinct disciplines with different emphases and goals. Critical island studies primarily seek to understand the distinctive experiences and challenges of islands, incorporating archipelagic thoughts, while geopolitical studies prioritize the political and strategic implications of geographical space.
CIS consortium 