Worlds Apart: Island Identities and Colonial Configurations in the Dutch Caribbean

Analyses of the Caribbean continue to divide the region based on colonial heritage, which is largely a result of the fact that it primarily consists of small islands. In this article, we demonstrate the inaccuracy of such categorizations on the basis of two sets of arguments. Based on historical as well as contemporary evidence from the Dutch Caribbean, we show that different islands that were artificially united into a single jurisdiction by colonial powers commonly experience intense inter-island rivalries and separatist tendencies. In addition, however, we show evidence pointing to frequent... Mehr ...