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Navigating Identity and Nation-building in the Dutch Caribbean in the Wake of Hurricanes
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Keyword
Location research
Date
2025-06
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Language
en
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Abstract
Migration, nation-building, belongingness, and identity are common research themes in the Dutch Caribbean. Studies in these areas generally focus on identity and belongingness for the Islanders who move to the metropole or on immigration to the periphery and the related socio-economic dynamics. In the case of identity themes, these studies often focus on the recurring debate between who is “yiu di tera” (a child of the soil/native) and who is not. That which is seldom considered is the intraregional migration from Dutch Leeward Islanders to Aruba or Curacao and possible identity formation issues. This study, which is part of a broader research on nation-building called Navigating Identities, will focus on the influence of the governance structure and constitutional arrangement of the Dutch Caribbean on national identity formation dynamics and nation-building. It grapples with questions on how the Dutch English-speaking intra-regional migrants self-identify and what are the characteristics of identity formation playing field due to the governance structures, a colonial history, and nation-building processes based on the one-nation notion.
Acknowledging that climate change has an impact on cultural heritage, discourses of citizens and politicians centering the message of one-ness with “our people” after hurricanes Luis (1995), Irma, and Maria (2017) are analyzed. This discursive oneness and reimagination of borders illustrate the potential to unveil the fluidity of the islanders' identity, even while insularism is often highlighted as an omnipresent source of dysfunctionality between the islands and an impediment to structural administrative collaboration.
Citation
Richardson, Y. (2025, June). Navigating Identity and Nation-building in the Dutch Caribbean in the Wake of Hurricanes [conference presentation]. Turning the Tide 2025, Prince Edward Island.
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Journal / Book / Conference
Turning the Tide 2025