Six-proposition manifesto for small Island territories

Conventional wisdom suggests that small, often island, states are more likely than larger nations to be hard hit by the effects of national disasters, of fluctuations in the global economy, and the political aspirations of world powers. The structural weaknesses they share have been quantified to create a Vulnerability Index. This paper points to what the author sees as flaws in the concept of vulnerability and its application to the weaknesses of small states. In particular he presents evidence that small developing countries have performed no worse than larger countries. He sets out six propositions which explain this paradox and identifies the comparative advantages that small states hold.peer-reviewe

Bursting the bubble : the pseudo- development strategies of microstates

Developing microstates are bountiful on the world political map today. Yet the concept of smallness, apart from being relativistic, conjures up a sense of deviation, indicative of a subtle discrimination which implicitly takes large to be normal and preferable. Based on an extensive yet selective literature review, this article suggests that the orthodox development paradigm, in both its liberal and radical traditions, has borne little relevance to small developing states, either in theory or in practice. On looking more closely at the survival strategies of developing micro-economies, it is proposed that a different conceptualization of ‘development’ is warranted; one which, for all its negative connotations, is both plausible and consistent with the peculiar practices of microstates.peer-reviewe

How it feels ‘on the ground’ : the experiences of residents from a subnational island jurisdiction

Beyond the houses of assembly, media, political hustings and the law courts, how is life on a small, subnational island jurisdiction played out? This paper is an attempt to explore and explain how islanders feel to be governed ‘on the ground’. It suggests that individuals and households seek to exploit global and local offerings and opportunities in a flexibly strategic combination, as well as out of sheer necessity. SNIJ residents will suffer the achievements and failures of the various layers of political officers, at home and abroad, while typically hedging their bets. Securing double residencies, undergoing multiple stints overseas for work and education, tolerating complex transportation routes and itineraries, becomes the order of the day, every day, for those who have the resources and capabilities of doing so; and the dreams and desires of those who cannot.peer-reviewe

The role of EU Acquis experts in industrial relations

Expertise suffers booms and troughs like any other market good. The supply and demand for specialists, and the nature of the specialisms required, change in accordance with the exigencies of time and place. A particular breed of specialists is on the ascendant as a number of countries seek to confront, accept or adapt to the massive body of obligations of European Union (EU) law (referred to as the acquis communautaire) in the context of accession negotiations. In the dozen applicant states, a typically very small number of specialists in such matters is suddenly sought after as government consultants, media commentators, technical reporters and impact assessors. This article adopts a political sociology perspective in seeking to assess the influence of such technical experts on the politics of national industrial relations. It argues that such experts do somehow infect the opinions of interest groups, as well as their policy with respect to the EU in particular. Such is more likely to be the case when such interest groups suffer from a 'knowledge gap' and do not enjoy the services of professional EU specialists 'in-house'. Primary data are drawn mainly from autobiographical material; but the article attempts to propel a cross-national debate on the relevance of the experience and its analysis.peer-reviewe

A clash of human resource management cultures : a micro-state case study

When resorting to Greek divine mythology to purchase original insights on management styles, Handy (1991) identifies Apollo and Dionysius as representative of two ideal types which can be developed and fine-tuned to highlight one relatively under explored area of inter-cultural human resource management. This concerns the cultural interface between alien, imported management styles and local, home-grown practices in the context of small and island states. This paper argues that indigenous behaviour patterns in the unfolding of labour–management relations cannot be discounted. Indeed, these home-bred practices will both place imported ‘textbook’ management strategies in sharp relief as well as debilitate their purposed efficacy. Such a proposition suggests that this is one expression of how globalization will necessarily find itself textured and infected by indigenous cultural material, even that forthcoming from possibly the least expected quarter: that of micro, insular jurisdictions. Case-study material exploring and illustrating this cultural clash is drawn from seminal, empirical fieldwork carried out in the Indian Ocean island state Republic of the Seychelles.peer-reviewe

The case of an export-oriented, locally-owned, small-scale manufacturing firm in a small island country

A useful approach for appraising the economic development potential of small, often island, territories is to look for those rare examples of elusive economic success. Once they have been identified, one attempts to extrapolate what is idiosyncratic about the case at hand to a set of generalisable options. These then can lend themselves to policy action and operationalisation. Economic success is here taken to imply local capital and local technological ownership, profitable small scale manufacturing and export orientation. This paper sets out to demonstrate the potential of this inductive approach with a case study of a micro-enterprise from Viti Levu, Republic of the Fiji Islands.peer-reviewe

How far can one go? : how distance matters in island development

Island development trajectories are heavily impacted by their relevance, similarity, complementarity and value in relation to continental development pathways. I would argue that this is so, also because of the physical proximity of islands to their respective metropolis, making the former island units in and of their respective mainland. This paper proposes a politics of distance. It examines how physical detachment from the mainland (and from central government) impacts on an island’s ability to determine its own destiny and developmental course. This paper does so by reviewing how near islands and remote islands have: (a) nurtured different levels of jurisdictional status and autonomy; and (b) used that jurisdictional resource, where available, to chart their own development trajectory, in ways that may be similar, complementary, different and outright in opposition to mainland ambitions and plans. In such liaisons, remote islands are more likely to avoid the clutches, overtures and demands of (more distant) powers—and thus depart from mainland agendas—than near islands.peer-reviewe

Peculiar human resource management practices?

This article explores the alleged peculiarities of human resource management practices in very small developing states. A number of theoretical and ideo-typical features are culled from a literature review and are subsequently confronted with the empirical reality of human resource practices at Southern Bliss Hotel, a large, four-star tourist complex in Malta, the Mediterranean microstate. It is suggested that there are idiosyncrasies to management issues in small size and small scale territories which call for recognition on their own terms. Some implications of these observations for hotel human resource management are explored.peer-reviewe

Social class in Malta : insights into a homegrown relationship with special reference to education

The economic and occupational map of contemporary Malta has encouraged strident, though unsupported, declarations that "we are all middle class now"; whereas a number of academics continue to suggest rigid configurations of conventional class categories and hierarchies. While the fundamental relevance of the social class concept and explanatory value in social analysis is nowadays questioned, one has yet to assess whether the Maltese socioeconomic formation and the experiences of production, distribution and exchange warrant an idiosyncratic, locale-specific, interpretation of social class. In other words, is a home grown theoretical framework for social class in Malta justifiable? Regretfully, a serious study which would work out inductively, from empirical data, a social class topography for contemporary Malta has yet to materialize. This article will nevertheless seek to serve as a further tentative inroad into research on social class in Malta, mainly on the basis of statistical and secondary data, plus some theoretical, albeit admittedly armchair, considerations where there is a dearth of other knowledge. It will propose an emergent, working definition of social class perhaps more sensitive to, and therefore sensible in, the Maltese context. Finally, it will also indicate some of the implications which may result from such new approaches to an otherwise hackneyed theme, using education as the referent.peer-reviewe

European islands, development and the cohesion policy : a case study of Kokar, Aland islands

A European Union initiative is seeking ways of determining the development potential of Europe’s lagging regions, which include various islands. On the basis of the policy review, methodology and data collected by the ongoing EUROISLANDS project, this paper presents Kökar (population: 262), the easternmost municipality of the Åland Islands, as a prototype archipelago that is seriously challenged by its size and multiple peripherality. It reviews the state of its social and transportation infrastructure, and of its human and financial capital. While the situation is serious, there are opportunities for branding, for developing associated economic activity, as well for appealing to a new wave of residents.peer-reviewe