The political possibilities of island geographies in the eastern Indian Ocean

Keywords: islands, development, territory, materiality, possibility
Abstract Type: Virtual Paper Abstract

Abstract

In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, community members from the southern Nicobar Islands were able to mobilize island spaces to restore their traditional homelands. This paper considers political possibilities enabled by the materiality of island geographies. It builds on the experiences of the Nicobarese Indigenous communities from Little Nicobar Island who were able to make use of the connectivity and separation between islands in the eastern Indian Ocean to move away from temporary shelters set up by the state and take rehabilitation upon their own hands. The political possibilities enabled by the islands' materiality for the Nicobarese communities differ from those reflected in narratives on post tsunami reconstruction and development that render the islands as 'damaged' or 'empty'. Through archival and policy research, I consider how the categories of 'tribe' and 'island' circulate to produce imaginaries that support state led development in the Nicobar Islands where Indigenous territories have undergone transformations since India gained control over the islands in 1950 and even more so since the tsunami. I argue that in response to development supported by these imaginaries, alternative social worlds can materialize. The paper draws on geographies of the state and race to illustrate how island materiality, i.e., specific physical characteristics of land, sea and air that support or limit territorial use and mobility in and across islands, can be put to work for radical political possibility.