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An Island Between’: Multiple Migrations and the Repertoires of a St Helenian Identity

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An Island Between’: Multiple Migrations and the Repertoires of a St Helenian Identity University of Warwick institutional repository: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap/51501 This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. ‘An Island Between’: Multiple Migrations and the Repertoires of a St Helenian Identity By Charlotte Parker A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology University of Warwick, Department of Sociology April 2012 CONTENTS Acknowledgements 6 Declaration 7 Summary 8 The Prelude: The Island of St Helena 9 Introduction 9 The Geography 10 The History and Population 11 The Island with No Economy: St Helena as a State Apparatus 14 A Culture of Dependency 18 A Ruptured Island Identity 21 A Culture of Migration 25 Island Life: The Documented Community 29 Conclusion 30 Chapter One: The Introduction 34 Introduction 34 Encountering the St Helenian Community 35 St Helenians as non-legitimate British citizens 37 Investigating St Helenianness 41 Re-positioning small island research 43 Chapter outline 47 Chapter Two. Islands and Islandness: The Dominant Paradigms 56 Introduction 56 The Problem with island studies 57 Empiricism, Size and Development: The Colonial Imaginary 60 The Quantified Island and the Authoritative Voice 63 Islands as Thick Description 66 Islands as Laboratories and Metaphors 71 2 Islands in the Cultural Turn 76 Narratives of Belonging and the Politics of Transnationalism 81 A State-led National Identity 86 The St Helena Island Literature in context 89 The future of Island Studies: A Conclusion 96 Chapter Three. Methodological, Theoretical & Analytical Framework 103 Introduction 103 Methodological Framework 103 The Empirical Research: An Ethnographic Framework 105 The Sample – the decisions 107 Stage 1 – data collection on St Helena 112 Stage 2 – data collection off-island 114 Ethical Considerations 116 Potential Problems as an Outsider 117 Reflexivity 120 Method – Story Telling & Narrative Methods 123 Theoretical Framework 127 Symbolic Interactionism 127 Identity & Community 129 Symbolic Interactionism & Narratives 134 Analytical Framework 136 Althusser A Rejoinder: The State, History & Epiphenomenon 136 Althusser: Contradiction & Overdetermination 140 Institutional State Apparatus & Interpellation 141 The Means of Production, Nothingness & An Empty Canvas 144 Althusser, Triangulation & Survivals 146 Bourdieu: The Cultural Field and The Habitus 148 Bourdieu: The Space of Possibles 152 Capital, Distinction & Symbolic Violence 155 The Feel for ‘The Game’ 157 Plummer, Agency, Memory & Speech Communities 161 3 Bakhtin, Monologism, Polyglot & Heteroglossia 165 Speech Genres & The Community Consciousness 167 Conclusion 171 Chapter Four. Ideological Islandness: The Apparatus of Island Identity 174 Introduction 174 A Public Economy 175 Barriers, Remoteness & Frustration 177 Institutional State Apparatus: A Taught Sense of Belonging 182 A Structured Community: Formal & Informal Hierarchies on St Helena 189 Institutional State Apparatus and Structured Migration 198 The Endless Chain: Production, Consumption & Social Formation 205 A Reserve Army of Labour: Ascension Islands & The Falkland Islands 209 A Reserve Army of Labour: Prejudice, Exclusion & ‘Non-Legitimate British Citizens 214 A Structured Homecoming 220 Conclusion 223 Chapter Five. Habitus, Distinction & the Reproduction of Islandness 227 Introduction 227 The Space of Possibles 227 Rational Choice, Emotional Structures & the Collective Destiny 233 Economic Capital 242 Cultural & Symbolic Capital for a life overseas 245 Negotiating Symbolic Capital, Economic Capital & Symbolic Violence 251 Cultural Capital & the St Helenian Diaspora 256 British Distinction & the St Helenian Habitus 262 Agency, Emotion and Feeling Structures 270 Agency & ‘The Game’ 272 Conclusion 275 4 Chapter Six. History, Interaction & Reproduction as Islandness 277 Introduction 277 Stories of Community 278 Stories of Freedom, Emotion & Symbolic Interactionism 281 Stories of the Past: the construction of the British Subordinate ‘Other’ 286 Stories of Colour: the Construction of the ‘Other’ 290 Stories of Colour: An Acknowledgement of the past 294 The Queen’s English, Speech Genres, Capital & Agency 298 Citizenship: Polyphonic Language & a Cultural Negotiation 301 Stories of the St Helenian subject: the formation of the consciousness & community 306 Stories of Change in the Community Consciousness 309 Diverse Stories: the Abstract Identity 314 Contradiction, Continuation, Reflection: the Final Story 320 Conclusion 324 Chapter 7: The Conclusion 327 The Preliminary Ideas 327 Informing the Investigation 328 Investigating Islandness 332 Ideological Islandness: The Apparatus of Island Identity 334 Habitus, Distinction and the Reproduction of Islandness 338 History, Interaction and Reproduction as Islandness 341 Limitations of the Research 345 Britishness: Identity, Belonging & the Imagined Community 348 Islandness: Community, Survival & Continuity 353 St Helenianness as Consciousness & Identity 358 Conclusion 363 Bibliography 369 Appendix A: Questions 382 Appendix B: Ethical Statement 384 Appendix C: Character Synopsis 385 Appendix D: Coding the Data into NVivo 393 Appendix E: My publications with the St Helena Research Project 400 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to state my sincere thanks to Professor Tony Charlton and those at the St Helena Link Office, Cheltenham. Without Professor Charlton’s guidance in the early stages of my career this PhD would not have happened. I would also like to express my gratitude to the St Helenian community. I would particularly like to thank those who participated in this research, both on and off the island. I would also like to thank all of the St Helenian teachers and students who I have met over the years, who inspired this research. My utmost thanks goes to Cilla, who provided me with a home on the island as well as support, friendship and moonlight beers. San Francisco wouldn’t have been the same without you. I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Deborah Steinberg, who directed my research in theoretical and analytical ways, which will influence my academic career for many years to come. Moreover, I would like to thank Professor Robin Cohen as a former supervisor, for his early input into this thesis as well as support in preparing for my journey. Thanks goes out to Tim Hall for his patience, encouragement, advice and academic eye. Also, thanks to John Hockey and Kenny Lynch for their time, chats and critical eyes. Finally, I’d like to thank all of my friends, family and work colleagues for their support, encouragement and patience. Particularly thanks to SE and my Mum, who can now relax! 6 DECLARATION I declare that the contents of this thesis, which is being submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick, are my own work. This material has not been submitted for a degree at another university. During the course of this PhD, the following paper was presented: No place like home. Community, continuity and contradiction within the Island of St Helena, A British Overseas Territory, Stories of Migration: Theories, Research and Everyday Lives, 2nd Enquire Postgraduate Conference, 10th and 11th June 2009, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham. 7 SUMMARY The small Island of St Helena is a British Overseas Territory. In 1981 the British Nationality Act denied the islanders their British citizenship rights and in 2002 their rights as British citizens were fully restored. As a consequence of the return of British citizenship, a new wave of migration has occurred whereby many islanders are migrating to the UK. Embedded within an ethnographic framework, the thesis draws upon 68 interviews undertaken with St Helenians both on and off the island. Drawing upon the islanders stories, narratives and repertoires, this thesis oscillates between the two fields of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies. The analysis combines the anthropological truth claims of the community, as well as utilizes a post-structuralist approach that investigates the data for a micro understanding of discourse, ideology, identity, nuance and complexity, that demonstrates the paradoxical investments for the islanders. For cultural analytical triangulation, the theoretical concepts of Althusser, Bourdieu, Plummer and Bakhtin have been drawn upon, to investigate the feelings, emotions, cultural values and symbolic practices as demonstrated by the St Helenian community themselves. This thesis is a study of St Helenianness alongside Britishness and Islandness. Migration, identity, Diaspora, transnationalism and citizenship are common themes within this thesis, but the contribution is specifically to island studies. 8 PRELUDE: The Island of St Helena Introduction ‘St Helena is the Cinderella, or shall we say the poor forgotten orphan, of the British Empire. Once upon a time she was the pampered darling of the Honourable East India Company. Given just a little help, a little encouragement and a fair share of their own land to cultivate, and a voice in their government of their native island, the St Helenians would be the happiest and most contented race in the world’ (Gosse, 1990, p. 373) The Island of St Helena was once a valuable
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