Evolution of Falkland Islander Identity
The Falkland Islanders are British by citizenship, and by either origins or naturalization. They are one of the nations and mini-nations of the United Kingdom and the British overseas territories, including also the English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, Channel Islanders, Gibraltarians, Saint Helenians, Bermudians, Caymanians etc. Along with their common British identity, each of these has its own distinct identity shaped in the respective particular circumstances of political, economic, social and cultural evolution history. According to Lewis Clifton, Speaker of the Falklands Legislative Council, the Falkland Islanders are no exception:
| “ | British cultural, economic, social, political and educational values create a unique British-like, Falkland Islands. Yet Islanders feel distinctly different from their fellow citizens who reside in the United Kingdom. This might have something to do with geographical isolation or with living on a smaller island – perhaps akin to those British people not feeling European. | ” |
Besides geographical isolation, the emerging of a distinct Falkland Islander national identity along with the originally undifferentiated British identity was possibly influenced by the devolution processes taking place among the United Kingdom nations:
| “ | The recent devolution aspirations of Wales and Scotland may be a factor. No sociological study has ever been commissioned to try to identify a plausible theory, and therefore it is difficult to elaborate on this emerging dichotomy, but significant sociological change has occurred. | ” |
Since the 1960s, the political dimension of Falklander identity has evolved around the campaign for recognition of the Islanders' right to self-determination. Key to this was the formation of the Falkland Island Committee in 1968, Britain's recognition of the right to self-determination after the Islanders turned down the so-called "leaseback proposal" put forward by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1980, and the new Falklands Constitution enacted in 1985. The constitution vests political power in the elected Falklands Legislative Council rather than the old style colonial governors.
A specific regional aspect of identity is the human relationship the Islanders traditionally maintain with Chile and Uruguay, and the well-known Islander rejection of the Argentine sovereignty claim:
| “ | In the Falkland Islands a national identity dynamic also exists: it is constructed upon the Islanders’ desire not to deal with Argentina. | ” |
The Falklands War had tremendous security, economic and social implications for the Falkland Islanders. The War opened the prospects for long needed reforms, reversing the demographic, economic and social decline that the Falklands had suffered for several decades. The Islanders became self-confident masters of their natural resources, and managers of a vibrant economy that attracted a wide range of new technical and managerial personnel to immigrate.
The Falkland Islanders consider themselves a nation, the ethnogenesis of which is no different than that of other immigrant nations typical of the Americas, Australia or New Zealand; indeed no different than the case of neighbouring South American nations, as pointed out by Councillor Mike Summers:
| “ | We are as much a people as those in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile and many other South American countries whose inhabitants are of principally European or African descent. | ” |
Read more about this topic: Origins Of Falkland Islanders
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