Solomon Islands: Colonisation and the complexity of nationhood

Abstract

To many people, 'Solomon Islands' is little more than a name attached to a group of islands on a map, a place often associated with unrest and internal strife. That these islands are perceived as a totality, as a bounded entity, relates to the fact that they are identified by a single name and the fact that this name is now associated with a political entity, a nation state. Whether these islands can be said to represent a social entity is a rather different matter, one that is critical to our understanding of both the people who inhabit these islands and the political processes that have played a part in shaping their sense of identity. In this paper, I attempt to unravel some of the complexities of nationhood and identity in contemporary Solomon Islands society with reference to three readily identifiable metaphors: island, betel nut and wantok which were first used with reference to Solomon Islands by Bishop Brown (2003).