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The ‘other’ within: Striving for health equity in the Maldives Eva-Maria
Author(s) -
EvaMaria Knoll
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
island studies journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.2
H-Index - 21
ISSN - 1715-2593
DOI - 10.24043/isj.177
Subject(s) - archipelagic state , archipelago , situated , politics , sociology , equity (law) , gender studies , geography , political science , archaeology , law , artificial intelligence , computer science
Relations within are quintessential in anthropological fieldwork — and in archipelagos in particular. The domestic sea is incorporated in the national consciousness connecting an archipelagic nation but distinguishing individual islands with a strong emphasis on the centre. The Maldivian archipelago displays this spatial organization of a socio-political and economic centre and a dependent island periphery. In the national consciousness, the capital island, Male', contrasts with “the islands” — a distinction which is particularly evident in the public health sphere, where striving for health equity encounters geographical and socio-political obstacles. Using the topic of the inherited blood disorder thalassaemia as a magnifying lens, this paper asks how different actors are making sense of health inequities between central and outer islands in the Maldivian archipelago. Intra-archipelagic and international mobilities add to the complexities of topological relations, experiences, and representations within this multi-island assemblage. Yet, my study of archipelagic health relations is not confined to a mere outside look at the construction of the ‘island other’ within the archipelagic community. It is a situated investigative gaze on disjunctures, connections, and entanglements, reflecting my methodological-theoretical attempt to unravel my own involvement in island–island relations and representations — my being entangled while investigating entanglements.

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