The introduction to this Shima theme issue highlights the theoretical and historical significance of decolonial approaches to island studies. The authors argue for a praxis-oriented, Indigenous-centred, and trans-oceanic framework that can form the basis of comparative archipelago studies. They emphasize that archipelagos disrupt continental modes of thinking and call for methodologies that merge multiple sea-based frameworks and spatialities. The project is presented as an intra-oceanic dialogue, shaped by the research of Macarena Gómez-Barris on extractive zones in Latin American archipelagos and May Joseph’s work on coloniality and island structures.

Gomez-Barris, Macarena and May Joseph. 2019. “Coloniality and Islands.” Shima 13(2): 1-10.