There are Only Islands After the End of the World

Summarising the contemporary shift towards working with islands in the Anthropocene in a set of concepts, this introduction outlines the key tropes of ‘relational entanglements’, ‘relational awareness’ and ‘feedbacks’ in writing on islands. Working with islands plays an increasingly notable role in Anthropocene thinking as it is precisely with islands that these relational effects come to the fore. Island ‘differences’ – the attributes, relational affordances and powers associated with islands – have put working with islands to the forefront of Anthropocene research and theory. Outlining the rationale for the structure of the book this chapter highlights the key elements of a critical agenda for island studies: focusing upon relational ontologies (Resilience and Patchworks) and relational onto-epistemologies (Correlation and Storiation), and ultimately the importance of island studies in the Anthropocene. To understand why and how Anthropocene thinking is as it is today, is only possible if we are able to more fully consider how and why working with islands is playing such an important and generative role.