Tioor, Rhun, Moluccas, Indonesia

Islands as a fascinating phenomenon, as alleged paradises and opposite worlds, make up a firm part of the history of occidental and far eastern civilisations. Since the late 1980s, islands have become the subject of global attention and of political action in the context of emerging debates about the threatened biodiversity and the sea level rise. The International Small Island Studies Association (ISISA), for instance, organised seven international island conferences so far.
More than 10,000 small islands belong to the Indonesian archipelago. Up to now, however, there is no scientific institution in existence in this island republic, which goes explicitly into the complex of problems of small islands.
The thesis of Stefan Stubenvoll is placed in this international and national context. It is not only understood as a monograph about two islands in the vast archipelago of the Moluccas, but also as a methodological framework for research about the social and physical interdependencies, which characterise the ecosystem "small island".

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