Islands of Difference: Design, Urbanism, and Sustainable Tourism in the Anthropocene Caribbean

Amelia Moore, University of Rhode Island

Abstract

This paper introduces the Anthropocene idea as a problem space with salience for Caribbean anthropology and the Caribbean travel industry. The term is used by scientists to define the present era in which human processes operate at the scale of the Earth’s geologic and biological systems, and it has come to justify a host of current actions in the name of sustainability. Through the examination of a new second-home destination currently being built in The Bahamas, I point out shifting trends in tourism design moving away from the anchor resort model of enclave mass tourism. I make the case that Anthropocene notions of sustainability not only rearticulate building practices and destination branding, but also analytic possibilities for the study of island place making and transnational processes. I advocate for a greater incorporation of design and urban anthropology into the study of Caribbean tourism as a means to understand these emerging events.