Sub-National Island Jurisdictions as Configurations of Jurisdictional Powers and Economic Capacity: Nordic Experiences from Åland, Faroes and Greenland

This paper is concerned with the relationship between jurisdictional powers and
economic and innovative capacity in the context of sub-national island jurisdictions
(SNIJs). The “jurisdictional powers thesis”, prominent in the present island studies debate,
is confronted and discussed with reference to an empirical, comparative, study of the three
Nordic SNIJs: the Åland Islands, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The paper takes as its
point of departure an ideal-type SNIJ which is characterized by a good match between
jurisdictional powers and economic capacity; it then analyzes the three cases in terms of
this ideal-type. Three different types of configurations emerge, representing three types of
“deviations” from the ideal-type SNIJ; these are discussed in terms of their development
potentialities.