Jens Westerskov Andersen

Jens Westerskov Andersen is an islander by birth and sociologist by training. He is currently working on a project on small island studies in Denmark.

Main research areas

• Island Studies
• Rurality and Modernity
• Human Ecology

Current research

In my research in small island communities, I examine the socially differentiated reorganization of more than 30 small islands in Denmark with a wide range of ethnographic methods (gradual fieldwork, observational studies and qualitative interviews, sociological mapping, examination of historical records, etc.). The concept of reorganization is here understood as both the distribution and concentration of native islanders and newcomers (varying greatly from one island to the next), as well as the ‘total human pressure’ on small islands created by the excessive and differentiated second home use and seasonal tourism. Compared with ethnographic data from the 1920s and the 1980s – drawing on the trailblazing works of Achton Friis (1871-1939) and Erik Aalbæk Jensen (1923-1997) – this forms a historical framework for analyzing the societal change and transformation of the Danish small island archipelago during the past 100 years. This helps explore what belonging, social life, and the spatial usage is like on a small island today.