A close look at island life in transition
The islands of the eastern Mediterranean underwent changes in the 19th century. With the fall of empires, the emergence of industry and the growth of trade links, island economies as they were traditionally known either collapsed or were transformed. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the TransISLES project explores this era of upheaval through the histories of three individual islands: Santorini, Tinos and Ithaca. Each of these islands offers a window into how island families adapted to economic changes, social mobility and gender roles. The project brings together maritime history, family studies and digital methodologies to juxtapose household-level data with regional patterns. In particular, it illustrates how small island communities have responded to global pressures.