Migrating to Scottish insular communities: how remoteness affects integration by shaping borders and identities

This chapter discusses how remoteness participates in the integration process not as a mere context in which actions occur but as a dimension the actors experience, appropriate, and mobilize. We explore how the emphasis on ‘local’ homogenous identity in remote communities can present an obstacle to integration, especially where this is understood as assimilation. We also investigate how the awareness of the important role incoming migrants play in revitalizing these ageing and shrinking communities and their contribution to the local economy can be a key enabler of integration between locals and migrants. Finally, we explore the role of the remote landscape in the performance of migrant identity, and how the resulting symbolic appropriation of space is fundamental for the construction of a sense of belonging.