Understanding West Maui | Dr. Bianca Isaki on Land, Labor & Maui’s Future

#WestMaui #MauiFuture #LandAndLabor

Dr. Bianca K. Isaki joins interviewer Alaka‘i Lastimado to explore her extensive research on land, labor, tourism, agriculture, and political power in West Maui. Drawing from legal work, academic research, and community advocacy, Isaki discusses the enduring impact of plantation history, struggles over land and water, and the competing visions shaping Maui’s future.

About the Author:
Bianca K. Isaki is a writer, solo legal practitioner, community activist, and director of the North Beach–West Maui Benefit Fund. She earned her PhD in Political Science from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, completing research on Asian settler colonialism and plantation labor organizing. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois, she returned to Hawai‘i to teach Women’s Studies and later graduated summa cum laude from the William S. Richardson School of Law.

Works Discussed:
Post-Plantation Memories and Tourism’s Futures in West Maui (in Tourism Impacts West Maui)
https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/tour...

Six Theses on the Problem of Gentlemen’s Estates (in Social Change in West Maui)
https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/soci...

The Once and Future Farmers of Kahoma (in Civil Society in West Maui)
https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/civi...

No Ka Wi o Lahaina Nei: On the Lahaina Famine (in Historical Investigations in West Maui)
https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/inve...

Water and Power in West Maui
https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/wate...

West Maui Book Series
Edited by Lance D. Collins, PhD, the series supports research and education on the history, culture, land, and governance of West Maui.

#BiancaIsaki #AlakaiLastimado #MauiHistory #HawaiiLandUse #UHPress #WestMauiBookSeries #MauiRecovery #CommunityPower