Since the extensive floods of 1966, inhabitants of Venice's laguna areas
have come to share in, and reflect upon, concerns over pressing
environmental problems. Evidence of damage caused by industrial
pollution has contributed to the need to recover a common culture and
establish a sense of continuity with "truly Venetian traditions."
Based on ethnographic and archival data, this in-depth study of the
Venetian island of Burano shows how its inhabitants develop their sense
of a distinct identity on the basis of their notions of gender, honor
and kinship relations, their common memories, their knowledge and love
of their environment and their special skills in fishing and lace
making.