
Pacific Alternatives
Cultural politics in contemporary Oceania
Sean Kingston Publishing
Published on 1. September 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
296 pages
978-1-907774-87-4 (ISBN)
Description
At the centre of this collection are the actors and processes referred to by the distinguished Oceania thinker and visionary Epeli Hau‘ofa as ‘ordinary people … who, because of the poor flows of benefits from the top, scepticism about stated policies and the like, tend to plan and make decisions about their lives independently, sometimes with surprising and dramatic results that go unnoticed or ignored at the top’. The contributors explore innovative social, cultural and political responses to global processes as they influence and unfold in a range of Pacific locations – with a major focus on Island Melanesia and a further range of contributions on Palau, Pohnpei, Rotuma and Australia. A multi-disciplinary group, including a number of Pacific Islanders, the authors present contemporary connections between expanding perceptions of cultural heritage and the emergence of new political forms, in the context of challenges posed by the global political economy. At issue in the volume are viable local Pacific alternatives to the institutions and practices commonly advocated in development discourse, but difficult to implement in Pacific settings.
‘Pacific Alternatives provides fresh perspectives on the ways that cultural heritage serves as a unique source of engaging the modern state and global non-state actors. The volume showcases two of the strongest features of contemporary Pacific Studies scholarship: the ability to find new insights in experience-near analyses of Islander life that have world enlarging potentials, and the foregrounding of Indigenous voices in the evolving dialogue around land, politics, culture, tradition, custom, and identity.’
Ty K¿wika Tengan, University of Hawai‘i.
Pacific Alternatives is a companion volume to Made in Oceania, also published by Sean Kingston Publishing.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxon
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
33 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
453 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-907774-87-4 (9781907774874)
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Schweitzer Classification