Pacific Island Studies

Peut-on danser pour Dieu ? Le pentecôtisme polynésien entre rigorisme et "réveil culturel"

by Yannick Fer

Actes du colloque « Religions populaires et nouveaux syncrétismes », Département d’ethnologie de l’Université de la Réunion, Surya éd., La Réunion. Pages 165-174.

Hassall - Traditional Governance Study

by Graham Hassall

Graham Hassall, Mili Kaitani, Paul Mae, Feue Tipu, Laiasiasa Wainikesa, Background Report on Local Government and Traditional Systems in Pacific Island Countries, report written in 2008 or the Commonwealth Local Government Forum - Pacific Project, UNDP, and FSPI.

This desk review is the first element of the Comparative Study on Local Government and Traditional Governance Systems... more This desk review is the first element of the Comparative Study on Local Government and Traditional Governance Systems Interaction in Pacific Island Countries. It provides a foundation for the subsequent phases, and is intended in particular to inform the fieldwork, mapping and analysis through description of the existing system of local/sub-national governance in eight selected Pacific Island Countries and how these relate to traditional governance systems. The eight countries are: • Cook Islands • Fiji Islands • Kiribati • Samoa • Solomon Islands • Tonga • Tuvalu • Vanuatu

Who speaks here? Formality and the politics of gender in Mendi , Highland Papua New Guinea

by Rena Lederman

Sorcery and social change

by Rena Lederman

Chambri endgame: history and anthropology in New Guinea

by Rena Lederman

The return of Redwoman: fieldwork in Highland Papua New Guinea

by Rena Lederman

Big men large and small: toward a comparative perspective

by Rena Lederman

Pretexts for ethnography: on reading fieldnotes

by Rena Lederman

Comparative strategies: dialectics of the gift

by Rena Lederman

Mendi, Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea

by Rena Lederman

Interests in exchange: increment, equivalence and the limits of big-manship

by Rena Lederman

Globalization and the future of culture areas: Melanesianist anthropology in transition

by Rena Lederman

Contested Order: Gender and Society in the Southern New Guinea Highlands

by Rena Lederman

Challenging Audiences: Critical Ethnography in/for Oceania

by Rena Lederman

‘Drugs, guns and gangs’: Case studies on Pacific states and how they deploy NZ media regulators

by David Robie

Robie, D. (2012). ‘Drugs, guns and gangs’: Case studies on Pacific states and how they deploy NZ media regulators. Pacific Journalism Review, 18(1): 105-127. ISSN 1023 9499

Media freedom and the capacity for investigative journalism have been steadily eroded in the South Pacific in the past... more Media freedom and the capacity for investigative journalism have been steadily eroded in the South Pacific in the past five years in the wake of an entrenched coup and censorship in Fiji. The muzzling of the Fiji press, for decades one of the Pacific’s media trendsetters, has led to the emergence of a culture of self-censorship and a trend in some Pacific countries to harness New Zealand’s regulatory and self-regulatory media mechanisms to stifle unflattering reportage. The regulatory Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) and the self-regulatory NZ Press Council have made a total of four adjudications on complaints by both the Fiji military-backed regime and the Samoan government and in one case a NZ cabinet minister. The complaints have been twice against Fairfax New Zealand media—targeting a prominent regional print journalist with the first complaint in March 2008—and twice against television journalists, one of them against the highly rated current affairs programme Campbell Live. One complaint, over the reporting of Fiji, was made by NZ’s Rugby World Cup Minister. All but one of the complaints have been upheld by the regulatory/self-regulatory bodies. The one unsuccessful complaint is currently the subject of a High Court appeal by the Samoan Attorney-General’s Office and is over a television report that won the journalists concerned an investigative journalism award. This article examines case studies around this growing trend and explores the strategic impact on regional media and investigative journalism.

Faith-Based Organizations and Social Policy in Melanesia

by Graham Hassall

This paper was presented at a workshop on RELIGION AND SOCIAL POLICY IN AUSTRALIA AND NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES, 24-25 November 2011. Convened by Peter Saunders (UNSW) and Minako Sakai (UNSW Canberra), and held at the Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales. The papers are to be published in the Australian Journal of Social Issues in 2013.

Religious beliefs and actors have made substantial contributions to the small island states of the Pacific, which are... more Religious beliefs and actors have made substantial contributions to the small island states of the Pacific, which are best understood in the context of the region’s unique geography, cultures, and histories. Contemporary Faith-based organizations (FBOs) in the Melanesian societies of Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea – whose populations, due to their small size and remoteness, were amongst the last in the world to receive Christian missions and European colonizers - include established churches, formalized service providers, social networks, accredited NGO’s, collaborative entities, and even business and media divisions which play multiple complementary and/or contradictory roles as promoters of the common interest and as protectors of sectarian interests.  These tensions between “public good” activities and particularistic needs create a “fault line” in the articulation and implementation for effective social policy outcomes: due to the manner in which the Melanesian states evolved, as explained in brief below, contemporary governments seek effective partnerships with FBOs for program and service delivery at community level whilst also seeking more effective integration of policy at national level. However, whilst the close association between FBOs and social policy in the Melanesian states is appreciated by all concerned, the low rate of progress with human development indicators, and with achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, raises questions about the effectiveness of current approaches to agenda-setting, policy articulation and implementation. 

Pacific Island Parliaments: developmental aspirations and political realities

by Graham Hassall

This paper was presented at the Australasian Study of Parliament Group conference: 'The Executive v. the Parliament: Who Wins?' Melbourne, 6-8 October, 2011

It is online at the ASPG website

The evolution of government in Pacific islands Parliamentary practice in the Pacific Islands has not received much... more The evolution of government in Pacific islands Parliamentary practice in the Pacific Islands has not received much scholarly attention.  A number of capacity-building projects are underway to improve administrative practice.  This paper reviews current development assistant projects as well as the interplay between executive and legislative power that remains a feature of most parliaments in the region. It includes a review the Pacific islands context, consideration of recent parliamentary dynamics, and a review of parliamentary development activities.

Ecologie préhistorique et développement durable en Océanie : 3000 ans d’expériences humaines en milieux fragiles

by Arnaud Noury

La colonisation humaine du Pacifique par les populations dites Lapita en Océanie a débuté des processus de... more La colonisation humaine du Pacifique par les populations dites Lapita en Océanie a débuté des processus de modification de l’environnement considérables qui n’ont cessé de s’amplifier ces 3000 dernières années. L’archéologie permet de mieux comprendre l’impact de l’Homme dans les environnements fragiles que sont les milieux insulaires, et de l’évolution des équilibres entre la société, l’économie et l’environnement qui sont les trois piliers d’un développement durable dans le Pacifique.

'Cartoline Da Samoa' (2009) Written by Daniela Morera

by Shigeyuki Kihara

'Cartoline Da Samoa' (2009) Written by Daniela Morera. Published in Rollingstones Magazine, taly.

'Shigeyuki Kihara's Fa'afafine in a manner of a woman' ; the Photographic Theatre of Cross-Cultural Encounter' Written by Erika Wolf

by Shigeyuki Kihara

'Shigeyuki Kihara's Fa'afafine in a manner of a woman' ; the Photographic Theatre of Cross-Cultural Encounter' Written by Erika Wolf, University of Otago. Published in Pacific Arts Association Journal.