The Contemporary Pacific – Page 3

The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 27, no. 2 (2015)

Posted on August 31, 2015 by pwilson6

Decolonization, Language, and Identity: The Francophone Islands of the Pacific

Guest edited by Bruno Saura

and Léopold Mu Si Yan

ARTICLES

Decolonization, Language, and Identity: The Francophone Islands of the Pacific
Léopold Mu Si Yan and Bruno Saura, 325

Abstract: This article is both an introduction to this special issue of The Contemporary Pacific and a more general reflection about francophone research in the Pacific Islands and about their cultures and populations. The common topic of the essays selected here is the difficulty of maintaining an indigenous identity within the French colonial system in the French or francophone islands of the Pacific (New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna). Four contributions from contemporary scholars of New Caledonia and French Polynesia bring their research on the cultural, social, and political struggles of their interlocutors to better visibility for a broad, largely anglophone audience in Pacific studies. The Resources section, produced by the chief librarians of the University of New Caledonia and the University of French Polynesia, provides a very useful overview of bibliographic and research materials about these two territories. Putting things in broader perspective, this introduction discusses what may be a common denominator in research work produced by francophone scholars that makes it distinctly different from the work of Anglophones. As well, it raises the epistemological issue of the political commitment of researchers born in the francophone Pacific Islands or living there on a permanent basis.
Keywords: French research, francophone Pacific, New Caledonia, French Polynesia

Continue reading “The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 27, no. 2 (2015)”

The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 27, no. 1 (2015)

Posted on June 8, 2015 by pwilson6

The Pacific Islands (map)
p. V

About the Artist: Fatu Feu‘u
Katherine Higgins, VI

ARTICLES

Vulnerable Islands: Climate Change, Tectonic Change, and Changing Livelihoods in the Western Pacific
John Connell, 1

Small Pacific islands, especially atolls, have been widely argued to be in the forefront of climate change. Recent degradation of island environments has primarily been attributed to the impact of sea-level rise. However, physical changes to several small islands can be linked to a range of physical influences and to human modification. La Niña events, cyclones, and wind waves have caused localized flooding and storm damage. Most atoll islands have not significantly changed in size, as deposition balances erosion. Many islands have experienced broadly similar environmental problems in earlier times, at different scales, and over different time periods, now accentuated by human pressures on scarce land areas and resources. Local human factors (including construction and mining), tectonic subsidence, and La Niña events have created some iconic sites that have become symbols of sea-level rise, sometimes erroneously attributed solely to global warming. Limited economic prospects in most small islands, rising expectations, and growing populations have contributed to a culture of migration, marked by international migration and urbanization, that has diversified impoverished livelihoods, extended island geographies, and resulted in accentuated population concentrations. Contemporary climate change exacerbates present environmental changes, stimulates further migration, and points to diasporic futures.
Keywords: atolls, climate change, sea level, tectonics, urbanization, migration

Continue reading “The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 27, no. 1 (2015)”

The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 26, no. 2 (2014)

Posted on September 22, 2014 by pwilson6

Global Sport in the Pacific

Guest edited by Fa’anofo Lisaclaire (Lisa) Uperesa and Tom Mountjoy

The Pacific Islands, iv

About the Artist: Greg Semu, viii-553

ARTICLES

Global Sport in the Pacific: A Brief Overview
Fa‘anofo Lisaclaire (Lisa) Uperesa and Tom Mountjoy, 263

Abstract: In recent decades, sport has become an increasingly important path of mobility for Pacific Islander men, positioning them within interlinked local, state, regional, and global sporting economies. Players from the Pacific (particularly in rugby, rugby league, soccer, and gridiron football) have become icons through their sporting prowess, not only within Oceania but in Japan, the United States, and throughout Europe as well, as new markets have opened up through professional and semi-professional sport. Yet this movement continues to take place within the fragile context of the spread of globalized media, transnational capital investment, and development initiatives throughout the region. This introduction to global sport in the Pacific considers the complicated realities of and links between modern, highly commercialized team sports that have facilitated both the rise of global sport in the Pacific and the rise of the Pacific in global sport. Focused on key themes of agency and mobility; development and discipline; indigenization, embodiment, and ethno-nationalism; and polyvalent imaginaries, the contributions to this special issue explore how and why sporting practices have become closely linked to various economic, political, and social processes that shape possibilities for everyday life across the Pacific and beyond.
Keywords: sport, mobility, globalization, commoditization, ethnography

Continue reading “The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 26, no. 2 (2014)”

The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 26, no. 1 (2014)

Posted on April 14, 2014 by alphabex

About the Artist: Visesio Poasi Siasau, vii

The Pacific Islands, viii

ARTICLES

Climate-Change Migration in the Pacific
John R Campbell, 1

Abstract: Despite considerable debate about whether or not climate change will cause large numbers of people to migrate, there has been little consideration of how such displacement might be caused. Three effects of climate change are identified as possible drivers of migration: loss of or reduction in land security, livelihood security, and habitat security. Where these are destroyed by climate change, migration will be forced and would require the abandonment of some locations. Such community relocation is likely to be a disruptive form of climate-change migration, and past experience indicates that there are numerous social, cultural, emotional, and economic costs associated with such moves, even at relatively small distances. Where the loss of security is partial, voluntary or induced migration may be a practical adaptive response, reducing pressure on declining local life-support systems and providing remittances to supplement declining livelihoods. Most attention has been focused on atoll communities, but most Pacific communities (with the exception of Papua New Guinea) are coastal, and the security of some inland areas may be threatened by increasing magnitude and frequency of droughts. Destinations for climate-change migrants may range from locations within customary lands to foreign countries within and beyond the region. A key issue is the essential link between Pacific Islands people and their land, which poses major problems not only for those forced to leave but also for communities within the region that may be required to give up land for relocatees.
Keywords: climate change, migration, relocation, land security, livelihood security, habitat security
Continue reading “The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 26, no. 1 (2014)”

The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 25, no. 2 (2013)

Posted on August 5, 2013 by UH Press

The Pacific Islands, v

About the Artists: From the 2012 Festival of Pacific Arts, vii

articles

After Cannibal Tours: Cargoism and Marginality in a Post-touristic Sepik River Society
Eric K Silverman, 221

Continue reading “The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 25, no. 2 (2013)”

The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 25, no. 1 (2013)

Posted on April 1, 2013 by alphabex

The Pacific Islands, v

About the Artists: The Jaki-Ed Collective, vii

ARTICLES

How Can Traditional Knowledge Best Be Regulated? Comparing a Proprietary Rights Approach with a Regulatory Toolbox Approach
Miranda Forsyth, 1

Abstract: Traditional knowledge is increasingly being seen as a potential source of economic value in the Pacific Islands region. Continue reading “The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 25, no. 1 (2013)”

The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 24, no. 2 (2012)

Posted on August 1, 2012 by alphabex

The Pacific Islands, v

About the Artist: Ani O’Neill, vii

ARTICLES

Pills, Potions, Products: Kava’s Transformations in New and Nontraditional Contexts
Jonathan D Baker, 233

Abstract: This article focuses on kava (Piper methysticum G. Forst, Piperaceae) in its various forms: plant, beverage, medicine, and dietary supplement. Continue reading “The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 24, no. 2 (2012)”

The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 24, no. 1 (2012)

Posted on February 13, 2012 by alphabex

The Pacific Islands, v

About the Artist: Andy Leleisi‘uao, vii

ARTICLES

‘I Hē Koe? Placing Rapa Nui
Forrest Wade Young, 1

Abstract: In August 2010, conflict between indigenous Rapa Nui people and the Chilean state in “Easter Island” escalated as Rapa Nui occupied institutions and lands claimed by the Chilean state. Continue reading “The Contemporary Pacific, vol. 24, no. 1 (2012)”