{"title":"Toward an Understanding of Patron-Client Politics and Corruption in Papua New Guinea: A Narrative Review","authors":"T. Winn","doi":"10.1353/cp.2022.0062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2022.0062","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Corruption is deeply entrenched in Papua New Guinea (PNG)'s administrative and political systems. However, despite a litany of studies on mainstream institutional causes of corruption in PNG, there has been little focus on the role of PNG's strong social networks and reciprocity systems in embedding corruption within state institutions. Through a review of literature pertaining to patron-client politics and corruption, I argue that PNG's informal systems of reciprocity, the wantok and big man systems, have systematically exacerbated corruption through practices of patron-client politics.","PeriodicalId":51783,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Pacific","volume":"34 1","pages":"386 - 418"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46580466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editor's Note: Interdisciplinarity Reimagined","authors":"Vilsoni T. Hereniko","doi":"10.1353/cp.2022.0058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2022.0058","url":null,"abstract":"Once there was a tree called “niu.”2 Every part of the tree was useful for sustaining physical and spiritual life: the Islanders used the leaves to weave beautiful baskets, fans, hats, floor coverings, and thatch, and they used the trunks for house posts, drums, and wooden vessels. The Islanders drank the sweet nectar of the tree’s coconuts and snacked on the firm flesh all day long; they made cooking sauces from the fermented flesh, wove strong rope from the husks, and made coconut milk to cook all kinds of delicious food dishes, desserts, and more. This was a tree that gave in all kinds of ways; every single part of the tree had a use. It was the most generous of trees, so the people called it “the tree of life.” And the people were happy. Many years later, strangers came to this island with their money and seduced themwith what money could buy: good-paying jobs, better houses, more material or foreign things to own, fancy cars and clothes, and so on. Their lawmakers also told them that if they wanted the foreigners from outside to keep coming with their dollars, they had to remove all the coconuts from the trees in case they fell on the heads of strangers who did not know anything about the tree. And the people believed. Suddenly, an invisible virus attacked all the people on the island, including the foreigners. So the strangers fled back to where they came from. The people lost their jobs. Without money, they could not afford to buy food from the supermarkets. Instead, they had to stay at home, wear masks around their faces, and protect themselves from the virus or they would die. While everyone and everything was on lockdown, the coconut trees started to bear fruit again. There being no people available to abort the emerging coconuts, the fruit of the trees grew to full maturity. When the pandemic was over and the Islanders reappeared, they saw the coconuts on the trees again! It was then that they REMEMBERED what the tree had meant to them before the strangers appeared. They said to themselves, “Never again!” And they resumed planting groves of coconut trees to","PeriodicalId":51783,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Pacific","volume":"34 1","pages":"ix - xvii"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46097429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pacific Possessions: The Pursuit of Authenticity in Nineteenth-Century Oceanian Travel Accounts by Chris J Thomas (review)","authors":"Leanne P. Day","doi":"10.1353/cp.2022.0051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2022.0051","url":null,"abstract":"the southeastern Solomon Islands, where Indigenous techniques and interisland voyaging continue to be practiced. In discussing leadership and spiritual power (88–89), there is no acknowledgment of Marshall Sahlins, Irving Goldman, Firth, or the many other prominent commentators. Later, Thomas states that “Austronesian cultures seem to have privileged the ‘founders’ of particular communities” (97), without considering Sahlins’s notion of “the stranger-king” (laid out at some length in 1981). Given the intended audience, Thomas justifiably avoids excessive detail. Still, decades of debate on this important topic deserve some recognition. One factual error in the book involves Satawalese navigator Mau Piailug, who guided Hōkūle‘a without instruments from Hawai‘i to Tahiti. Thomas states that Piailug “used standard modern instruments on the return leg” (133). In fact, he did not participate in the return voyage, instead leaving directly from Tahiti for his home on Satawal (see Ben R Finney’s Hokule‘a: The Way to Tahiti [1979]). While the work would have benefitted from more comprehensive coverage and better fact-checking, Voyagers is generally well written and amply illustrated. It is accessible, contains valuable information, pays due respect to Islanders and their accomplishments, and may help inspire readers to explore the region and its people in greater depth.","PeriodicalId":51783,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Pacific","volume":"34 1","pages":"511 - 514"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44623040","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Region in Review: International Issues and Events, 2021","authors":"N. Maclellan","doi":"10.1353/cp.2022.0049","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2022.0049","url":null,"abstract":"The global Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic dominated regional and international politics throughout 2020. Despite many Pacific countries avoiding the worst impacts, the pandemic highlighted social, political, and economic inequalities, with many vulnerable communities affected by overburdened health systems, changes in food production, and disruption of the formal and informal economy. Here, Maclellan discusses the economic impacts of COVID-19 in the Pacific.","PeriodicalId":51783,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Pacific","volume":"34 1","pages":"422 - 446"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49536958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Kalaupapa Place Names: Waikolu to Nihoa by John R K Clark (review)","authors":"Charles M. Langlas","doi":"10.1353/cp.2022.0057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2022.0057","url":null,"abstract":"each year, giving us a glimpse into the capacity of labor and love for the land. As the film moves from one mo‘olelo to another, it honors the kūpuna and ‘ohana (families) of these places and the place-based knowledge that has accumulated over time and lives on through successive generations. Restoring loko i‘a is a connection to the past, linking Kānaka Maoli physically, mentally, and spiritually with kūpuna when they visit these spaces. The film also frames loko i‘a practices within education and academia, giving viewers a sense of how valuable these systems and ‘ike kūpuna (ancestral knowledge) are to elevating current and future generations. Through understanding the functions within a loko i‘a, we begin to understand the importance of kilo (keen observation) of our environment and our relationship with it. Indigenous kūpuna were biologists, ecologists, architects, historians, natural resource managers, and much more than what Western society knows today, as practicing kilo was essential to their daily lifestyle and a foundation for sustaining their connection with ‘āina and those around them. The concept of loko i‘a embodies a space of productivity, as it is a reflection of the mauka (upland) and makai (oceanside) systems and the delicate balance that must be maintained between them. That is why restoring wai (fresh water) from upland streams and groundwater springs is so important to the functioning of loko i‘a, as well as managing the health of ocean fisheries. As a Native Hawaiian and an academic graduate student researcher who has had the privilege to work with loko i‘a restoration efforts and conduct projects in such places, this film is a great reminder of my role in our collective kuleana to care for and perpetuate ‘ike kūpuna. As Aunty Kehaulani Lum, a kia‘i at Pā‘aiau loko i‘a, graciously shared during a panel discussion on the film hosted by Historic Hawai‘i Foundation on 27 October 2021: “‘Āina is our textbook, and the biggest tool is our heart.” Kai Piha: Nā Loko I‘a is a testament to Native Hawaiian resilience and the knowledge that exists within us, which we pass down over generations.","PeriodicalId":51783,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Pacific","volume":"34 1","pages":"506 - 509"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42593368","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Voyagers: The Settlement of the Pacific by Nicholas Thomas (review)","authors":"R. Feinberg","doi":"10.1353/cp.2022.0056","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2022.0056","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51783,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Pacific","volume":"34 1","pages":"509 - 511"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42808506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Refiti, Anna-Chr Engels-Schwarzpaul, Billie Lythberg, V. Smith, Layne Waerea
{"title":"A Different Kind of Vā: Spiraling through Time and Space","authors":"A. Refiti, Anna-Chr Engels-Schwarzpaul, Billie Lythberg, V. Smith, Layne Waerea","doi":"10.1353/cp.2022.0060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2022.0060","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This dialogue is a structured account of an experiment that we, as researchers in the Vā Moana–Pacific Spaces cluster at Auckland University of Technology, carried out during and between lockdowns in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland during the covid-19 pandemic in 2020–2021. The previous year, Vā Moana had begun to investigate how—without shared physical presence—virtual participation in events can uphold central Māori and Moana (Pacific) traditional values of tikanga (te reo Māori: correct procedure, custom) and teu le vā (gagana Sāmoa: nurturing relational space). Aspects of our research concern practices that continue to emphasize vā—as the attachment and feeling for place and relatedness—outside the Pacific homelands. These nascent practices contribute to an emerging understanding of place as an imaginary space of belonging, in which online environments (the digital vā) play a role. The outbreak of covid-19 gave this general interest unexpected but sharp focus. In this essay, we present, contextualize, and analyze excerpts from three conversations between Vā Moana team members in Aotearoa. Held during, between, and after lockdown periods between March and November 2020, these conversations were conducted either fully online or in a blended format. In the latter case, some members met face-to-face in a \"hub,\" and others used online platforms to participate in reviewing and reorganizing our research relationships under the new conditions, using the challenge thrown before us as an opportunity for experimentation and change.","PeriodicalId":51783,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Pacific","volume":"34 1","pages":"355 - 382"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46124367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reawakened: Traditional Navigators of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa by Jeff Evans (review)","authors":"Meagan Harden","doi":"10.1353/cp.2022.0053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2022.0053","url":null,"abstract":"writers became unsettled through their Pacific encounters and fervent desires for a nonexistent precolonial romanticized Oceanian experience, Thomas centers the generative work of literary narrative as an authenticating process that ultimately cannot forget its Western lens. Pacific Possessions contributes to contemporary discussions of tourism, globalization, decolonization, and metaphorical spaces of encounters on the beach, the page, and the photograph.","PeriodicalId":51783,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Pacific","volume":"34 1","pages":"514 - 516"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2023-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42081578","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}