Oceania, 800-1800CE

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. Flexner
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Old World ◽  
Political Evolution ◽  
The People ◽  
The Pacific

Over a span of 1000 years beginning around 800CE, the people of the Pacific Islands undertook a remarkable period of voyaging, political evolution, and cross-cultural interactions. Polynesian navigators encountered previously uninhabited lands, as well as already inhabited islands and the coast of the Americas. Island societies saw epic sagas of political competition and intrigue, documented through oral traditions and the monuments and artefacts recovered through archaeology. European entry into the region added a new episode of interaction with strange people from over the horizon. These histories provide an important cross-cultural perspective for the concept of 'the Middle Ages' from outside of the usual Old World focus.

Growing Coconut Palms in the Pacific Islands: Colliding Knowledge and Values

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith A. Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Coconut Oil ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Experiential Knowledge ◽  
The West ◽  
Passive Resistance ◽  
The People ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Tropical Pacific

Coconuts provided commodities for the West in the form of coconut oil and copra. Once colonial governments established control of the tropical Pacific Islands, they needed revenue so urged European settlers to establish coconut plantations. For some decades most copra came from Indigenous growers. Administrations constantly urged the people to thin old groves and plant new ones like plantations, in grid patterns, regularly spaced and weeded. Local growers were instructed to collect all fallen coconuts for copra from their groves. For half a century, the administrations’ requirements met with Indigenous passive resistance. This paper examines the underlying reasons for this, elucidating Indigenous ecological and social values, based on experiential knowledge, knowledge that clashed with Western scientific values.

“We Are Our History”: Reviewing the History of Education in Hawaiʻi and Oceania

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 632-643
Author(s):  
Derek Taira
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Islands ◽  
History Of Education ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Pacific Island ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
History Of ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
Pacific Island Nations

There is a “world of difference,” anthropologist Epeli Hauʻofa argued, “between viewing the Pacific as ‘islands in a far sea’ and as ‘a sea of islands.’” The distinction between both perspectives, he explained, is exemplified in the two names used for the region: Pacific Islands and Oceania. The former represents a colonial vision produced by white “continental men” emphasizing the smallness and remoteness of “dry surfaces in a vast ocean far from centers of power.” This understanding has produced and sustained an “economistic and geographic deterministic view” emphasizing Pacific Island nations as “too small, too poor, and too isolated” to take care of themselves. The latter, in contrast, denotes a grand space inhabited by brave and resourceful people whose myths, legends, oral traditions, and cosmologies reveal how they did not conceive of themselves in such “microscopic proportions.” Rather, Oceanic peoples have for over two millennia viewed the sea as a “large world” where peoples, goods, and cultures moved and mingled unhindered by fixed national boundaries.

How Contemporary Publics Understand and Experience Happiness: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
DOH CHULL SHIN
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
The West ◽  
China And India ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
The People ◽  
Culturally Different

AbstractHow do contemporary publics understand happiness? What makes them experience it? Do conceptions and sources of their happiness vary across culturally different societies? This paper addresses these questions, utilizing the 2008 round of the AsiaBarometer surveys conducted in six countries scattered over four different continents. Analyses of these surveys, conducted in Japan, China, and India from the East; and the United States, Russia, and Australia from the West, reveal a number of interesting cross-cultural differences and similarities in the way the people of the East and West understand and experience happiness. Specifically, the former are much less multidimensional than the latter in their conceptions of happiness. Yet, they are alike in that their sense of relative achievement or deprivation is the most pervasive and powerful influence on happiness.

A consumer-oriented segmentation study on edible insects in Switzerland and Thailand

2019 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 482-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Brunner ◽  
Krittinee Nuttavuthisit
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Of Innovation ◽  
Hierarchical Cluster ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Edible Insects ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovation Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The People ◽  
Insects As Food ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Edible insects might be the meat of the future. However, promoting insects as food, at least in western countries, is not an easy task. Segmenting consumers into various similarly behaving groups and targeting them separately is the first step to more successfully promoting insect cuisine. By taking a cross-cultural perspective on the topic of entomophagy and investigating the impact of different cultural settings, additional insights may be revealed that can be used to develop marketing strategies. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach Using survey data from Switzerland (N=542) and Thailand (N=500), a hierarchical cluster analysis yielded four consumer segments in each country. Findings Interestingly, in both countries, the segments themselves can be named identically and accordingly to Roger’s diffusion of innovation theory: early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. However, the size of the segments and the people within these corresponding segments are quite different sociodemographically and in some of the investigated psychographic scales, such as food neophobia. The authors conclude that consumers in countries with an entomophagy tradition behave quite differently from those without one. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first cross-cultural consumer segmentation study on the topic of entomophagy. Based on these results, initial conclusions can be drawn on how to successfully target the specific segments.

scholarly journals Discourses of Vulnerability: Kiribati, I-Kiribati Women and Forced Migration Due to Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Holly Mansfield
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
The People ◽  
Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
The Pacific

<p>Discourses of vulnerability abound in climate change literature; both particular types of places and particular groups of people are routinely considered especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Such discourses are employed by the international community in a technical manner—attempting to categorise current and expected degrees of impact on places and populations—and also to support the advocacy of urgent action to respond to climate change. This thesis examines the manner in which discourses of vulnerability are being invoked in discussions about the impacts of climate change and considers what impact this has on the people and places that are being described in this way. This research focuses specifically on Kiribati and I-Kiribati women and explores, in particular, how the debate about forced migration (as a possible outcome of climate change) has been shaped by vulnerability discourses. Both Kiribati, as a specific type of geographical entity, and women, as a category of people, have been described as having extreme vulnerability to climate change. It is not new for either Pacific Islands or women to be framed as “vulnerable”; however with the increased attention to climate change, vulnerability discourses are being used with such frequency that it is virtually impossible to find literature on the Pacific and women that does not reference their vulnerability. The use of such an emotive term raises questions. Who is naming and claiming vulnerability? What impact does such language have on those that are portrayed in this way? And, what are the long-term consequences of such terminology being used? Interesting questions are also raised regarding discursive similarities between presentations of vulnerable women and vulnerable islands. This thesis addresses these questions by analysing international literature on climate change and forced migration—especially that produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—between 1990 and 2007, and contrasting this with close analysis of public discourse from two vocal I-Kiribati advocates, Pelenise Alofa and Maria Tiimon, from 2009 to 2011. Conclusions are drawn from this analysis regarding the power relationships embedded in discourse, and the possible ramifications of language use for the construction of policy.</p>

Codependency in mothers of addicted persons: Cross-cultural differences between Greece and Bulgaria

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S622-S623 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Giannouli ◽  
D. Ivanova
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Cultural Difference ◽  
High School Graduates ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
The People ◽  
Competing Interest

IntroductionThe people who maintain close relationships with relatives suffering from addiction to psychoactive substances may become more sensitive to develop a physical, mental and emotional state, similar to an emotional addiction.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to give a cross-cultural perspective to codependence and reveal the profile of female relatives of addicted persons in Greece and Bulgaria.MethodThirty-nine Greek mothers of addicted persons from Greece (Mage = 43.97, SDage = 18.34, all high school graduates), a similar group of forty Greek female participants (32 mothers of non-addicted persons, Mage = 40.97, SDage = 17.22, all high school graduates), and thirty Bulgarian women (all mothers of addicted persons, Mage = 53.55, SDage = 5.58, all high school graduates) were examined with the STAI-state questionnaire, the ZUNG Self Rating Depression Scale and the Questionnaire of Establishment of Codependency.ResultsResults indicated that there are statistically significant differences between the Greek and the Bulgarian female relatives of addicted persons on the scores ofZUNG (MGreek = 51.64, SDGreek = 2.07, MBulgarian = 73.63, SDBulgarian = 4.04) and STAI (MGreek = 53.89, SDGreek = 2.68, MBulgarian = 74.16, SDBulgarian = 4.84), but not for the Questionnaire of Establishment of Codependency. Statistically significant differences in all three questionnaires were found for the groups of Greek mothers of dependent and non-dependent persons (P < .005).ConclusionsThis research suggests that although there is more anxiety and depression reported by the Bulgarian mothers of addicted persons, no cross-cultural difference was found for codependence in mothers of addicted persons.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Discourses of Vulnerability: Kiribati, I-Kiribati Women and Forced Migration Due to Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Holly Mansfield
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
The People ◽  
Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
The Pacific

<p>Discourses of vulnerability abound in climate change literature; both particular types of places and particular groups of people are routinely considered especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Such discourses are employed by the international community in a technical manner—attempting to categorise current and expected degrees of impact on places and populations—and also to support the advocacy of urgent action to respond to climate change. This thesis examines the manner in which discourses of vulnerability are being invoked in discussions about the impacts of climate change and considers what impact this has on the people and places that are being described in this way. This research focuses specifically on Kiribati and I-Kiribati women and explores, in particular, how the debate about forced migration (as a possible outcome of climate change) has been shaped by vulnerability discourses. Both Kiribati, as a specific type of geographical entity, and women, as a category of people, have been described as having extreme vulnerability to climate change. It is not new for either Pacific Islands or women to be framed as “vulnerable”; however with the increased attention to climate change, vulnerability discourses are being used with such frequency that it is virtually impossible to find literature on the Pacific and women that does not reference their vulnerability. The use of such an emotive term raises questions. Who is naming and claiming vulnerability? What impact does such language have on those that are portrayed in this way? And, what are the long-term consequences of such terminology being used? Interesting questions are also raised regarding discursive similarities between presentations of vulnerable women and vulnerable islands. This thesis addresses these questions by analysing international literature on climate change and forced migration—especially that produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—between 1990 and 2007, and contrasting this with close analysis of public discourse from two vocal I-Kiribati advocates, Pelenise Alofa and Maria Tiimon, from 2009 to 2011. Conclusions are drawn from this analysis regarding the power relationships embedded in discourse, and the possible ramifications of language use for the construction of policy.</p>

scholarly journals Global South and the Narratives of Dissent: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Dr. Syed Wahaj Mohsin ◽  
Ms. Shaista Taskeen
Keyword(s):  
Global Citizenship ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
Global South ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Binary Opposition ◽  
The South ◽  
The People ◽  
Global North

It will not be incorrect to refer to “Global South” as a blanket term rather than an umbrella term that has both an enormous and complex structure. Innumerable nations of this world have been tagged as the nations belonging to the Global South. This demarcation between the Global South and the Global North is an ever-deepening abyss that has serious consequences in terms of global citizenship and harmony. The binary opposition between the Global North and the Global South cannot be blurred unless the privileged populations of the economically sound nations begin to realize that a majority of the people living in the Global South are competent, modern, rational, urban and civilized. A clichéd image of the South as wild, uncivilized and inferior must be abandoned to obtain an authentic outlook.

Researching early photography of the Pacific Islands: An overview

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-281
Author(s):  
Max Quanchi
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Early Photography

Historical research on the early years of photography in the Pacific Islands has revealed changes in the practice of photography, the development of Pacific imagery, tropes and stereotypes and changes in the ways images were distributed, archived and used in modern contexts. Research in the field was initially focused on photography’s indexical nature and the role of professional and amateur photographers, travellers, colonial officials and missionaries. The research highlighted here, only in the English language and excluding Aotearoa/New Zealand, reveals how later analyses have begun to grow more theoretical, in keeping with postcolonial approaches to reading cross-cultural representation, and how new directions in research point towards the nature of Indigenous engagement with early photography.

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