Islanders of the South: Production, Kinship and Ideology in the Polynesian Kingdom of Tonga.

Islanders of the South: Production, Kinship and Ideology in the Polynesian Kingdom of Tonga. In this publication the Dutch anthropologist Paul van derGrijp's fieldwork field��work?n.1. A temporary military fortification erected in the field.2. Work done or firsthand observations made in the field as opposed to that done or observed in a controlled environment.3. in Tonga becomes more accessible to Englishspeaking scholars. His initial fieldwork in Tonga began in 1982 as partof Jan Pouwer's comparative project History, social inequality andideology in Polynesia and Melanesia, and he acknowledges his theoreticalindebtedness to Maurice Godelier Born in Cambrai, France in 1934, Maurice Godelier is one of the most influential names in French anthropology. Directeur d'��tudes at the ��cole des Hautes ��tudes en Sciences Sociales. whose seminars Forms and processes oftransition from one socio-economic system to another, at the EcoleHautes Etudes en Science Sociales (Paris) he attended since 1981. Vander Grijp's field work in Tonga was over four periods spanning from1982 up to 1991, and he spent more than two years in the field, whichenabled him not only to become familiar with Tongan society but provideda time dimension to his case studies in the communities where he was aparticipant observer. He mainly stayed in Taoa on the island of'Uta Vava'u but he also collected case studies from Matuku inthe Ha'apai Group and Vaini on Tongatapu, as well as interviewingchurch leaders, politicians, business people and others in the capital,Nuku'alofa.In his theoretical introduction, after reviewing earlieranthropological work in Tonga he notes that none of these had attemptedto analyse contemporary Tongan society using the concepts of mode ofproduction and mode of thinking and that his own distinctivecontribution is 'the use of these concepts in the contemporaryTongan context and the related application of a specific concept ofideology' (p.2). His theoretical chapter explains the conceptualapproach which is to be followed, and he advances an interestinghypothesis of asymmetical ideology which is linked with socialinequality: 'I see asymmetical ideology as the system of ideas inwhich forms of social inequality are presented as self-evident andnatural, or even as representing God's will.' (p. 9) This isapplied in a later chapter on Reciprocity reciprocityIn international trade, the granting of mutual concessions on tariffs, quotas, or other commercial restrictions. Reciprocity implies that these concessions are neither intended nor expected to be generalized to other countries with which the contracting parties and Social Inequality to thesignificance of girl exchange, particularly in the devotion of so muchtime, energy, material produce and money by Tongan villagers to theirchurch.However, he acknowledges that the Tongan value system, with its allimportant obligation to give generously eventually becomes an impediment A disability or obstruction that prevents an individual from entering into a contract.Infancy, for example, is an impediment in making certain contracts. Impediments to marriage include such factors as consanguinity between the parties or an earlier marriage that is still valid. to capitalist enterprise, though his case studies of three successfulTongan entrepreneurs, show the way in which some Tongans are graduallymanaging to form profit-making companies. The author attributes theirsuccess largely to their having 'a relatively developed sense ofthe Western (economic) ideology of individualism by comparison withother Tongans.' (p.127) It is of course difficult for this study,which focuses on a few individuals, mainly in the rural sector, to drawgeneralizations about the extent of change in values, particularly amongthe educated elite, many of whom have considerable experience of livingoverseas and who have adopted an urban life-style, especially publicservants and those in the wage sector of the economy. The chapters onsubsistence farming subsistence farmingForm of farming in which nearly all the crops or livestock raised are used to maintain the farmer and his family, leaving little surplus for sale or trade. Preindustrial agricultural peoples throughout the world practiced subsistence farming. , commercial cropping, fishing, manufacturing, landtenure land tenure:see tenure, in law. , kinship and household composition are detailed, clearlypresented and show meticulous me��tic��u��lous?adj.1. Extremely careful and precise.2. Extremely or excessively concerned with details.[From Latin met scholarship, and the author frequentlyprovides comparisons with other research on a particular topic. Hisdiscussion of hierarchical principles is full of interesting examplesbased on his intensive field observations and the chapter on Reciprocityand Social inequality analyses convincingly the continuing significanceof reciprocity in contemporary Tongan culture. The book would have beenimproved by a fuller index and a glossary of Tongan terms, but it givesa very useful background to contemporary Tongan culture and villagelife, especially for anyone involved with development projects since theauthor clearly demonstrates how Tongan farming practices are stilldominted by cultural and non-commercial considerations.RUTH LATUKEFU Canberra