Pacific Dynamics: Volume 1 • Issue 1 • Jul 2017

This very first issue of Pacific Dynamics is dedicated to Dr Teresia Teaiwa, a scholar of note, a poet of social consciousness, a kind-hearted political activist, an island philosopher, a committed feminist, a great friend and a legend. She lived a prodigious life, walked the earth with humble footsteps, departed with her head held high and in her wake she left behind petals of intellectual roses whose scent will live for ever in the annals of Pacific scholarly history.

On her death-bed she sent me her last major scholarly work to be published. Her last words vented a sense of profound fortitude and defiance, flavoured with her usual unrelenting resistance against her fast deteriorating physical condition:

Vinaka vaka levu na veiliutaki (thanks very much for the leadership). Thanks for encouraging me to submit to your new journal presentation. Here’s the paper draft I was talking from back in November 2015, and the larger paper it was drawn from. I would be happy if you considered either one of these for publication.

Vinaka

Teresia-

Rather than allowing sadness to hijack my emotion, I saw the occasion as a moment to celebrate a great mind, an audacious soul, who stood tall amongst mere mortals like us in an academic world ravaged by competition for glory at the cost of the other. She was not a self-seeking academic entrepreneur (a Frankenstein creature borne out of the neoliberalization of universities), but a humble, caring and humane teacher and researcher whose visionary pedagogy has transformed the minds of thousands of young apprentices and protégées into hopeful citizens of tomorrow.

In recognition of Teresia’s contribution to Pacific scholarship, we not only dedicate this issue to her, we are also humbled and privileged to publish her last academic piece as the leading article in this issue. The article, “The articulated limb: Theorizing indigenous Pacific participation in the military industrial complex,” is testament to her besotted devotion to the cause of peace, indigenous rights and gender equality, in the footsteps of her beloved PhD supervisor and intellectual guru, the legendary scholar-activist, Professor Angela Davis, who once said that, “We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society…You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world…And you have to do it all the time.” Teresia’s article is about deconstructing the seemingly distant connections between indigenousness and the US military industrial complex, in particular how Pacific subaltern communities have been subsumed into the hegemonic vortex of global militarism.

The editorial team pays tribute to Teresia who will forever be part of our Oceanic memory. Death is not a means of eternal dismemberment but a fulcrum for unification between the world of the dead and the living; between the greater cosmos and society; the future and the past. Rest in peace Teresia.

FULL ABSTRACT: In this article I propose that when it comes to analysing militarism,
what Stuart Hall described as the “lines of tendential force” of articulation are in fact usefully
understood through the model of an articulated limb (Slack, 1996). The article draws on
contemporary examples from Guam and Fiji to describe some of the processes of
geopolitical and labour articulation that help make indigenous participation in the MIC not
only possible, but seemingly inevitable. The next section focuses on the Obama
administration’s identification with an “Asia-Pacific pivot” defence orientation and a planned
military build up on Guam as an illustration of the Pacific’s geopolitical articulation with the
MIC. Following that is a discussion of the BA’s recruitment of Commonwealth soldiers from
Fiji since 1998 as a case of the MIC’s articulation of Pacific people as labour. The political
promise of articulation theory is in its signalling towards the possibility of disarticulation; I
close the article with a consideration of how the Pacific and indigenous Pacific people—
disarticulated from the MIC—might be re-embodied.

FULL ABSTRACT: The current paper is a contribution to an ongoing discussion that stemmed from a seminal paper titled “Our Sea of Islands”, by the late Epeli Hau’ofa, Professor of Pacific Studies at the University of the South Pacific. The paper aims to further the objectives of “Our Sea of Islands” by reframing its arguments using the vocabulary of a school of thought that can be traced from Immanuel Kant to Theodor Adorno, via Hegel. The aim is to see if we, as people of Oceania, can arrive at a more appropriate articulation of ourselves using the grammar embedded within Western philosophical discourse. Ultimately the paper aims at reanimating a renaissance of Oceanic thinking, given “Our Sea of Islands”.

FULL ABSTRACT: The American military occupation of Japan after 1945 has served as a widely admired example of successful post-conflict management. MacArthur’s General Headquarters not only achieved demilitarization and democratization of Japanese society, but also economic growth through decentralization, equalization and liberalization. Military occupations throughout the world have ever since drawn on this Japanese experience. However, seen from the recent example of Iraq, lessons drawn from Japan have not necessarily been very successful, since the country has not escaped from chaos and instability. Most academic research in the past has focused on political and economic reforms carried out by General MacArthur. This paper will attempt to emphasize two factors rarely accounted for: 1) attainment of postwar internal security through anti-disturbance measures, and 2) marginalization of the occupation of outlying regions, such as Okinawa. The first factor established the ground for the execution of the better known postwar reforms, and the second factor shows that occupation of some peripheral Japanese areas has been much less successful than has been the case for the mainland. The results of this research are twofold. That 1) stabilization was not the achievement of the occupier, but rather the result of the conscious efforts by the occupied, and that 2) the occupation of Japan was inextricably linked to the marginalization of Okinawa. In order to be more realistic, the lessons to be drawn from the occupation of Japan should be less focused on the occupation as a U.S. undertaking and should take into consideration important socio-cultural factors.

FULL ABSTRACT: Indo-Fijians make up about 37 per cent of Fiji’s current population and have a unique language and culture, which evolved since Indians fist arrived into Fiji as indentured labourers on board the ship Leonidas in 1879. Since their arrival in the British colony as sugar plantation labourers, Indo-Fijian activists led counter hegemonic movements against the colonial government during and after indenture in 1920-21, 1943 and 1960. Indo-Fijian activists demanded political equality with Europeans and constantly agitated for better wages and living conditions through disruptive strikes and boycotts. After independence, the focus of Indo-Fijians shifted to political equality with indigenous Fijians and access to land leases from indigenous landowners on reasonable terms; and these were ongoing themes in the 1972, 1977 and 1982 elections. However, Indo-Fijian counter hegemony took a new form in 1987 with the formation of the multiracial Fiji Labour Party and National Federation Party coalition government but indigenous Fijian nationalists and the military deposed the government and established discriminatory policies against Indo-Fijians which were dismantled by the Fiji Labour Party-led coalition government in 1999. However, indigenous nationalists regrouped and deposed the government in 2000, prompting another round of protests and resistance from Indo-Fijians. Using Gramscian conceptualisation of counter hegemony as disruptive protest, resistance and dissent, I argue that political mobilisation of indentured labourers and their descendants was aimed at restoring political rights, honour, self-respect and dignity lost during colonial and post-colonial periods in Fiji. In this article, I argue that Indo-Fijian counter hegemony was in the form of mobilisation, based on assembling alternative ideas to create a culture of disruptive protests and rebellion against hegemonic social forces. Indo-Fijian dissent aimed at elevating the voices of the exploited, marginalised, discriminated against and disenfranchised in a society preoccupied with ethnicity and race. In this regard, the history of Indo-Fijian counter hegemony in Fiji is narrated within the historical structure of protests, boycotts and strikes and constant political agitation.

FULL ABSTRACT: This paper examines the agency of non-government organisations as liberal peace agents and power players in Mindanao—a hybrid political community in the southern Philippines with a legacy of protracted armed conflict. The paper focuses on the mechanisms employed by development NGOs in managing and engaging with formal and informal power-holders, brokers and gatekeepers in conflict-stricken communities. This is an original study that utilises first-hand information gathered through intensive field research in different communities in the southern Philippines. Robust interviews with experts were conducted among local, intermediate and international NGO workers, officials of the Philippine Government, leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, university academics, military leaders, donor agencies and traditional local leaders in Mindanao. Semi-structured interviews were used, most being conducted in Manila and major cities of Mindanao. Ethnographic field observation was also carried out to produce a thick and rich description of the current situation in conflict zones. The paper presents a power map to illustrate the hybrid nature of the socio-politico regime, preserved by longstanding conflict. The map sketches the nodes and intensities of power that highlight the dominance of warlord clans in Mindanao.

FULL ABSTRACT: Given the importance of studying ethnic identity, acculturation and cultural orientation research and scholarship on this phenomenon is rapidly increasing. Moreover there is a groundswell of interest in the relationship between ethnic identity and well-being. This relationship is particularly significant for Pacific peoples in New Zealand, for whom ethnic identity may be a very salient feature of individuals’ self-concepts. In this paper we thus focus on the ethnic identity construct and its relationship with well-being across the sectors of education, justice, religious centrality and mental health and its other possible applications. It ends with a call for ethnic enhancements (new programmes which focus on the impacts of colonialism, Christianity and neoliberalism on Pacific peoples and nations) to bolster existing cultural enhancements ((existing programmes which focus on Pacific culture – languages, music, performance and dance only) for optimal well-being outcomes for our Pacific youth. More significantly, based on our own studies of constructs of Pacific ethnic identity in New Zealand, this paper reviews, identifies and analyses current quantitative and qualitative constructs and findings, and offers new directions for future research.

FULL ABSTRACT: In 2014, Fiji held general elections for the first time since the coup of 2006. The elections had many features that differed from previous elections. One feature was the reduction of the voting age to 18 years. This, amongst other factors, propelled young people into the political limelight as both voters and candidates. This paper focuses on young candidates, whose entry into the political landscape is novel for Fiji. In a country historically devoid of young people’s political participation this signalled a shift in young people’s political engagement. The paper draws on Bourdieu’s concept of habitus to understand candidate motivations to contest the election and their experience of political campaigning. Doing so allows us to appreciate the political aspirations of young Fijian politicians and what this might mean for the future of Fijian politics.

FULL ABSTRACT: This paper suggests that Pacific groups are positioned narrowly in New Zealand publicness, often in ways that run counter to Pacific audiences’ demand for in-depth news and information and public debate. Focus groups held with Pacific audiences at several urban centres in New Zealand found that Pacific news media are a key site of Pacific people’s publicness in New Zealand. Audiences looked to Pacific media (and, interestingly, Māori media) to fulfil their expectations for timely, in-depth and high-quality journalism, and for a space in which their communities could safely discuss issues and enact their citizenship. However, it is clear that more could be done to realise this role, not just on the part of Pacific media producers, but also funders and policy makers whose focus on Pacific media in terms of ethnicity and culture tends to overlook audiences’ demand for in-depth news and debate. This paper concludes that viewing ethnic media within categories of ethnicity or culture (as do funders, scholars and, often, media producers) risks both exaggerating the ‘otherness’ of ethnic minority groups and overlooking Pacific audiences’ media needs in terms of their participation in society. Instead, it suggests, policy-makers and funders could do more to recognise the journalistic and public sphere roles of the Pacific news media they fund.

FULL ABSTRACT: State-backed terrorism as exemplified by the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior, the Amsterdam-registered flagship of the Greenpeace environmental movement, on 10 July 1985 in New Zealand, and the assassination of pro-independence leaders and, allegedly, at least one journalist in French Pacific territories by secret agents or military officers in subsequent years, has left a legacy of insecurity. In July 2015, New Zealand marked the thirtieth anniversary of the bombing in a more subdued manner than a decade earlier. While there was considerable focus on a rehashing of the French spy drama from a narrow “how we covered it” perspective, there was little introspection or reflection on broader issues of regional security. For example, the sabotage of the environmental flagship was not addressed in the wider context of nuclear-free and independence movements active in New Caledonia, New Zealand’s near Pacific neighbour, or of nuclear refugees such as those from Rongelap Atoll, from where the Rainbow Warrior had relocated an entire community to a safer environment following United States nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. At the time of the second anniversary, Le Monde exposed the responsibility of President François Mitterrand for Opération Satanique and later revealed much of the detail about the so-called “third team” of bombers. This paper examines the broader context of the bombing in the Pacific geopolitical challenges of the time and the legacy for the region, from a journalist’s perspective, as the region has moved from the insecurity of nuclear refugees to that of climate change refugees, or climate-forced migrants. The paper also contextualises a research and publication multimedia project by some forty student journalists in a university partnership with Little Island Press from the perspective of media and terrorism, deliberative journalism (DJ) and human rights journalism (HRJ).

FULL ABSTRACT: The year 1994 was a particularly interesting one in Samoan politics. Samoan politics is never short on controversy: corruption, allegations of corruption, inefficient government spending, and the odd challenge to a fistfight between MPs are not uncommon. However, 1994 seemed an even more special year in so far as these kinds of activities are concerned. It was the year that the Samoan Auditor General tabled a report in parliament that documented widespread corruption in the public sector. It implicated members of the government who were as highly ranked as Cabinet ministers. It was also the year that a nation-wide protest, led by a traditional group known as Tumua and Pule, was launched against the government. The protest had as two of its objectives the official recognition of the Auditor General’s report, and for the government to hold those indicted by the report accountable.

FULL ABSTRACT: By the mid-19th century there were three key kingdoms in Polynesia: Hawai’i (annexed by the U.S. in 1898; conferred statehood in 1959), Tahiti (annexed by the Republic of France in 1880; conferred collectivity status within French Polynesia in 2003), and Tonga, which remains a sovereign kingdom. Between 1841 and World War I, Tahiti attracted three permanent European Jewish settlers, Tonga three, and Hawai’i perhaps some 100 (typically more transitory) Jewish settlers from both Europe and the U.S. Descendants of these pioneers survive in Tahiti and Tonga as either Christian or New Age; in Hawai’i, however, only four of the early Jewish families have been locally located, each identifying Christian. Yet despite Christian or New Age affiliation, some descendants reveal palpable connection to modern Jewish culture. The article assesses the intensity of these connections.