Decolonising Pacific research,building Pacific research communities and developing Pacific research tools: The case of the talanoa and the faafaletui in Samoa

In building Samoan academic researcher capacity in Samoa, we argue that there is a need to first establish the kind of researcher community advocated by Linda Tuhiwai Smith, and to do so through developing research tools, such as the talanoa and faafaletui, in partnership with researcher capacity‐building initiatives such as the applied postgraduate social and health research methods course (coded PUBX731‐HSA505) run by the Centre for International Health, University of Otago, in partnership with the National University of Samoa. This paper offers a commentary on the talanoa and faafaletui as Pacific research methodologies, and asks what its value might be for researchers in Samoa. It reflects on the learning experiences of staff and students of the applied social and health research methods course in relation to the talanoa and faafaletui as Pacific research methodologies or methods. It concludes that developing Pacific research and researcher capacity in Pacific Island countries, such as Samoa, must include opening up spaces within these communities to critically engage what is Pacific or Samoan or indigenous about these research tools, methods or methodologies, and how they might differ in form or substance from other methods or methodologies.     

Positionality and protocol in field research: Undertaking community‐based investigations in Samoa

This article considers the experiences of a Samoan female geographer undertaking community‐based field research in her home country, and identifies some lessons for researchers working in similar circumstances. The paper suggests that ethical behaviour in research is ‘place‐specific’, and there is therefore a need to employ culturally sensitive and ‘location‐specific’ methodologies when undertaking community‐based research fieldwork. For the lead researcher, growing up in Samoa played a significant role in gaining an understanding of a set of robust and effective procedures to evaluate citizens' resilience to climatic and other environmental challenges. Fluency in everyday and more formal local languages, and awareness of local differences, each with multi‐layered connections to local communities, understanding cultural nuances and practising respect for va tapuia [sacred space or relationships] protocols, together facilitated the process of knowledge acquisition and helped to confirm the validity of the conclusions derived from the study.     

Culture and the commodification of water in Samoa

While ‘solutions’ to challenges of water supply in the Pacific may seem obvious to hydrologists, engineers and planners, their implementation may not be straightforward. Water is embedded in cultural, religious and political contexts, and what seems obvious to planners may seem neither obvious, nor acceptable, to citizens. However, these contexts change continuously, and opportunities arise for changes in narratives around ownership, supply and management of water. Citizens' beliefs about the state's ‘rights’ will vary with societal context, and will shape the ways in which ownership and management of water is worked out in specific locations. This paper outlines thinking and discourses around ownership and management of fresh water in Samoa, and the constraints which culture has imposed on water supply over time. Water discourses have shifted from questions about ownership of specific sources to general discussions about conservation and management of natural resources. This shift has resulted, in part, from the ways in which government has managed the process and, in part, from growing public awareness of water within the larger environmental context. The paper focuses on Samoan material, but some of the generic issues have wider significance in the Pacific because similar variables combine in similar ways.     

We're 15 years behind Africa,Asia and Latin America!: Fair Trade meets the Pacific

Fairtrade market growth is characterised by expansion and exclusion in terms of producer opportunity. This paper draws producers in the Pacific region into the debate, analysing the development context among these small‐island developing states and, specifically, the practices and principles of four ‘ethical’ enterprises. The analysis reveals that the unique and complex context in which these organisations operate is at odds with Fairtrade's requirements, standards and assumptions. The paper highlights the need for contextually relevant requirements and principles, and the likelihood of alternative governance arrangements and actors, for an inclusive Fairtrade system and market in the region.     

Of social construction,politics and biology: population geographies in the Pacific

Sustained challenges by third world, black and feminist scholars have unsettled the established agenda of the social sciences in the 1990s. Unfortunately, population geographies in the Pacific have failed to engage with these debates. By avoiding the metaphysical challenges posed by contemporary theoretical debates, often by people from previously marginalised groups, population geographies have failed to provide the spark necessary for the dynamic expansion of ideas. However, an analysis of population geographies in the Pacific, almost all of which are mobility studies, reveals important contributions for advancing a more critical population geography. This paper begins with a critical review of population geography in general then looks more specifically at population geographies, mostly mobility studies, in the Pacific. It advances the argument that the humanist geographers Chapman and Bonnemaison have made critical contributions in reconceptualising population mobility. Further advances would benefit from an engagement with feminist geography and post-structural discourse analysis.     

Australia's PSWPS: Development impacts in the first two years

This research note presents an analysis of the development impacts of Australia's Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme. We estimate the gain per participating household to be approximately A$2600, which is a 39% increase in per‐capita annual income in participating households. The aggregate impact to date is small, but the experience of New Zealand's larger programme shows that seasonal worker programmes can potentially have large aggregate effects.     

New Polynesian Triangle: Rethinking Polynesian migration and development in the Pacific

For many Polynesians migration is still framed within a particular spatial context, although on an enlarged scale – one that we have termed the New Polynesian Triangle. With its apexes in the North American continent to the east, Australia in the west and New Zealand in the south, this New Polynesian Triangle encompasses a particular field through which ongoing Polynesian migration and movement continues to occur. Movement within this New Polynesian Triangle is both multidimensional and multidirectional. While it is the movement of economic resources, particularly remittances, that has captured the interest of many agencies operating in the region, we argue that such economic flows are integrally linked with other flows – of goods, ideas, skills and culture – to form a single dynamic system of movement. Importantly, such flows are not uni‐directional (from ‘rich’ to ‘poor’ countries) as was assumed in times past. In developing ideas on the New Polynesian Triangle, we wish to move away from the dominant Western discourse of the Pacific Ocean as a barrier to development and movement and towards the reclamation of the ocean as a conduit and source of connection and movement for Pacific peoples.     

新农村建设中失地农民社会保障问题探要——昆山市失地农民社会保障问题调研及思考

随着中国城市化进程的加快,越来越多的土地被征用,大片农民成为失地农民,失地农民的生活急需保障。为了加强失地农民社会保障工作,进一步消除城乡二元发展的弊端,城乡一体化社会保障制度被提出并实践。通过对昆山这一社会保障领跑城市的调查和分析,总结了昆山社会保障的现状,归纳出该市城乡一体化进程中存在着户籍制度造成的城乡差距依然存在以及农民自我保障的能力相对不足两点问题,并基于这些不足,结合昆山市的实际情况,提出相应推进昆山市失地农民社会保障制度建设的几点意见,即加大财政投入力度、增加农村社保资金、建立地方性法规、建立最低生活保障、出台就业扶持政策、增强就业能力。     

A sea of islands — a myriad of indicators: on the interface between demography and planning in the Pacific Islands

While in recent years much has been written, and even more spoken, about the interrelationships between population and development, and particularly the importance of acknowledging population parameters in development planning and policy formulation, reality in most Pacific island countries and territories falls short of this rhetoric. Long-term development plans and strategic development frameworks are still compiled without due consideration of demographic circumstances, and economic and public sector reform proceeds in many countries seemingly oblivious of contemporary population dynamics. It is not always lack of basic and timely data that accounts for this malaise, as is evident from a myriad of demographic indicators reported by a variety of government agencies and regional and international organisations. However, these often manage to portray quite different demographic scenarios using identical data sources. This paper examines the institutional and methodological context within which Pacific island population data are collected and demographic information is produced. It concludes by discussing ways in which demography and demographers can contribute towards more realistic planning and policymaking in the Pacific.     

The challenge of urban Maori: reconciling conceptions of indigeneity and social change

A massive demographic rural-urban shift has taken place within Maori society since the second world war. This demographic shift prompted changes in the structure of some Maori social institutions. Due to a number of factors these new social institutions have not been readily assimilated by Maori cultural practices. Recent battles over the allocation of pre-settlement Treaty assets have brought this issue to the fore, acting as catalysts in the struggle for recognition between evolutionary social change (represented by urban Maori) and the perceived static boundaries of indigenous culture (as represented by modern Iwi). This paper therefore addresses the problems of accommodating social change within ‘static’ cultural frameworks raised by the issue of asset allocation. The paper outlines the historical factors that have allowed incongruities between social structure and culture to emerge in New Zealand Maori society, and provides a number of options for consideration in the hope of resolving this issue.     

Changing market culture in the Pacific: Assembling a conceptual framework from diverse knowledge and experiences

Addressing the multiple dimensions of gender inequality requires commitments by policy‐makers, practitioners and scholars to transformative practices. One challenge is to assemble a coherent conceptual framework from diverse knowledges and experiences. In this paper, we present a framework that emerged from our involvement in changing market culture in the Pacific, which we name a radical empowerment of women approach. We draw on detailed narratives from women market vendors and women‐led new initiatives in marketplaces to explain this approach. We argue that the primary focus of recently developed projects for marketplaces in the Pacific is technical and infrastructural, which is insufficient for addressing gendered political and economic causes of poor market management and oppressive conditions for women vendors. By exploring the complex array of motives and effects of the desire to transform or improve marketplaces in the Pacific, we caution against simplistic technical or infrastructural solutions. This paper also introduces the practice of working as a cooperative, hybrid research collaboration. The knowledges and analyses that we bring to this issue demonstrate that substantive analysis generated from diverse and shifting ‘locations’ and roles, but underpinned by a shared vision of, and commitment to, gender justice, can provide distinctive policy and research insights.     

Trading in waste: Integrating sustainable development goals and environmental policies in trade negotiations toward enhanced solid waste management in Pacific Islands countries and territories

This paper provides a broad survey of existing literature on contemporary solid waste management (SWM) in the Pacific region to underscore an urgent and compelling need for improved SWM. Despite advances in waste management systems and funding for technical support and capacity building from a range of sources, waste continues to threaten public and ecological health and the economy in Pacific Islands Countries and Territories (PICTs). SWM in the Pacific requires innovative thinking in a challenging environment of remoteness, limited available land, fragile ecosystems, vulnerability to natural hazards and subsequent climate sensitivity. Many PICTs are under considerable pressure to open their markets up to trade liberalisation. Increasing links to the global economy through trade liberalisation could either further exacerbate waste management challenges in the Pacific or contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development goals. The authors argue that if the PICTs' urgent waste management challenges are to be meaningfully addressed, the region's leaders must ensure trading partners conform to local environmental protection policies and that trade agreements align with sustainable development goals.     

Restitution of fishing rights to Maori: representation,social justice and community development

For a quarter of a century, the government of New Zealand has been engaged in a process of restitution of property to Maori. Although land is the main object of Maori claims for restitution, rights to fisheries are also important. The nature of these rights is being influenced by findings of the Waitangi Tribunal and determined by legislation and judicial decisions. Both the definition of customary rights of Maori and the allocation of commercial fishing assets between urban Maori and members of traditional tribes present difficult questions not fully resolved. One principle that does appear to be settled is that full restitution is not feasible. Instead, both government and Maori seek settlements that will provide a firm foundation for community and economic development.     

Migration‐affected change and vulnerability in rural Vanuatu

Migration is increasingly being promoted as a possible adaptive response to risks associated with climate change and other stresses. While migration may present an adaptation pathway in certain contexts, existing research fails to consider the ways in which migration could contribute to vulnerability in sending communities. This paper examines the impact of migration‐affected change on local vulnerability in Lamen Bay, Vanuatu. Qualitative methods, including interviews and focus groups with 58 individuals, were used to determine how migration interacts with the multiple stressors faced by the community. The results show that migration is likely to contribute to vulnerability in already vulnerable communities. In Lamen Bay, migration affects a number of contextual factors that influence exposure and the capacity to respond to change, including labour supply, food security, migrant attitudes, underdevelopment and institutional viability. These results suggest that development policy in Vanuatu needs to address existing vulnerabilities while offering the opportunity to migrate.     

FIJI Water,water everywhere: Global brands and democratic and social injustice

Over recent decades, the demand for bottled water has grown exponentially at the global scale. In the marketing of such products, discourses of purity and paradise have often been invoked. Marketed as a ‘Taste of Paradise’, FIJI Water has gained enormous international success as an ostensibly clean and green product. Celebrity endorsements – reaching as high as US President Barack Obama – have abounded, driven in part by the belief that the corporation is both environmentally and socially responsible. This paper describes and analyses the rise of FIJI water and critically assesses the sources and impacts of its economic success. It goes on to explore its local social and environmental impacts in the context of a country that has been subject to waves of democratic crises where the fate of the polity has been influenced by FIJI Water's actions. FIJI Water has come to assume the role of development trustee in the villages most affected by the growth in exports. The democratic crises in Fiji has given FIJI Water profound developmental influence, and this has brought both costs and benefits at the local socio‐environmental scale.     

The challenge of sustainable tourism development in the Maldives: Understanding the social and political dimensions of sustainability

Issues of power and politics are central to the development of the tourism sector and its prospects for contributing to sustainable development. This is demonstrated through a case study of the evolution of tourism in the Maldives, a luxury tourism destination where the government has followed a consistent policy of ‘quality tourism’ that has often been cited as a prime example of sustainable tourism. However, recently concerns have been raised about environmental degradation, human rights abuses, connections between the political and economic elite, and huge economic disparities associated with tourism here. Research on sustainable tourism needs to recognise the state's pivotal role in directing tourism development and consider how states balance the competing interests of other powerful tourism stakeholders.     

Working overseas: Seafarers’ remittances and their distribution in Kiribati

Abstract: Remittances sent home by seafarers employed on international merchant and fishing ships are a significant income component for the Kiribati economy, with immediate benefits for families and communities. This paper explores the strategies used and the amounts sent by seafarers to their family members by drawing on different data sets, such as remittances data kept in the form of allotment lists by employment agencies, and comparing these with interview responses from seafarers and their families. Remittances are spread throughout extended families and communities firstly via direct allotments sent to individual bank accounts, and secondly through channels of family and community obligations. This paper shows that the general flow of seafarers’ remittances into Kiribati is continuous and has increased over the years with more people engaged in seafaring employment. Families, however, were found to be dependent on individual decisions made by seafarers of how to share their remittances. Kiribati has no institutionalised social welfare system, and as a consequence remittances function as a private safety net for seafarer families.     

Business networks,social capital and the economic performance of creative and cultural industries: The case of Indonesia

This study examines the ways in which networking characteristics and practices influence the economic performance of creative and cultural industries. The notion of social capital is used to conceptualise the complex nature of networks, including both professional and social relationships that occur on multiple levels. This qualitative study is set in the context of Indonesia, in which two cases are examined: creative apparel entrepreneurs in Bandung and batik producers in Surakarta. The results show that regional environments provide opportunities for creative industries to find specialist suppliers, to gather market information and, importantly, to find and cross‐fertilise new ideas. Although regions provide these opportunities, the firms’ internal social capital is crucial in being able to internalise and transform the knowledge from the environment into innovative values embodied in their products.     

海南岛东部主要农作物和土壤中重金属的相关性及富集特征研究

采用野外采样和室内分析的方法,对海南岛东部主要农作物和土壤中重金属元素含量进行了分析,结果表明研究区土壤中As（变异系数1.58）的含量很不稳定;Zn和Pb的含量比较均匀,土壤中重金属间均为正相关可能具有同源性。水稻和胡椒中重金属的变异系数均小于0.50,重金属含量比较均匀。槟榔鲜果中As的（变异系数1.20）含量很不均匀,Zn和Pb的分布比较均匀。水稻、胡椒和槟榔鲜果中重金属间有正相关关系,也有负相关关系,但胡椒和槟榔鲜果中正相关显著多于负相关,重金属间存在明显协同吸收。农产品中重金属主要来源于土壤吸收,但槟榔鲜果部分重金属元素含量高于其土壤元素。水稻和胡椒对Zn、Cr、As、Pb、Cu和Cd 6种重金属元素的富集能力较弱,但槟榔鲜果对6种重金属元素的富集能力较强。