Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The Palgrave Handbook of Ethnicity pp 1–24Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Faamatai: A Globalized Pacific Identity

  • 99 Accesses

Abstract

Many social scientists – anthropologists, sociolinguists, economists, historians, and social theorists – view transnationalism and globalization as the movement or flow of people, goods, services, and ideas between nation-states or countries, as well as the complex connections between all of these (Appadurai (1996); Bauman (2001); Blommaert (2010); Brettell (2003); Castells (1996); Giddens (1999); Harvey (2005); Hobsbawm (1992); Marcus (1995); Stiglitz (2006); Tsuda (2003); Wallerstein (2004). This chapter is about how transnationality – the condition of cultural connectedness and mobility across space – which has been intensified by late capitalism and transnationalism is used to refer to the cultural specificities of global processes, by tracing the multiplicity of the uses and conception of “culture” (Ong (1999:4). Are Pacific nation-states being transformed by globalization into a single globalized economy? How are global cultural forces impacting on Pacific peoples, cultures, and identities? These questions will be explored with a focus on the links between cultural logics of human action and on economic and political processes within the Pacific, based on my Marsden research – a longitudinal study examining experiences of global Samoan matai (chiefs) and the Samoan transnational chiefly system (faamatai). Refuting claims about the end of traditional faamatai and the nation-state, what follows is an account of the cultural logics of globalization and development and an incisive contribution to the study of Pacific modernity and its links to global social change.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Ammassari S, Black R (2001) Harnessing the potential of migration and return to promote development: applying concepts to West Africa. IOM Migration Research Series No. 5 Geneva: International Organization for Migration

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Anae M (1998) Fofoa-i-vao-ese: the identity journeys of NZ-born Samoans. Unpublished PhD thesis. Department of Anthropology, University of Auckland

    Google Scholar 

  • Anae M (2002) Papalagi redefined: toward a New Zealand-born Samoan identity. In: Spickard P, Rondilla JL, Wright DH (eds) Pacific diaspora: island peoples in the United States and across the Pacific. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, pp 150–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Anae M (2006) ‘Samoans’ in settler and migrant peoples of New Zealand. David Bateman Ltd, Albany, pp 230–235. Published with the assistance of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu Taonga, 230–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Anae M (2017) Tama’ita’i toa: Samoan womanist agency and reflections on Nafanua. New Horizons in Samoan Faamatai (chiefly System) in the 21st Century Symposium, University of Auckland, 23–24 November 2017

    Google Scholar 

  • Anae M, Tominiko F, Fetui V, Lima I (2016) Faavae o matai: transnational women matai voices. Measina a Samoa Conf Proc 7:185–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Anae M, Tominiko F, Lima I, Fetui L (2017) Transnational Samoan chiefs: views of the faamatai (chiefly system). J Samoan Stud 7:38–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Appadurai A (1996) Modernity at large: cultural dimensions of globalization. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauman Z (2001) Community: seeking safety in an insecure world. Polity, Cambridge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Bedford R (1997) Migration in Oceania: reflections on contemporary theoretical debates. N Z Popul Rev 23:45–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertram G (1998) The MIRAB model twelve years on. Contemp Pac 11(1):105–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertram G, Watters R (1985) The MIRAB Economy in South Pacific Microstates. Pacific Viewpoint 26(3):497–519, September 1985

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blommaert J (2001) Investigating narrative inequality: African asylum seekers’ stories in Belgium. Discourse Soc 12:413–449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blommaert J (2010) The Sociolinguistics of Globalization. London: Cambridge University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Brettell C (2003) Anthropology and migration: essays on transnationalism, ethnicity, and identity. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek

    Google Scholar 

  • Byron M, Condon S (1996) A comparative study of Caribbean return migration from Britain and France: towards a context-dependent explanation. Trans Inst Br Geogr 21:91–104.102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castells M (1996) The rise of the network society. Blackwell Publishers, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Chappell DA (1999) Transnationalism in central oceanian politics: a dialectic of diasporas and nationhood? J Polynesian Soc 108(3):277–304

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell J (2003) In: Iredale R, Hawesly C, Castles S (eds) An ocean of discontent? contemporary migration and deprivation in the South Pacific. Migration in the Asia Pacific. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham/Northampton, pp 55–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Faist T (1997) The crucial meso-level. In: Hammar T, Brochmann G, Tamas K, Faist T (eds) International migration, immobility and development: multidisciplinary perspectives. Berg, Oxford, pp 187–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Faist T (2000) The volume and dynamics of international migration and transnational social spaces. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Firth S (2000) The Pacific Islands and the Globalization Agenda. The Contemporary Pacific (TCP), 12, 1, 2000

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiti-Sinclair R, Schoeffel P, Meleisea M (2017) Women and political participation: the 2016 election in Samoa. National University of Samoa, Apia

    Google Scholar 

  • Franco B (1991) Samoan perceptions of work: moving up and moving around. AMS Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Giddens A (1999) Runaway world: how globalisation is reshaping our lives. Profile, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Gough D (2006) Mobility, tradition and adaptation: Samoa’s comparative advantage in the global market place. Grad J Asia Pac Stud 4(1):31–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Gustafson P (2001) Retirement migration and transnational lifestyles. Ageing Soc 21:371–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey D (2005) A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Hobsbawm E (1992) Nations and nationalism since 1780: programme, myth, reality, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Kane H (1995) Worldwatch paper #125: the hour of departure: forces that create refugees and migrants. World Watch Institute. World Watch Institute, Washington, DC. 2005

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee H, Francis ST (2009) Migration and transnationalism: Pacific perspectives. ANU Press, Canberra, p 2009

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Levitt P (2001) The Transnational Villagers. Berkley: University of California Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitt P, de la Dehesa R (2003) Transnational migration and the redefinition of the state: variations and explanations. Ethn Racial Stud 26(4):587–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lilomaiava-Doktor S (2004) Fa’a-samoa and population movement from the inside-out: the case of Salelologa, Savaii. PhD thesis in Geography. University of Hawaii, Manoa

    Google Scholar 

  • Macpherson C, Macpherson L (2009) The warm winds of change: globalisation and contemporary Samoa. Auckland University Press, Auckland

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahler S (1998) Theoretical and empirical contributions towards a research agenda for transnationalism. In: Smith MP, Guarnizo LE (eds) Transnationalism from below. Comparative Urban and Community Research, vol 6. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, pp 64–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Mangnall K (2004) Retiring to Niue. MA thesis in Pacific Studies, University of Auckland

    Google Scholar 

  • Marcus G (1995) Ethnography in/of the world system: the emergence of multi-sited ethnography. Annu Rev Anthropol 24:95–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mata’afa MF (2015) Au-malaga: Samoans in New Zealand as VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) travellers, the hidden riches. MA thesis in Pacific Studies, University of Auckland

    Google Scholar 

  • Meleisea M (1992) Change and adaptation in Western Samoa. Macmillan Brown Centre, Christchurch

    Google Scholar 

  • Meleisea LM, Meredith M, Chan Mow MI, Schoffel P, Lauano SA, Sasa H, Boodoosingh R, Sahib M (2015) Political Representation and women’s empowerment in Samoa. Centre for Samoan Studies, National University of Samoa, Apia, Samoa

    Google Scholar 

  • Meleisea M (2016) Afterword. In: Potogi TTKK (ed) Aganu’u ma Agai’fanua o Suafa Matai ma Fanua Samoa: the cost of the silence of the land and titles court’s practices relating to matai titles and customary land. University of the South Pacific (USP) Press, Suva

    Google Scholar 

  • Meleisea M (2017) Authority of the matai sa’o in contemporary Samoa. Paper delivered at the transnational Fa’amatai symposium. University of Auckland, Fale Pasifika, 23–24 November 2017

    Google Scholar 

  • Meleisea M, Schoeffel P (1983) Western Samoa: “Like a slippery fish”. J Polit Polynesia 1983:81–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Nahkid C (2009) Conclusion: the concept and circumstances of Pacific migration. In: Lee H, Francis ST (eds) Migration and transnationalism: Pacific perspectives. ANU Press, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Nyberg-Sorensen N, Van Hear N, Endberg-Pedersen P (2002) The migration-development Nexus: evidence and policy options. IOM Migration Research Series No. 8. International Organisation for Migration, Geneva. Available at http://www.iom.int

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ong A (1997) Flexible citizenship: the cultural logics of transnationality. Duke University Press, Durham NC

    Google Scholar 

  • Pitt D, Macpherson C (1974) Emerging pluralism: the Samoan community in New Zealand. Auckland: Longman Paul

    Google Scholar 

  • Potogi TTKT (2016) Aganu’u ma Agai’fanua o Suafa Matai ma Fanua Samoa: the cost of the silence of the land and titles court’s practices relating to matai titles and customary land. USP Press, Suva

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiller NG, Basch L, Blanc CS (1995) From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration. Anthropological Quarterly 68(1)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shankman P (2011) Review of migration and transnationalism: Pacific perspectives by Helen Lee, Steve Tupai Francis. Australia National University (ANU) Press, Canberra. 2009. Pacific Affairs, University of British Columbia, 84(2):407–409, June 2011

    Google Scholar 

  • Small C (1997) Voyages: from Tongan villages to American suburbs. Cornell University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz J (2006) Making globalization work. W.W.Norton & Company, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Transrede (2001) Migration, return and development in West Africa. Report of a Workshop at the University of Sussex. Available at http://www.geog.sussex.ac.uk/transrede

  • Transrede (2002) Harnessing migration potential for development: examples from West Africa. Sussex Centre for Migration Research, University of Sussex

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsuda T (2003) Strangers in the ethnic homeland: Japanese Brazilian return migration in transnational perspective. Columbia University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wallerstein I (2004) World-systems analysis: an introduction. Duke University Press, Durham

    Google Scholar 

  • Walton-Roberts M (2004) Transnational migration theory in population geography: gendered practices in networks linking Canada and India. Population, Space and Place 10:361–373

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong G (2002) Pride of the Pacific. Metro 256:106–107

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

The author, Lupematasila Misatauveve Dr Melani Anae wishes to thank the Marsden Fund, Royal Society of New Zealand, for their assistance, without which my team (Seulupe Dr Falaniko Tominiko, Muliagatele Vavao Fetui, Malepeai Dr Ieti Lima) would not have been able to conduct our Marsden Project research. We also wish to thank our matai research participants who kindly agreed to be interviewed by the team, the 550 transnational matai who completed our online survey, and Pacific Studies, Te Wānanga o Waipapa, University of Auckland, for supporting this research project. A big thank you to Emmet Hawe who provided the Marsden Survey findings info-graphs.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Studies|School of Māori Studies and Pacific Studies, Te Wānanga o Waipapa, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Melani Anae

Authors
  1. Melani Anae
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Melani Anae .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Socio & Anthro, Rm 309, Univ of Canterbury Dept of Socio & Anthro, Rm 309, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Steven Ratuva

Section Editor information

  1. Pacific Studies, Te Wānanga o Waipapa, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Melani Shyleen Anae

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Anae, M. (2019). Faamatai: A Globalized Pacific Identity. In: Ratuva, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Ethnicity. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0242-8_85-3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0242-8_85-3

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0242-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0242-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Political Science and International StudiesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Faamatai: A Globalized Pacific Identity
    Published:
    30 May 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0242-8_85-3

  2. Faamatai: A Globalized Pacific Identity
    Published:
    05 April 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0242-8_85-2

  3. Original

    Faamatai: A Globalized Pacific Identity
    Published:
    05 February 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0242-8_85-1

Search

Navigation