Pacific Futures ― Projects, Politics, and Interests

The Pacific islands include a huge diversity of languages and cultures, and an equally large diversity of contemporary settings, from islets undergoing economic and environmental crisis to large nations finding leverage in national and international politics. Dealing with all these realities as a single region has created vital challenges that have fueled innovations in the social sciences. However, the resulting icons of the past and generalizations about the present of Pacific island life have made it difficult for contemporary groups in the region to communicate about the future. This book looks at various situations in the region now, with a focus on how people imagine their futures. Each contributor deals with a particular place, from the Louisiade Archipelago to Paama to Vanuatu to the Cook Islands to Fiji to Rotuma and Tuvalu to Aotearoa/New Zealand. Several contributors consider various aspects of New Guinea: local regions, gambling, Christian and tribal critiques. It will be suitable for academic readers in the social sciences, and for readers in all fields with a special interest in the effects of developments in the Pacific Island region now and in the years to come. Annotation c2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Will Rollason is Lecturer in Anthropology at Brunel University, UK, having received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Manchester in 2008. He has published on mimesis, race, and the postcolony in Papua New Guinea in the context of sports, marine resource harvesting and clothing. His monograph, We are Playing Football, was published by Cambridge Scholars Press.