article
Power on the extreme periphery: the perspective of Tongan elites in the modern world
Pacific viewpoint • 22 (1) • Published In 1981 • Pages: 48-64
By: Marcus, George E..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Marcus examines Tongan social relations within two distinct periods of Tongan integration into the capitalist world system, 1875-1965 and 1965-present (1978). The earlier period is marked by a centralized monarchy, weak parliament, land-based hereditary nobility; and a smallholding peasantry, with secure tenancy and spotty participation in commercial agriculture. Education, Christian congregations, and government bureaucracy provided avenues for the emergence of a new elite. Commerce was in the hands of a small group of half-caste families of mixed European and Tongan descent. In the latter period, shortage of land and increasing population, prompted significant migration, estimated by Marcus to be nearly a quarter of the total Tongan population, to settle in core states and maintain links with homeland kin. Marcus discusses how both new and old elites participate in this new transnational order and its impact on the Tongan state, culture and identity.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- External migration
- Settlement patterns
- Classes
- Form and rules of government
- Chief executive
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Tongans
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2006
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Oceania
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Polynesia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard; 2004
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1972--1978
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1875-1978
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Tonga
- NotesAdditional notes
- George E. Marcus
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 64)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 64053119
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Tongans