article

A Good man is hard to find: overseas migration and the decentered family in the Tongan Islands

Critique of anthropology • 12 (1) • Published In 1992 • Pages: 47-74

By: Gailey, Christine Ward.

Abstract

This is a study of migration and its impact on households in both rural and urban communities in Tonga, where migration increased dramatically after the mid-1970s, with a third of Tongans now living overseas. Through formal and informal interviews, Gailey collected information on which Tongans emigrate and why. She looks at migration's impact on marital stability, and kinship and gender relations within and between households. She has found that migration has reversed recent trends that had favored husband-wife relationship and the nuclearization of families. With their men working abroad, sisters and mothers have to depend on wider kin networks, reactivating traditional kin obligations and relationships, such as the FAHU. See her other article (document no. 117) about changes in social and gender relations in a prior historical period.

HRAF PubDate

2006

Region

Oceania

Sub Region

Polynesia

Document Type

article

Evaluation

Creator Type

Ethnologist

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Ian Skoggard ; 2004

Field Date

1986

Coverage Date

1975-1986

Coverage Place

Vava'u, Tonga

Notes

Christine Ward Gailey

Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-74)

LCCN

78640439

LCSH

Tongans