essay
Gender relations in Tonga: a paradigm shift
Tongan culture and history • Canberra • Published In 1990 • Pages: 93-100, 217-230
By: James, Kerry.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article, James critiques anthropological accounts of how gender relations, and rank and authority are constituted in Tonga socio-political system, focusing on the local kin group, KāINGA. He argues that anthropologists are wrong to look at the KāINGA as a domestic unit, or a corporate group, which constitute gender relations and status. For James, gender relations and the KāINGA are embedded in a larger ideational and political system of rank and authority. Following Leach's arguments about the incompatibility of bilateral kinship structures and permanent property-holding unilineal kin groups, James argues that the KāINGA is part of a system of ranked titles which appear to be inherited patrilineally when in fact the heir could be any member of the KāINGA who is best qualified to lead. The document includes a 14-page bibliography and four-page glossary.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Reviews and critiques
- Status, role, and prestige
- Gender status
- Basis of marriage
- Family relationships
- Kindreds and ramages
- Lineages
- 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
- essay
- 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
- unknown
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1839-2987
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Tonga
- NotesAdditional notes
- K. E. James
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-230)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 93193298
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Tongans