| Document Type
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BL
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| Record Number
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998383
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| Doc. No
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b752753
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| Main Entry
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Lawson, Stephanie.
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| Title & Author
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Tradition versus democracy in the South Pacific : : Fiji, Tonga, and Western Samoa /\ Stephanie Lawson.
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| Publication Statement
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Cambridge ;New York :: Cambridge University Press,, 1996.
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| Series Statement
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Cambridge Asia-Pacific studies
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| Page. NO
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1 online resource (x, 228 pages) :: maps
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| ISBN
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0511470169
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: 0511835280
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: 9780511470165
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: 9780511835285
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0521496381
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9780521062817
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9780521496384
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9780521630542
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| Bibliographies/Indexes
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Includes bibliographical references (pages 206-221) and index.
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| Contents
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1. Tradition and Democracy. The Idea of Tradition. Tradition and Modernity. Tradition as Ideology. The Problem of Authenticity. Democracy -- 2. Constitutional Development, Chiefly Power and the Politics of Tradition in Fiji. The Plural Society. Colonization and Indirect Rule. The Politics of Land and Indigenous Paramountcy. Fijian Sociopolitical Structures. The Background to the 1970 Constitution. The Rise and Fall of Labour. The 1990 Constitution. Party Politics and Elections in the Republic -- 3. The Monarchy Versus Democracy in the Kingdom of Tonga. The Origins of the Political System. The Sociopolitical System. European Contact and Christian Conversion. Constitutional Development. The Reign of Queen Salote Tupou III. Transformations Under Tupou IV. The Pro-Democracy Movement. The Conservative Reaction -- 4. Preserving Tradition Through Democratization: The Introduction of Universal Suffrage in Western Samoa. The Samoan Polity. Samoa Before the Coming of Europeans. From Contact to Colonial Rule. Politics and Law after Independence: The First Twenty Years. The Rise of Political Parties and Party Politics. The Introduction of Universal Suffrage. Fa'aSamoa and Fa'amatai. The Village Fono Act of 1990 -- 5. Conclusion: Tradition Versus the West.
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| Abstract
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Much recent literature on non-Western countries celebrates the renaissance of indigenous culture, Tradition Versus Democracy in the South Pacific, however, looks more critically at Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa, showing how current movements to reclaim and celebrate 'tradition' may protect the power and privileges of indigenous elites and promote political conservatism. Stephanie Lawson argues that opposition to 'Western' democracy in the name of 'tradition' is not necessarily representative of indigenous people at the grassroots level, and is often carefully manipulated to benefit an elite.
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Lawson is critical of cultural relativism, a concept which, she suggests, limits the discussion of democracy in non-Western countries and leads to deterministic stereotypes. Relativism can also reinscribe an essentialist framework, creating an ethical void in which little of critical value can be said. She is equally skeptical, however, of universalist positions which seek to promote a single, fixed conception of democratic politics and which can be as dogmatic in assumption as relativist modes of theorizing.
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| Subject
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Democracy-- Oceania, Case studies.
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Démocracie-- Océanie-- Cas, études de.
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Democracy.
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Démocratie-- Fidji.
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Démocratie-- Samoa (îles)
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Démocratie-- Tonga.
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Law, Politics Government.
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Political Science.
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Political Theory of the State.
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Politics and government.
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Politischer Wandel
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Democratie.
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Traditionele samenleving.
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Fiji, Politics and government.
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Samoa, Politics and government.
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Tonga, Politics and government.
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Fidji, Politique et gouvernement.
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Fidschi
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Fiji.
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Oceania.
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Samoa (îles), Politique et gouvernement.
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Samoa occidentales, Politique et gouvernement.
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Samoa.
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Tonga
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Tonga, Politique et gouvernement.
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Tonga.
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Westsamoa
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| Dewey Classification
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320.995
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| LC Classification
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JC423.L373 1996
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| NLM classification
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73.72bcl
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