Family and Gender in the Pacific
Domestic Contradictions and the Colonial Impact

A 1989 examination of the effect of mission evangelism and colonial intervention on the family life of Pacific peoples.

Margaret Jolly (Edited by), Martha Macintyre (Edited by)

9780521131773, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 18 February 2010

312 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.8 cm, 0.4 kg

The combined forces of mission evangelism and colonial intervention have transformed the everyday family life of Pacific peoples. The dramatic changes that affected the political and economic autonomy of indigenous people in the region also had significant effects on domestic life. This book, originally published in 1989, examines the ways in which this happened. Using the insights of history and anthropology, chapters cover a wide range of geographical range, extending from Hawaii to Australia. The authors examine changes in medicine and health, religious beliefs, architecture and settlement, and the restructuring of the domestic realm. The book raises issues of concern to a wide range of interests: the peoples and history of the Pacific, the broader questions of colonialism and missionary endeavour, and the changing structure of the family.

Introduction Margaret Jolly and Martha MacIntyre
1. New England missionary wives, Hawaiian women and 'the cult of true womanhood' Patricia Grimshaw
2. Changes in the lives of ordinary women in early post-contact Hawaii Caroline Ralston
3. Domestic structures and polyandry in the Marquesas Islands Nicholas Thomas
4. The object lesson of a civilised, Christian home Diane Langmore
5. Medical care and gender in Papua New Guinea Donald Denoon
6. Suffer the children: Wesleyans in the D'Entrecasteaux Michael W. Young
7. Women in contemporary Central Enga society, Papua New Guinea M. J. Meggitt
8. Better homes and gardens Martha MacIntyre
9. God, ghosts and people: Christianity and social organisation among Takuru Wiru Jeffrey Clark
10. Sins of a mission: Christian life as Kwaio traditionalist ideology Roger M. Keesing
11. Sacred spaces: churches, men's houses and households in South Pentecost, Vanuatu Margaret Jolly
12. Bond-slaves of Satan: Aboriginal women and the missionary dilemma Annette Hamilton
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Biography: historical, political & military [BGH]