Pacific Climate Cultures

Tony Crook; Peter Rudiak-Gould

Open Access Published by De Gruyter Open Poland 2018

Pacific Climate Cultures

Living Climate Change in Oceania

Tony Crook and Peter Rudiak-Gould

https://doi.org/10.2478/9783110591415

Overview
Contents

About this book

Low-lying Pacific island nations are experiencing the frontline of sea-level rises and climate change and are responding creatively and making-sense in their own vernacular terms. Pacific Climate Cultures aims to bring Oceanic philosophies to the frontline of social science theorization. It explores the home-grown ways that 'climate change' becomes absorbed into the combined effects of globalization and into a living nexus of relations amongst human and non-humans, spirits and elements. Contributors to this edited volume explore diverse examples of living climate change—from floods and cyclones, through song and navigation, to new forms of art, community initiatives and cultural appropriations—and demonstrate their international relevance in understanding climate change. A Prelude by His Highness Tui Atua Efi and Afterword by Anne Salmond frame an Introduction by Tony Crook & Peter Rudiak-Gould and nine chapters by contributors including John Connell, Elfriede Hermann & Wolfgang Kempf and Cecilie Rubow.

Endorsement from Professor Margaret Jolly, Australian National University:

This exciting volume offers innovative insights on climate cultures across Oceania. It critically interrogates Western environmental sciences which fail to fully appreciate Oceanic knowledges and practices. It reveals how climate science can be both ‘a weapon of the weak’ and ‘an act of symbolic violence of the powerful’. A compelling series of studies in the Cook islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea and Samoa suggest not diverse cultural constructions of ‘natural facts’ but processes of knowledge exchange and at best a respectful reciprocity in confronting present challenges and disturbing future scenarios. ’Home-grown’ Pacific discourses and ways of living emphasise the interconnections of all life on earth and in our cosmos; they do not differentiate between the natural and the moral, between environmental and cultural transformations. These studies evoke the creative agency of Oceanic peoples, too often seen as on the vanguard of victimhood in global representations of climate change, and offer distinctive visions for all humanity in these troubling times.

Author information

Tony Crook, Centre for Pacific Studies, the University of St Andrews, Scotland; Peter Rudiak-Gould, Cathexis Consulting, Toronto, Canada

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Prelude: Climate Change and the Perspective of the Fish Open Access Download PDF	IX
1 Introduction: Pacific Climate Cultures Tony Crook and Peter Rudiak-Gould Open Access Download PDF	1
2 “Prophecy from the Past”: Climate Change Discourse, Song Culture and Emotions in Kiribati Elfriede Hermann and Wolfgang Kempf Open Access Download PDF	21
3 Woosh–Cyclones as Culturalnatural Whirls: The Receptions of Climate Change in the Cook Islands Cecilie Rubow Open Access Download PDF	34
4 Crafting Certainty in Liquid Worlds: Encountering Climate Change in Kiribati Maria Louise Bønnelykke Robertson Open Access Download PDF	45
5 A Tsunami from the Mountains: Interpreting the Nadi Flood Emilie Nolet Open Access Download PDF	60
6 Nothing There Atoll? “Farewell to the Carteret Islands” John Connell Open Access Download PDF	73
7 Weathering Climate Change in Samoa: Cultural Resources for Resilience Jennifer Newell Open Access Download PDF	88
8 Reflections on Climate Change by Contemporary Artists in Papua New Guinea Marion Struck-Garbe Open Access Download PDF	106
9 Lessons from Lomani Gau Project, Fiji: A Local Community’s Response to Climate Change Joeli Veitayaki and Elisabeth Holland Open Access Download PDF	121
10 Papua New Guinea’s Response to Climate Change: Challenges and Ways Forward Nalau Bingeding Open Access Download PDF	139
Afterword Dame Anne Salmond Open Access Download PDF	155
Bibliography Open Access Download PDF	160
List of Figures Open Access Download PDF	176
List of Tables Open Access Download PDF	177
Index Open Access Download PDF	178

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Open Poland
Audience: anthropologist and ethnographers
Pages
- Main content: 350
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 3
- Coloured Illustrations: 17

eBook

Published: July 8, 2019
ISBN: 9783110591415

Hardcover

Published: September 11, 2018
ISBN: 9783110591408