Teresia Kieuea Teaiwa Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand Keynote Lecture Friday, July 5th 2002, 9.00 – 10.00 “Caribbeanization, Balkanization, Africanization, Indigenization: Rethinking the Pacific in a Global Context” There is a distinguished tradition of studying the Pacific that has at times profoundly influenced and in some cases revolutionized disciplinary approaches to knowledge, but today the Pacific remains marginalized in academia as a quaint and exotic area of study. Some specialists attempt to gain wider recognition and attention for their work by making comparisons between the Pacific Islands and other Third World regions. Recently, there have been moves to describe political instability in Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands as indicators of a process of “Africanization” (Reilly 2002). In the case of post-1987 Fiji, the specter of the ethnic conflict in the Balkans and former Yugoslavia was often raised – both in popular and academic discourse (e.g. Borer 1993). During the Cold War, there was discussion of the “Caribbeanization” of the Pacific (Durutalo 1992). While it is useful and necessary to be able to show how the Pacific is indeed connected to global or universal phenomena, this paper examines the appropriateness of some such comparisons. Cognizant also of powerful trends towards “indigenising” Pacific Studies the paper asks whether there are alternatives to or middle grounds between constructing false homologies and arguing for Pacific exceptionalism. Short CV Ph.D. in History of Consciousness (2001), University of California, Santa Cruz, California Dissertation title: “Militarism, Tourism and the Native: Articulations in Oceania” Dissertation advisor: Professor James Clifford M.A. in History (1991), University of Hawai`i, Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai`i B.A. cum laude in History (1989), Trinity College, Washington, D.C. Honors and Awards UC Regents’ Dissertation Fellowship, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1995 Graduate Mentorship Award, (Mentor: Professor Angela Y. Davis), University of California, Santa Cruz, 1992 Graduate Opportunity Fellowship, University of California Santa Cruz, 1991 East-West Center Grant for MA Studies at the University of Hawai’i,1989-1991 Phi Beta Kappa, Epsilon Chapter (Trinity College), 1989 Distinguished Scholarship Award,Trinity College, 1985-1989 Selected Publications 2001 in press, ‘Lo(o)sing the Edge’ in: Native Pacific Cultural Studies on the Edge, special issue of The Contemporary Pacific edited by Vicente M. Diaz and J. Kehaulani Kauanui 2001 - ‘Imrana Jalal and Shamima Ali’ in: 20th Century Fiji: People Who Shaped the Nation, Stewart Firth and Darryl Tarte (eds). Suva: USP Solutions, the University of the South Pacific pp. 207. 2001 - Review of Compassionate Exile (video, 60 minutes), Bob Madey and Larry Thomas. The Contemporary Pacific, Spring, pp. 302-306. 2000 - ‘bikinis and other s/pacific n/oceans’ in: Voyaging the Contemporary Pacific, edited by David Hanlon and Geoffrey M. White. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, pp. 91-112. 2000 - ‘Peripheral Visions? Rabi Island in Fiji's general election’ in: Fiji Before the Storm: Elections and the Politics of Development, edited by Brij V. Lal. Canberra: Asia Pacific Press, Australian National University, pp. 93-110. 2000 - Review of Pacific Women Speak Out for Independence and Denuclearisation, Zohl de Ishtar (ed). History Now, May, pp. 40-41. 2000 - Review of Gauguin’s Skirt, Stephen Eisenman. Pacific Studies, 23 (1/2):103-111. 2000 -‘Resisting Writing and Writing Resistance’ in Making a Difference: Women and Globalization, A Special Edition of Tok Blong Pasifik, edited by Makere Harawira. Victoria, BC: South Pacific Peoples Foundation. 53(3):35-40. 1999 - ‘Reading Gauguin’s Noa Noa with Hau’ofa’s Nederends: ‘Militourism,’ Feminism and the ‘Polynesian’ Body’ in: UTS Review, volume 5 number 1, edited by Stephen Muecke and Meaghan Morris. pp. 53-69. Also published in: Inside Out: Theorising Pacific Literature edited by Vilsoni Hereniko and Rob Wilson. Colorado: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999:249- 264. 1998 - ‘Yaqona/Yagona: Roots and Routes of a Displaced Native’ in: UTS Review, volume 4 number 2, edited by Stephen Muecke and Meaghan Morris. pp. 92-106. 1997 - ‘Rabi and Kioa: Peripheral Minority Communities in Fiji’ in: Fiji Constitution Review Research Papers, Volume 1: Fiji in Transition edited by Brij Lal and Tomasi Vakatora. Suva: School of Social and Economic Development (SSED), USP, pp. 130-152. 1995 - ‘Scholarship from a Lazy Native’ in: Work in Flux, edited by Emma Greenwood, Andrew Sartori and Klaus Neumann. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, pp. 58- 72. Civic Involvement Greenpeace Pacific Ltd-Board Member since 1999, Voting Member 1997-1998 Women’s Action for Change (Fiji), Management Collective, Member 1996-97 Fiji YWCA, National Executive Council, Youth Rep 1996-98 Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement/PCRC, Volunteer 1995-1997 Citizens’ Constitutional Forum (Fiji), Secretariat, Volunteer 1995-1996 Teresia Kieuea Teaiwa Pacific Studies Victoria University of Wellington PO Box 600 Wellington New Zealand [email protected] .