The Federated States of Micronesia's engagement with the outside world : control, self-preservation and continuity /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Puas, Gonzaga, author.
Imprint:Canberra, ACT, Australia : Australian National University Press, 2021.
©2021
Description:1 online resource (xvii, 294 pages) : illustrations.
Language:English
Series:Pacific series
Pacific series.
Subject:Diplomatic relations.
Economic history.
Social conditions.
Micronesia (Federated States) -- Foreign relations.
Micronesia (Federated States) -- Economic conditions.
Micronesia (Federated States) -- Social conditions.
Micronesia (Federated States)
Electronic books.
Electronic books.
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12683239
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:Australian National University Press.
ISBN:9781760464646
1760464643
9781760464653
1760464651
Digital file characteristics:text file PDF 5.0MB
Language / Script:Licensed under Creative Commons. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-294) and index.
Summary:This study addresses the neglected history of the people of the Federated States of Micronesia's (FSM) engagement with the outside world. Situated in the northwest Pacific, FSM's strategic location has led to four colonial rulers. Histories of FSM to date have been largely written by sympathetic outsiders. Indigenous perspectives of FSM history have been largely absent from the main corpus of historical literature. A new generation of Micronesian scholars are starting to write their own history from Micronesian perspectives and using Micronesian forms of history. This book argues that Micronesians have been dealing successfully with the outside world throughout the colonial era in ways colonial authorities were often unaware of. This argument is sustained by examination of oral histories, secondary sources, interviews, field research and the personal experience of a person raised in the Mortlock Islands of Chuuk State. It reconstructs how Micronesian internal processes for social stability and mutual support endured, rather than succumbing to the different waves of colonisation. This study argues that colonisation did not destroy Micronesian cultures and identities, but that Micronesians recontextualised the changing conditions to suit their own circumstances. Their success rested on the indigenous doctrines of adaptation, assimilation and accommodation deeply rooted in the kinship doctrine of eaea fengen (sharing) and alilis fengen (assisting each other). These values pervade the Constitution of the FSM, which formally defines the modern identity of its indigenous peoples, reasserting and perpetuating Micronesian values and future continuity.
Other form:Print version: The Federated States of Micronesia's engagement with the outside world : control, self-preservation and continuity. Canberra, ACT, Australia : ANU Press, 2021 9781760464653