Tahiti

Polynesian Peasants and Proletarians

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Tahiti by Ben R. Finney, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ben R. Finney ISBN: 9781351487146
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: July 12, 2017
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Ben R. Finney
ISBN: 9781351487146
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: July 12, 2017
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

The Polynesian island of Tahiti is in the imagination an island paradise, an idyllic world inhabited by noble savages, carefree and uncomplicated. Tahiti separates myth from reality. Finney describes and analyzes the forces of change that have confronted Tahiti and its inhabitants in the modern world. As the author notes in the introduction, "Neither isolation in the South Pacific, nor the romantic aura invested in them by philosophers and escapists of the West, has saved Tahitians from intense involvement in the twin processes of industrialization and urbanization."

This study of Tahitian life concentrates upon two different communities. One is a peasant community moving from subsistence farming to an increased reliance upon the production of cash crops. The other is a proletarian community whose members were at the time abandoning farming and fishing in favor of wage labor. Finney compares the two contemporaneous communities, enabling him to define different but interrelated variables of the economic and social change. These are responsible for Tahiti's evolution from a subsistence oriented peasant life to a life based increasingly on cash crops and wage labor.

What happens to family life, work patterns, land use, and other traditional modes of social organization when a small, underdeveloped society is confronted with economic forces largely beyond its control? In dealing with this question as it applies to Tahiti, Finney makes an important contribution to our understanding of how modernization affects a society once thought to be outside the boundaries of the modern world. A major study in English of the socio-economic forces at work in Tahiti, this book provides the reader with both an understanding of the changing nature of Tahitian life, and the reactions of Tahitians to such changes.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The Polynesian island of Tahiti is in the imagination an island paradise, an idyllic world inhabited by noble savages, carefree and uncomplicated. Tahiti separates myth from reality. Finney describes and analyzes the forces of change that have confronted Tahiti and its inhabitants in the modern world. As the author notes in the introduction, "Neither isolation in the South Pacific, nor the romantic aura invested in them by philosophers and escapists of the West, has saved Tahitians from intense involvement in the twin processes of industrialization and urbanization."

This study of Tahitian life concentrates upon two different communities. One is a peasant community moving from subsistence farming to an increased reliance upon the production of cash crops. The other is a proletarian community whose members were at the time abandoning farming and fishing in favor of wage labor. Finney compares the two contemporaneous communities, enabling him to define different but interrelated variables of the economic and social change. These are responsible for Tahiti's evolution from a subsistence oriented peasant life to a life based increasingly on cash crops and wage labor.

What happens to family life, work patterns, land use, and other traditional modes of social organization when a small, underdeveloped society is confronted with economic forces largely beyond its control? In dealing with this question as it applies to Tahiti, Finney makes an important contribution to our understanding of how modernization affects a society once thought to be outside the boundaries of the modern world. A major study in English of the socio-economic forces at work in Tahiti, this book provides the reader with both an understanding of the changing nature of Tahitian life, and the reactions of Tahitians to such changes.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Economics and Economic Policy in Britain by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book Ruling Shaikhs and Her Majesty's Government, 1960-1969 by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book Design and Anthropology by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book Political Judgement by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book Changing Social Structure in Ghana by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book Straight Talk on Parenting by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book Japan: The Childless Society? by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book Lean Misconceptions by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book Chicana Feminist Thought by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book Engineering Education for Sustainable Development by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book Modernist Aesthetics and Consumer Culture in the Writings of Oscar Wilde by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book The Irony of Barack Obama by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book Destructiveness, Intersubjectivity and Trauma by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book Capitalist Restructuring and the Pacific Rim by Ben R. Finney
Cover of the book Maurice Mandelbaum and American Critical Realism by Ben R. Finney
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy