Leadership and Change in the Western Pacific - Essays Presented to Sir Raymond Firth on the Occasion of His 90th Birthday

The book is an ethnographic and theoretical exploration of the rise of new forms of leadership at community and national levels in the islands of the Western Pacific. Changing definitions, functions and expectations of leaders have followed upon political independence for many new nations in Oceania. Islanders are reworking leadership offices, synthesising traditional and Western models, and drawing on indigenous values and symbols to validate the resulting new structures.
These changes raise basic questions about leadership and tradition and bring new challenges to old debates in Pacific anthropology, explored by the contributors to this volume.
Leadership and Change in the Western Pacific is published as a tribute to Sir Raymond Firth, whose classic work on Tikopia has been an inspiration to generations of anthropologists.