The Pacific Islands

Environment and Society

The exploration and settlement of the Pacific Island world is one of the most remarkable achievements of humanity. Early seafarers, skilled in navigation, discovered diverse habitats and biotas extending across a third of the globe. In this "sea of islands," they established thriving communities where they lived for thousands of years. Today, although island ecosystems and cultures are facing great change, Pacific Island peoples remain resilient.

This new edition of a popular text reviews the diverse landforms, climates, ecosystems, societies, and cultures of the Pacific region. Seventy-five contributors—including numerous Indigenous scholars—address two key themes: (1) environmental dilemmas and possibilities, and (2) demographic, economic, and political challenges facing the people of the region.

New chapters highlight hydrology, ecosystem disturbance, conservation, Indigenous origins and activism, social media, ethnography, kava, contemporary dance, theater, and the cultural impact of globalization.

Other noteworthy chapters are significantly updated: biogeographical dynamics, prehistory of Near and Remote Oceania, fisheries and aquaculture, the fluidity of gender, mobility and urbanization, tourism as encounter, island economies, shifts in literary trends, Pacific music, water and development, and a new overview of land, marine, and water tenure.

The book concludes with a reflective essay. Pacific Island societies have been coping with environmental and demographic challenges for millennia; surviving societies have much to teach us about sustainable living, social justice, and reconciliation.

Policy makers, educators, students, and the general public will find this book an indispensable resource for understanding the region's past, present, and future.

Contributor: Moshe Rapaport (Edited by), Dennis A. Ahlburg (Contributions by), Dakota Camacho (Contributions by), Tammy Haili‘ōpua Baker (Contributions by), Glenn Banks (Contributions by), John Barker (Contributions by), Simon Batterbury (Contributions by), Aletta Biersack (Contributions by), Hans Juergen Boehmer (Contributions by), Gilianne Brodie (Contributions by), Bruce Burns (Contributions by), John Connell (Contributions by), Ron Crocombe (Contributions by), Ojeya Cruz Banks (Contributions by), George Curry (Contributions by), Tim Denham (Contributions by), Brian Diettrich (Contributions by), Ron Duncan (Contributions by), Rick Lumpkin (Contributions by), Harley I. Manner (Contributions by), Hamish A. McGowan (Contributions by), Jean-Yves Hiro Meyer (Contributions by), Bradley Moore (Contributions by), Clare Morrison (Contributions by), R. John Morrison (Contributions by), Apisalome Movono (Contributions by), Dieter Mueller-Dombois (Contributions by), Stephen G. Nelson (Contributions by), Patrick D. Nunn (Contributions by), Kalei Nu‘uhiwa (Contributions by), Patrick Pikacha (Contributions by), Emma Ngakuravaru Powell (Contributions by), Kirstie Petrou (Contributions by), Tia Reihana-Morunga (Contributions by), Will Rollason (Contributions by), Richard Scaglion (Contributions by), Andrew P. Sturman (Contributions by), Henryk Szadziewski (Contributions by), Lynne D. Talley (Contributions by), John Taylor (Contributions by), Randolph R. Thaman (Contributions by), Tony Falkland (Contributions by), Colin Filer (Contributions by), Navi Fong (Contributions by), Gerard J. Fryer (Contributions by), Patricia Fryer (Contributions by), Stephen Galvin (Contributions by), Philomena Gangaiya (Contributions by), David Welchman Gegeo (Contributions by), Paul Geraghty (Contributions by), Lorenz Gonschor (Contributions by), Tiaki Kerei (Contributions by), Nicholas Halter (Contributions by), Matthew Hayward (Contributions by), Anna-Karina Hermkens (Contributions by), Jara Hulkenberg (Contributions by), Thomas Ibanez (Contributions by), Uwe Kaufmann (Contributions by), David M. Kennedy (Contributions by), Gunnar Keppel (Contributions by), Gina Koczberski (Contributions by), Matthias Kowasch (Contributions by), Roselyn Kumar (Contributions by), Lamont Lindstrom (Contributions by), Maebh Long (Contributions by), Frank R. Thomas (Contributions by), Nunia Thomas-Moko (Contributions by), Jaap Timmer (Contributions by), Alexander Trupp (Contributions by), Caroline Vercoe (Contributions by), Camellia Webb-Gannon (Contributions by), Eberhard Weber (Contributions by), Terence Wesley-Smith (Contributions by), Vehia Wheeler (Contributions by), Ian White (Contributions by), Nālani Wilson-Hokowhitu (Contributions by)

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