2009/02/10 by Robert Tonkinson · 92 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Confusion #Development economics #Gender studies #Ideology #Island Studies and Pacific Affairs #Law #National identity #Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Psychology #Sociology #Solidarity
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1835-9310.1982.tb00996.x
published in The Australian Journal of Anthropology 13(4), 306-315 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2009/02/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Vanuatu's transformation into a predominantly Christian country entailed the loss of much traditional culture and the devaluation of the pre-contact era. In the 1970s the growing independence movement used kastom as a rallying cry to evoke a distinctive non-European national identity. In promoting unity and solidarity, the movement's leaders promulgated kastom on a safe ideological plane, avoiding any definition or differentiation of the concept, whereas the populace attempted to interpret kastom pragmatically. This led to confusion and difficulties because kastom is so ambiguous; its capacity to unite at one level is offset a t others by its political utility in defining difference and in marking boundaries. For Christians, a major problem has been to reconcile the new positive view of kastom with long- entrenched negative attitudes. For the nation-builders, the challenge has been to uphold the virtues of kustorn-within-Christianity while avoiding as much as possible its inclusion in legal codes or in structures and strategies associated with Vanuatu's functioning as a Pacific republic.