title: Kava, the devil, and the snake: Pentecostal iconoclasm in contemporary Fiji

authors: Aporosa, S. 'Apo'

subjects: Kava

abstract: In his book, The Polynesian Iconoclasm, Jeff Sissons (2014) explains that within a short period of time during the early 1800’s a number of island societies in eastern Polynesia desecrated or destroyed many of their temples and sacred icons as part of their process of rejecting traditional cosmologies and embracing Christianity. This included the renunciation of kava use and the destruction of kava related utensils such as kumete and tanoa (kava bowls). Although some people within these societies recently have begun reengaging with kava and its related practices as part of cultural renaissance, scepticism remains. In Tonga, Samoa and Fiji (with Fiji having both Melanesian and Polynesian influences), iconoclasm was experienced with less intensity than elsewhere in Polynesia. For instance, although the early missionaries encouraged the destruction of weapons of warfare and objects linked to traditional worship, kava and its use was mostly ignored. Indeed, in the case of both Methodism and Roman Catholicism, kava was incorporated into Christian rituals. 
However, over the past thirty years, Pentecostal Christian groups have gained traction in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Their teachings call for the necessity to be ‘born again’, which often includes the rejection of traditional cultural conventions. For some, particularly in Fiji, the ‘born again’ message includes the renunciation of kava, a practice these Christian groups argue has its foundations in ancestral worship and ‘the workings of the Devil’. After the preaching of anti-kava messages, Church services and rallies can conclude with fervent displays of kava utensil destruction. This paper considers the recent aspect of Pentecostalism, with its anti-kava ideology and associated destruction of kava-related implements, as a present day manifestation of a much older pattern of “Polynesian Iconoclasm”.

text: Kava, the devil, and the snake: Pentecostal iconoclasm in contemporary Fiji In his book, The Polynesian Iconoclasm, Jeff Sissons (2014) explains that within a short period of time during the early 1800’s a number of island societies in eastern Polynesia desecrated or destroyed many of their temples and sacred icons as part of their process of rejecting traditional cosmologies and embracing Christianity. This included the renunciation of kava use and the destruction of kava related utensils such as kumete and tanoa (kava bowls). Although some people within these societies recently have begun reengaging with kava and its related practices as part of cultural renaissance, scepticism remains. In Tonga, Samoa and Fiji (with Fiji having both Melanesian and Polynesian influences), iconoclasm was experienced with less intensity than elsewhere in Polynesia. For instance, although the early missionaries encouraged the destruction of weapons of warfare and objects linked to traditional worship, kava and its use was mostly ignored. Indeed, in the case of both Methodism and Roman Catholicism, kava was incorporated into Christian rituals. 
However, over the past thirty years, Pentecostal Christian groups have gained traction in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Their teachings call for the necessity to be ‘born again’, which often includes the rejection of traditional cultural conventions. For some, particularly in Fiji, the ‘born again’ message includes the renunciation of kava, a practice these Christian groups argue has its foundations in ancestral worship and ‘the workings of the Devil’. After the preaching of anti-kava messages, Church services and rallies can conclude with fervent displays of kava utensil destruction. This paper considers the recent aspect of Pentecostalism, with its anti-kava ideology and associated destruction of kava-related implements, as a present day manifestation of a much older pattern of “Polynesian Iconoclasm”.

year: 2019

title: Mutualism beyond the "Mutual": The Collective Development of a New Zealand Single Industry Town Hospital

authors: Hurd, Fiona

subjects: Arts & Humanities

abstract: This paper discusses mutualism and its links to labourism. It is argued that rather than being contradictory, mutualism is incorporated into union activities in a range of ways beyond formal mutual and cooperative institutions, dependent on contextual differences in the labour movement. Using the case of mutual union and company involvement in the development of a public hospital in a single industry town in New Zealand during the 1960s and 1970s, we find evidence that the goals of management and the unions converged despite tensions at the site of production, and notions of cooperation for the benefit of workers and the wider community were brought to bear. As the workplace was an essential part of the town, the union’s interests were not limited to the workplace, but formed part of the social fabric of the town. Through this case, we see that engaging in mutualistic activities does not always demonstrate a weakening union agenda, but rather a method unions may employ towards improved worker welfare. Additionally, this example reminds us that union members are members of wider communities, families and societies, and that the boundaries between worker welfare in the workplace and those outside the workplace are not always easily drawn.

text: Mutualism beyond the "Mutual": The Collective Development of a New Zealand Single Industry Town Hospital This paper discusses mutualism and its links to labourism. It is argued that rather than being contradictory, mutualism is incorporated into union activities in a range of ways beyond formal mutual and cooperative institutions, dependent on contextual differences in the labour movement. Using the case of mutual union and company involvement in the development of a public hospital in a single industry town in New Zealand during the 1960s and 1970s, we find evidence that the goals of management and the unions converged despite tensions at the site of production, and notions of cooperation for the benefit of workers and the wider community were brought to bear. As the workplace was an essential part of the town, the union’s interests were not limited to the workplace, but formed part of the social fabric of the town. Through this case, we see that engaging in mutualistic activities does not always demonstrate a weakening union agenda, but rather a method unions may employ towards improved worker welfare. Additionally, this example reminds us that union members are members of wider communities, families and societies, and that the boundaries between worker welfare in the workplace and those outside the workplace are not always easily drawn.

year: 2017

title: Donna Awatere’s Māori Sovereignty: Reflections on White Supremacy and the Racialization of Crime Control and Surveillance in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Dawson, Brian

abstract: Donna Awatere’s examination of whiteness within the Aotearoa New Zealand context, specifically white cultural imperialism, has largely been ignored in academic scholarship. For her, white culture, and its articulation through governance and policy, is the starting point and lens to understanding and addressing historical and contemporary Māori dispossession and ensuing strategies of racialized surveillance, control, and containment. In this essay, we argue that Awatere’s attention to past forms of genocide – mapping them to emerging forms of state confinement of Māori, which engender genocidal characteristics, and problematizing “whiteness” – situates the book Māori Sovereignty as an important text in the field of criminal justice, especially that which manifests in settler-colonial contexts.

text: Donna Awatere’s Māori Sovereignty: Reflections on White Supremacy and the Racialization of Crime Control and Surveillance in Aotearoa New Zealand Donna Awatere’s examination of whiteness within the Aotearoa New Zealand context, specifically white cultural imperialism, has largely been ignored in academic scholarship. For her, white culture, and its articulation through governance and policy, is the starting point and lens to understanding and addressing historical and contemporary Māori dispossession and ensuing strategies of racialized surveillance, control, and containment. In this essay, we argue that Awatere’s attention to past forms of genocide – mapping them to emerging forms of state confinement of Māori, which engender genocidal characteristics, and problematizing “whiteness” – situates the book Māori Sovereignty as an important text in the field of criminal justice, especially that which manifests in settler-colonial contexts.

year: 2023-07-27