Research Catalog

Title

Land, custom, and practice in the South Pacific / edited by R. Gerard Ward and Elizabeth Kingdon.

Publication

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Ward, R. Gerard.
• Kingdon, Elizabeth, 1949-

Description

xii, 290 p. : ill., maps; 24 cm.

Summary

• Land tenure arrangements are intimately linked with the organisation of society, the economy (particularly to land use), the political structure and the geography of most countries. The majority of land in all South Pacific Island countries remains under 'customary' or 'traditional' forms of tenure in which land is normally held by a community group. This book argues that many parts of the region are in the midst of a major transformation in the way in which land is allocated and held by owners and users. These changes are closely related to concurrent changes in the demography and socio-political organisation.
• These analysts discuss here how traditional tenure and contemporary practice frequently diverge; how custom has been sometimes invented (and re-invented) and is a source of potential tension; how discordance between 'development' and 'tradition' in relation to land tenure is increasing. Reform of customary and codified systems to match current needs could result in major modifications of the social, economic and geographic character of Pacific Island countries.

Series Statement

Cambridge Asia-Pacific studies

Uniform Title

Cambridge Asia-Pacific studies.

Subject

• Land tenure > Islands of the Pacific
• Land tenure > Oceania
• Islands of the Pacific > Social conditions
• Oceania > Social conditions

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-279) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

1. Land Use and Tenure: Some Comparisons / R. Gerard Ward and Elizabeth Kingdon -- 2. Land Tenure in the Pacific Islands / R. Gerard Ward and Elizabeth Kingdon -- 3. Breathing Spaces: Customary Land Tenure in Vanuatu / Margaret Rodman -- 4. From Corporate to Individual Land Tenure in Western Samoa / J. Tim O'Meara -- 5. Right and Privilege in Tongan Land Tenure / Kerry James -- 6. Land, Law and Custom: Diverging Realities in Fiji / R. Gerard Ward -- 7. Beyond the Breathing Space / Anthony Hooper and R. Gerard Ward.

ISBN

052147289X

LCCN

^^^95034425^

OCLC

• 32856390
• SCSB-10033093

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library