This book sheds new light on processes of cultural transformation at work in Oceania and analyzes them as products of interrelationships between culturally created meanings and specific contexts. In a series of inspiring essays, noted scholars of the region examine these interrelationships for insight into how cultural traditions are shaped on an ongoing basis.

The collection marks a turning point in the debate on the conceptualization of tradition. Following a critique of how tradition has been viewed in terms of dichotomies like authenticity vs. inauthenticity, contributors stake...

"I am impressed by the direction and content of this book. It offers a timely engagement with the important social science concepts of movement, place-making, and multiple-identifications. But whereas in other recent studies these notions have usually been theorized and empiricised as isolates, here they are triangulated in an intellectually original and productive way." - Tom Ryan, University of Waikato

Ethnographic case studies explore what it means to "belong" in Oceania, as contributors consider ongoing formations of place, self and community in connection with travelling, internal...