Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.
‘Women in Development’ aid–funded credit schemes in the Kingdom of Tonga were designated as ‘failures’ by the funders because the recipient groups of textile producers, who were meant to be engaging in commercial handicraft production as development, were instead making and seemingly ‘retaining’ textile koloa (indigenous wealth). It is my contention that rather than making low–valued, low–priced textiles for tourist consumption the women made koloa textiles for the Tongan ceremonial economy where a greater range of ideological, spiritual and material gains including cash were available to them. Even though the default rate on the loans was low, and the women were engaged in a Tongan notion of development known as fakalakalaka, the funders and the critics of the schemes were either unable to or would not recognise development taking place, so driven by macroeconomic indices were their criteria and assessment. This paper looks at the implications of this disjuncture and the funders’ lack of understanding (and/or rejection) of indigenous global economic systems and hybrid notions of development inherent in the women textile producers’ actions. It explores a contemporary reality where indigenous wealth is thriving in the global economy, contributes to the literature on hybrid economic systems and challenges macroeconomically driven development policy in the Pacific.
Asia Pacific Viewpoint – Wiley
Published: Aug 1, 2002
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.