Chiefs, priests and vuluvulu: transformations in socio-political institutions, Bareke Peninsula, central Marovo Lagoon

Abstract

As this audience would no doubt be aware, land issues are once again occupying a high place on the agenda of donors and governments in the Pacific region. In both this region and across the globe, there now appears to be something of a consensus emerging in the mainstream policy and academic literature regarding the benefits of recognising customary tenure systems. However among women’s groups and feminist scholars, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, this position is extremely contentious, with widely divergent views on a range of issues including the role of the state, the nature of men’s and women’s interests under customary law, and the effect of economic, political, and legal transformations. To date, these issues have received limited attention in the Pacific region. In Solomon Islands, very little of the research on land has been undertaken by women, or focused on women’s perspectives and experiences of land tenure