Reclaiming the Narrative: Culture, History and Gender in Solomon Islands

Abstract

Amid the current global push for gender equality, social inclusion, and women's empowerment, island nations have often attempted to measure progress on gender equality and equity using strategies adopted from the global community and within the context of universal human rights. In Solomon Islands, this is a challenging project for both the government and non-governmental organisations engaging in the 'gender space'. Insufficient knowledge of Solomon Islands' history, its diverse cultures, and their combined influence on modern Solomon Islands society all contribute to this challenge.

In this thesis, I evaluate the historical influences that have become intertwined with traditional Solomon Islands culture, transforming gender systems and relationships across the archipelago. I explore these transformations through the conceptual lens of Kwara'ae halhal - an overarching domain of moral obligation and responsibility. Within indigenous structures like Kwara'ae halhal, there are clear articulations of gender agency, and clear understandings of gender roles, norms, and responsibilities that emphasise individuality as much as relationality, gender complementarity, along with conflict resolution mechanisms and mitigation, and protection measures for women, children, and vulnerable members of society. As with other indigenous structures, halhal was demonised by the 'salvation project' of Christianity and ignored by the 'governance project' of colonialism. In the process of their establishment in Solomon Islands, both projects added new layers of understanding to gender relations, which largely promoted, prioritised, enforced, and institutionalised Western patriarchy over the gender complementarity embedded in indigenous structures like halhal. This new understanding of gender has been adopted by indigenous communities and adapted in the form of new societal norms, more visibly evident in some spaces than in others.

This thesis maps these historical journeys and argues for a decolonising practice, one that advocates for those cultural values which recognise women's agency and status within their communities, both by Solomon Islanders and non-Solomon Islanders who have the capacity to generate knowledge. I emphasise the importance of historical awareness, and attentiveness to the colonial legacies that we Solomon Islanders continue to carry, along with the narratives that legitimise these legacies. Only through this awareness can we begin to appreciate the values embedded in our own cultural lifeways. Show more