TRANSNATIONAL JOURNEYS: SAMOAN MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES RECONSIDERED

Authors

Paul Shankman, University of Colorado—Boulder

Abstract

In her work on Samoan population movement, Sa‘iliemanu Lilomaiava-Doktor criticizes earlier approaches to migration and remittances as “wrongheaded” because they were based on an “economistic” Euro-American model that did not sufficiently include indigenous perspectives. She then offers an approach that focuses on Samoan conceptions of movement, obligation, and connection. This article addresses her critique and examines the role of indigenous concepts in understanding and explaining trends in Samoan migration and remittances over the past several decades. As important as indigenous perspectives are, a number of the trends that Lilomaiava-Doktor derives from her approach are problematic. Furthermore, a review of the literature from the 1970s to the present suggests that Samoan concepts, especially fa‘a-Sāmoa, or Samoan custom, have been a significant component of research on Samoan migration and remittances, and have often been integrated with external economic and political factors.

Recommended Citation

Shankman, Paul (2019) "TRANSNATIONAL JOURNEYS: SAMOAN MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES RECONSIDERED," Pacific Studies Journal: Vol. 42: No. 3, Article 3.
Available at: https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol42/iss3/3