From the West to the rest—not always best [1]
Saturday, August 30, 2003 - 10:00. Updated on Friday, February 19, 2016 - 13:59.
From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 2, August 2003.
By Linny Folau.
Development should be regarded as a synthesis of many good things that can be found in all cultures not just in western culture, believes ‘Okusitino Mahina.
In presenting a paper called ‘Towards a general ta-va, time-space, theory of nature, mind, and society’, to the Tenth Tongan History Association Conference in Nuku‘alofa on July 8-11, ‘Okusitino spoke of the differences in concepts of time and space between Tonga and the West.
In Tonga, he believed that time is not that important, whereas space is considered to be more important.
“In Tonga we have the tauhi va, which is the social sense of space, and it is of more importance than money and time,” he said.
‘Okusitino said that development was a western concept that was underpinned by the dictation of the time-space requirement of the West.
Tongan Values
“But in Tonga we have our own time-space requirement, where we value our social duties to families and friends more than any other.”
‘Okusitino said that this theory of time and space was not restricted to Tonga but could be found in all Pacific cultures, and generally in non-western cultures.
He suggested that instead of embracing the view that development was just a one-directional movement “from the rest to the West,” we needed to change that by taking development as multi-directional.
His theory, he said, also took into account development and how it is an instrument for the negotiation of tensions between traditionalism and modernity.
Given his research in the context of ta va, or time-space, ‘Okusitino came up with an alternative: “Development should be regarded as a synthesis of many good things that can be found in all cultures not just in western culture.”
In commenting on Tonga’s current political situation, he said if there was to be hope for Tonga, we needed to bring the conflicts in all areas like economics, social, cultural and political, into some kind of balance.
“Unless we bring these tensions into common existence in terms of harmony and beauty then there will be no hope for Tonga.”
Critical
‘Okusitino said that the Tongan community in New Zealand were very critical of the current political situation in Tonga. While some supported change, it was his view that change must be subjected to, “a balance of arrangement of time and space connecting the rest to the West”.
“The predominant thoughts of the West are seen as the only norms for all human cultures. But, given all the cultural relativity, not every good thing can be found in the West nor they can be found in non-western countries. The reality is, there are good things in the West and there are good things in the rest,” he said.
‘Okusitino teaches Pacific Arts and Pacific Political Economy in the Department of Anthropology in the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
The theme of the bi-annual Tonga history conference, attended by scholars from all over the world, was ‘Tonga From the Stone Age to the Space Age.’