The future of Tokelau

About this book

"The Future of Tokelau - the sequel to Tokelau: A Historical Ethnography (1997) by Judith Hunisman and Antony Hooper - follows the history of this small Pacific nation from the 1970s up to the 2006 referendum in which the Tokelauans voted to remain a dependency of New Zealand rather than become self-governing in free association with New Zealand. Over the course of this history, Huntsman, with assistance from Kelihiano Kalolo, documents the mismatch of cultural assumptions, expectations and values played out by officials, politicians and Tokelau elders on a stage ranging from the coral atolls of Tokelau, the bland offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the monumental UN building in New York. The Future of Tokelau is a superbly researched study of village social life and politics in a modernising world; an illuminating picture of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, its operations and relationships; and a brilliant critique of the United Nations and the way it conducts its affairs. But it is the lumanaki - or the future of Tokelau - as perceived by the Tokelau people that is at the centre of this books."--BOOK JACKET.