This paper critically examines the social and cultural elements involved in seafaring and explores how a seafaring lifestyle has affected aspects of the te katei ni Kiribati, the “I-Kiribati way of life.” The decision to undertake contract labor requiring a work life apart from families is one way to maximizing socio-economic benefits, where the hardship of being away from home over extended periods is endured in order to maintain and benefit families at home. This paper explores how seafarers are perceived in Kiribati's communities, and how different aspects of their employment alternating with vacation at home are affecting family relationships and the I-Kiribati culture.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Asian Development Bank (ADB)2002Kiribati. Monetization in an Atoll Society. Managing Economic and Social Change. Asian Development Bank in Consultation with the Government of Kiribati and with Support from the Australian Agency for International Development.
2.
BorovnikM.2006“Working Overseas: Seafarers' Remittances and Their Distribution in Kiribati,”Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 47(1):151–161.
3.
BorovnikM.2005“Seafarers' “Maritime Culture” and the “I-Kiribati Way of Life”: The Formation of Flexible Identities,”Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 26(2):132–150.
4.
BorovnikM.2004“Are Seafarers migrants? Situating Seafarers in the Framework of Mobility and Transnationalism,”New Zealand Geographer, 60(1):36–43.
5.
BorovnikM.2003“Seafarers in Kiribati. Consequences of International Labour Circulation.” PhD thesis, University of Canterbury, Christchurch.
6.
BorovnikM.ChamberlinC.2004“Social Protection and Risk Minimisation in Kiribati.” Report prepared for the Human Development Division of the East Asia and Pacific Department of the World Bank.
7.
BoyleP.HalfacreeK., eds. 1999Migration and Gender in the Developed World. New York, NY: Routledge.
8.
BoyleP.HalfacreeK.SmithD.1999“Family Migration and Female Participation in the Labour Market. Moving Beyond Individual Level Analyses.” In Migration and Gender in the Developed World. Edited by BoyleP.HalfacreeK., New York, N.Y.: Routledge.
9.
BrownB. B.1983“The Impact of Male Labour Migration on Women in Botswana,”African Affairs, 82:367–388.
10.
ConnellJ.1983“Migration, Employment and Development in the South Pacific: Kiribati.” ILO report, Noumea, New Caledonia
11.
De HaanA.BrockK.CoulibalyN.2002“Migration, Livelihoods and Institutions: Contrasting Patterns of Migration in Mali,”The Journal of Development Studies, 38(5):37–58.
12.
FosterD.CaciaoppeR.1986“When His Ship Comes Home: The Stress of the Australian Seafarer's Partner,”Australia and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 7:75–82.
13.
GeddesW. H.1982Islands on the Line: Team Report. Atoll Economy: Social Change in Kiribati and Tuvalu. Canberra: The Australian National University.
14.
GilroyP.1993The Black Atlantic — Modernity and Double Consciousness. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
15.
GrimbleA.1957Return to the Islands. London: Wyman and Sons.
16.
GrimbleA.1952A Pattern of Island. Middlesex, NY: Penguin.
17.
HadiA.1999“Overseas Migration and the Well-being of Those Left Behind in Rural Communities of Bangladesh,”Asia Pacific Population Journal, 14 (1):43–58.
18.
HoodfarH.1997“The Impact of Male Migration on Domestic Budgeting: Egyptian Women Striving for an Islamic Budgeting Pattern,”Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 28(2):73–99.
19.
IobiK.1985“Family Ties.” In Kiribati, a Changing Atoll Culture. Edited by BatauaBatiri T., Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific.
20.
ItaiaM.1984“Rebirth. Te Mauri, Te Raoi, ao Te Tabomoa.” In Kiribati, Aspects of History. Edited by TaluAlaimaSister. Tarawa: Ministry of Education, Training and Culture.
21.
KahveciE.2002“Seafarers' Families: The Children Speak,”The Sea, 155:4.
22.
KristjánssonK.2002Justifying Emotions. Pride and Jealousy. London, New York: Routledge.
LawsonV. A.1998“Hierarchical Households and Gendered Migration in Latin America: Feminist Extensions to Migration Research,”Progress in Human Geography, 22(1):39–53.
25.
LiF.L.N.FindlayA.M.JonesM.1998“A Cultural Economy Perspective on Service Sector Migration in the Global City: The Case of Hong Kong,”International Migration, 36(2):131–158.
26.
MakhanyaE. M.1997“Migrant Labour and the Burden of the Peasant women at St. Michael's in Kwazulu Natal.” In Migration and Gender: Place, Time and People Specific. Edited by FairhurstJ.Pretoria: University of Pretoria.
27.
OkimuraJ. T.NortonS. A.1998“Jealousy and Mutilation: Nose-biting as Retribution for Adultery,”The Lancet, 352(9145):2010.
28.
SampsonH.2005“Left High and Dry? The Lives of Women Married to Seafarers in Goa and Mumbai,”Ethnography, 6(1):61–85.
29.
SampsonH.2003“Transnational Drifters or Hyperspace Dwellers: An Explorative of the Lives of Filipino Seafarers Aboard and Ashore,”Ethnic and Racial Studies, 26(2):253–277.
30.
SampsonH.ThomasM.2003“The Social Isolation of Seafarers: Causes, Effects, and Remedies,”International Maritime Health, 54:1–4.
31.
StevensonT. B.1997“Migration, Family, and Household in Highland Yemen: The Impact of Socio-economic and Political Change and Cultural Ideals on Domestic Organization,”Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 28(2):14–54.
32.
SweetmanC.1995The Miners Return: Changing Gender Relations in Lesotho's Ex-Migrants' Families. Norwich: University of East Anglia.
33.
TeiwakiR.1985“Leadership in the Village.” In Kiribati. A Changing Atoll Culture. Edited by BatauaT. B., Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies. University of the South Pacific.
34.
ThomasM.SampsonH.ZhaoM.2003“Finding a Balance: Companies, Seafarers and Family Life,”Maritime Policy and Management, 30(1):59–76.
35.
ThrosbyD.2001“The Kiribati Economy — Performance and Prospects,”Pacific Economic Bulletin, 16(1):1–18.
36.
ToatuT.1980“Seamen and Cultural Change in Kiribati,”Pacific Perspective, 8(2):31–32.
37.
WillisK.YeohB.2000Gender and Migration. Cheltenham, UK: Elgar.
38.
YeohB. S. A.GrahamE.BoyleP. J.2002“Migrations and Family Relations in the Asia Pacific Region,”Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 11(1):1–11.
39.
ZlotnikH.1995“Migration and the Family: The Family Perspective.” Reprinted in Gender and Migration. Edited by WillisK.YeohB. (2002). Cheltenham, UK:Elgar.
