Home in the Islands

Home in the Islands addresses changes in housing in the Pacific, considers how these changes came about, and explores their consequences. Architecture intersects with critical anthropology and geography as contributors examine how social, political, religious, economic, demographic, and environmental influences coverage in the nexus of housing. Building on recent interdisciplinary literature, the essays explore the meanings that are spatially negotiated as Pacific Islanders build and dwell in places that have always been home, are homes away from home, and are homelands without homes.
Although detailed written and photographic documentation is not available for most case studies of housing in the Pacific, the stories are there for those who learn to read the evidence. They draw attention to colonial and missionary agendas, local and global economies, environmental disasters, cultural identities, social connections, and family continuity, as well as personal choices. And, as the chapter on homeless Hawaiians shows, even those without houses have stories to tell. Anthropologists, architects, environmental designers, geographers, and historians will welcome this diverse volume on a neglected yet important aspect of change in the lives of Pacific Islanders.

Jan Rensel is an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai'i.