Gender and Ethnicity Among Fijian Children

Union College, Schenectady NY

Investigators

Abstract

Cross-cultural research on children helps us to understand how much of people's identity is based in human nature and how much derives from what they learn as members of a particular society. Earlier research tended to view children as passive recipients of culture who were socialized into a single adult type. New theories give more emphasis to children as active agents who selectively draw on, and reinterpret, messages from adults. This project, by a cultural anthropologist, adds a cross-cultural dimension to a literature now based largely on studies of American and European children. This is important both for strengthening the case that children actively construct their identities and, by studying how the categories are enacted differently across contexts, for shedding light on the factors that influence the salience of the categories that children use. The research will be conducted in Fiji where the Principal Investigator already has done extensive research on children in rural areas. Now she plans six months of research, between June and December 2006, in Fiji's urban capital, Suva. Because cultural categories such as ethnicity, race, and gender may be more marked in urban contexts, urban children may have less latitude for their own interpretations than rural children do. The principal investigator and her students will live with families of different backgrounds and observe the children and their playmates in a variety of settings. The project fosters the integration of research and education by building on an existing study abroad in Fiji program to give undergraduates an unusual opportunity to participate in anthropological research. The project also supports the development of research capacity at a primarily undergraduate American institution.