O G Berta
Biographic Data
| ID | 43528 |
|---|---|
| NAME | O G Berta |
| GIVEN NAMES | O G |
| FAMILY NAME | Berta |
| SIGNATURE | BERTA O G |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Oslo |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9023-8658 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 8 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 8 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1969 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Dialogues with a Trickster: On the Margins of Myth and Ethnography in the Marshall Islands. 2025. By Phillip H. McArthur
Dialogues with a Trickster: On the Margins of Myth and Ethnography in the Marshall Islands. 2025. By Phillip H. McArthur. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press. 302pp. $75 (hardcover), $25 (paperback)
Enduring Ascriptions of Dependence: Cultural Autonomy and Relational Interdependence in the Marshall Islands
This article examines the tensions between external ascriptions of dependence and internal narratives of autonomy and interdependence in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The RMI suffers from and endures the legacy of violent colonialism and ongoing reliance on foreign aid, structural factors that inform external ascriptions of dependence. Yet, Marshall Islanders assert their autonomy by engaging in culturally meaningful practices in th…
The legal life of anthropological theory: Limits to the ideal of being useful
This article critically examines the impact of anthropological theory on land relations and chieftainship in the Marshall Islands. Anthropologists steeped in lineage theory developed models of a feudal system centred on land as private property that informed the colonial establishment of a court system that institutionalised chiefs as landowners. This shift transformed traditional reciprocal land relations into stratified, commodified ones, enhan…
Culture or commerce? Craft as an ambiguous construction between culture and economy
Contemporary craft presents a conceptual difficulty for many Marshall Islanders, who struggle to construct definitions that rely on a clear-cut separation between culture and economy, in which craft is perceived to serve either cultural or commercial purposes. However, this article ethnographically illustrates that craft is an ambiguous construction. Its ambiguity stems from conflicting notions of culture and commerce, which is tied to valuations…
‘Because of the missionaries: The ambiguous presence of past missionaries in the Marshall Islands
This article analyzes the contemporary presence of pioneering missionaries to the Marshall Islands by looking at how conventional conversion narratives construe them as agents of radical transformation. Ridden with ambiguity, conversion is a recursive factor in social and political life, a fact that point to the context-dependent nature of this specific narrative. While rupture often serves as a useful metaphor in folk-models of conversion, it re…
From Arrival Stories to Origin Mythmaking: Missionaries in the Marshall Islands
In December 1857, Protestant missionaries arrived on Epoon Atoll to establish the first mission station in the Marshall Islands. The story of their arrival has historical interest and contemporary importance in the Marshalls because it has been used to form local theology and to shape contemporary identities. Thus, the arrival story of the first missionaries to the Marshall Islands functions as an origin story that serves religiously anchored ide…
Covid ‐19 and the Marshallese
Iọkwe, I'm one of the many poultry workers that haven't been paid. I've worked at Ozark [a poultry factory] in Fayetteville for six months now. Last month, I was feeling sick and coughing so I went to get tested. The results came back positive. I have quarantined since. I haven't gone back to work because I'm still not feeling well. My wife got tested and she was positive too. She has worked at Tyson for almost six years. She is also under quaran…
Pastor, Politician, Entrepreneur, Chief: Power and Leadership on Epoon Atoll Today
In analysing the various types of political figures and status positions on Epoon, an outer atoll in the Marshall Islands, this article sheds light on contemporary constitutions of hierarchy, authority and leadership. This leads to an argument about the context-dependent nature of power. No leadership figure on Epoon today is all-powerful in the sense that his or her influence is relevant across all political and cultural spheres. When the histor…
Culture or commerce? Craft as an ambiguous construction between culture and economy
Contemporary craft presents a conceptual difficulty for many Marshall Islanders, who struggle to construct definitions that rely on a clear-cut separation between culture and economy, in which craft is perceived to serve either cultural or commercial purposes. However, this article ethnographically illustrates that craft is an ambiguous construction. Its ambiguity stems from conflicting notions of culture and commerce, which is tied to valuations…
From Arrival Stories to Origin Mythmaking: Missionaries in the Marshall Islands
In December 1857, Protestant missionaries arrived on Epoon Atoll to establish the first mission station in the Marshall Islands. The story of their arrival has historical interest and contemporary importance in the Marshalls because it has been used to form local theology and to shape contemporary identities. Thus, the arrival story of the first missionaries to the Marshall Islands functions as an origin story that serves religiously anchored ide…
Pastor, Politician, Entrepreneur, Chief: Power and Leadership on Epoon Atoll Today
In analysing the various types of political figures and status positions on Epoon, an outer atoll in the Marshall Islands, this article sheds light on contemporary constitutions of hierarchy, authority and leadership. This leads to an argument about the context-dependent nature of power. No leadership figure on Epoon today is all-powerful in the sense that his or her influence is relevant across all political and cultural spheres. When the histor…
Pastor, Politician, Entrepreneur, Chief: Power and Leadership on Epoon Atoll Today
In analysing the various types of political figures and status positions on Epoon, an outer atoll in the Marshall Islands, this article sheds light on contemporary constitutions of hierarchy, authority and leadership. This leads to an argument about the context-dependent nature of power. No leadership figure on Epoon today is all-powerful in the sense that his or her influence is relevant across all political and cultural spheres. When the histor…
Covid ‐19 and the Marshallese
Iọkwe, I'm one of the many poultry workers that haven't been paid. I've worked at Ozark [a poultry factory] in Fayetteville for six months now. Last month, I was feeling sick and coughing so I went to get tested. The results came back positive. I have quarantined since. I haven't gone back to work because I'm still not feeling well. My wife got tested and she was positive too. She has worked at Tyson for almost six years. She is also under quaran…
‘Because of the missionaries: The ambiguous presence of past missionaries in the Marshall Islands
This article analyzes the contemporary presence of pioneering missionaries to the Marshall Islands by looking at how conventional conversion narratives construe them as agents of radical transformation. Ridden with ambiguity, conversion is a recursive factor in social and political life, a fact that point to the context-dependent nature of this specific narrative. While rupture often serves as a useful metaphor in folk-models of conversion, it re…
From Arrival Stories to Origin Mythmaking: Missionaries in the Marshall Islands
In December 1857, Protestant missionaries arrived on Epoon Atoll to establish the first mission station in the Marshall Islands. The story of their arrival has historical interest and contemporary importance in the Marshalls because it has been used to form local theology and to shape contemporary identities. Thus, the arrival story of the first missionaries to the Marshall Islands functions as an origin story that serves religiously anchored ide…
Enduring Ascriptions of Dependence: Cultural Autonomy and Relational Interdependence in the Marshall Islands
This article examines the tensions between external ascriptions of dependence and internal narratives of autonomy and interdependence in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The RMI suffers from and endures the legacy of violent colonialism and ongoing reliance on foreign aid, structural factors that inform external ascriptions of dependence. Yet, Marshall Islanders assert their autonomy by engaging in culturally meaningful practices in th…
The legal life of anthropological theory: Limits to the ideal of being useful
This article critically examines the impact of anthropological theory on land relations and chieftainship in the Marshall Islands. Anthropologists steeped in lineage theory developed models of a feudal system centred on land as private property that informed the colonial establishment of a court system that institutionalised chiefs as landowners. This shift transformed traditional reciprocal land relations into stratified, commodified ones, enhan…
Culture or commerce? Craft as an ambiguous construction between culture and economy
Contemporary craft presents a conceptual difficulty for many Marshall Islanders, who struggle to construct definitions that rely on a clear-cut separation between culture and economy, in which craft is perceived to serve either cultural or commercial purposes. However, this article ethnographically illustrates that craft is an ambiguous construction. Its ambiguity stems from conflicting notions of culture and commerce, which is tied to valuations…
Dialogues with a Trickster: On the Margins of Myth and Ethnography in the Marshall Islands. 2025. By Phillip H. McArthur
Dialogues with a Trickster: On the Margins of Myth and Ethnography in the Marshall Islands. 2025. By Phillip H. McArthur. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press. 302pp. $75 (hardcover), $25 (paperback)
Island Studies and Pacific Affairs (5 works) · Law (4 works) · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies (4 works) · Political science (4 works) · Sociology (4 works) · Aesthetics (3 works) · Art (3 works) · Ethnography (3 works) · History (3 works) · Ambiguity (2 works)