Demand-sharing and fences

Aspects of the new Port Vila household

Bibliographic Data

ID11708341
AuthorsK Rio (0000-0002-5055-4883, University of Bergen, corresponding author)
TranslatorsChristine Jourdan
Year2017
Volume144-145
Pages91-104
Publication date2017-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal de la Société des océanistes (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0300-953X • E-ISSN: 1760-7256
PublisherOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.4000/jso.7901
OpenAlexW2775955611
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited11

This article addresses certain aspects of town life in the capital of Vanuatu. In my most recent fieldwork in 2010 and 2014 I have been investigating household economy and aspects of social organization in the settlements that rapidly spring up around the town of Port Vila. I will present one particular feature of these settlements as a test case for revisiting the long debate about Melanesian reciprocity, demand sharing and gift. Notably, in many households people set up a little store, from which kin and friends in the neighborhood can buy their household supplies. Like the household itself, the store is typically fenced off and barred in – not directly from fear of theft, but as a defense against aggressive demand-sharing and envy. My point will be that people in Port Vila now tend to use the store economy as a way of protecting the value of sharing from the too intruding world of relatives and neighbors

Business · Capital (architecture · Economics · Economy · Geography · Human settlement · Political science · Port (circuit theory · Reciprocity (cultural anthropology · Sharing economy · Social capital · Sociology · Engineering · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Law

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