Cultural Politics and Globalization on Rapa Nui

Shortly after my arrival on Rapa Nui in early September 1996, I witnessed an unusual sight at the Mataveri airport. Not only is it unheard of to see four airplanes simultaneously on the runway, but these planes were also not the usual Boeing 767 jets of LAN Chile. One of them belonged to the Chilean Airforce, another one to the Chilean Navy, and the remaining two to NASA. In most other places of the world this scenario might indicate some kind of military trouble. Not so on Rapa Nui, where it only reminds us of the peculiar relationship the island maintains with the outside world, the fact that it is Chile's foothold in the Pacific, and of its position as a tracking station for American space research.</p

Pacific Voyaging: A Subjugated Knowledge

In a 1999 symposium on "The Origins of Postmodernity", Perry Anderson gave a gloomy account of the state of contemporary world culture. In his view, ever since the French Revolution there has existed an enormous wealth of revolutionary possibilities and social alternatives, as well as a rich array of narratives that have virtually ceased to exist due to the collapse of the socialist paradigm in the late 1980s. All that is left now is global neo-liberalism, which has spread to the furthest corners of the world by way of technological developments, mass media and the working of international corporations. The result of these processes has been a homogeneous global culture characterized by brute standardization through the channels of the world market, one of the main features of late capitalism. These developments and the global neo-liberal hegemony in particular are the reason for Anderson's despair.</p

Colonialism and Resistance in Rapa Nui

This paper addresses the relationship between the Chilean colonization of Easter Island and the Rapanui resistance against it. Two acts of resistance will be discussed in detail. The first one occurred in 1914, sixteen years after the Chilean takeover; the second in 1965, the year before the island was finally incorporated in the Chilean Civil Administration.</p

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, The paper on the Jubaea palms by H-R Bork and A Mieth (RNJ 1712: 119) presents a plausible scenario, but prompt some observations. One might imagine that people dependent upon the palms would notice before 'the feller of the last tree' did his work, especially since Hunter-Anderson tells you that at least some island people are sensitive to the ecological fragility of their environment. On the other hand, recall the difficulty of establishing parks to prevent Pacific Northwest loggers from cutting the last of the old-growth redwood.</p