Remaking Micronesia [Paperback]

David Hanlon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1998

This is an important, imaginative, much needed contribution to the study of Micronesia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824820118
• ISBN-13: 978-0824820114
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,567,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars American Ideology and Foreign Policy, October 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Remaking Micronesia (Paperback)

"Remaking Micronesia" is first of all a text that provokes a long-hard look at the ghetoization of the Pacific by US ideology and foreign policy; it is not for bureaucrats from Washington DC who think "upstreaming" veterans with fading memories out of Florida would help resolve issues of military occupation and Cold War rhetoric (this, in response to the first review on these pages). In there, David Hanlon not only uncovers a lot of the American two-facedness in its foreign policies, but he also reveals, although subtly, the two-facedness of islanders in politics as they have been silenced by their material comforts and the divide and rule nature of American colonialism. "Remaking Micronesia" points out ongoing colonialism particularly as it serves US interests even though the Cold War is over and Pacific islanders are no longer needed for nuclear and biological experimentation. I commend Hanlon for his courageous condemnation of human folly and for providing much needed knowledge on what and why the US was and continues to be interested in the Pacific. Pacific islanders, particularly the American islanders have been branded as lazy and irresponsible; Hanlon's study sheds light on why these misperceptions exist. The impact of US colonialism, both old and new, on the psyche and cultures of these people has been devastating, particularly as American bureaucratization and so-called good-will programs, including their Peace Corps, continue to benefit them financially more than the islanders they are purported to help. Grants from Uncle Sam are a drop in the bucket in the US budget and are returned to the US through planeloads of consultants island hopping through Microneisa. The average islander still tries to catch fish and plant taro on a daily basis.

Every Pacific islander should read Dr. Hanlon's "Remaking Micronesia" as should designers of US foreign policy and teachers teaching the Pacific. Hanlon's style is reminiscent of the island cultural icons and metaphors so it is very accessible to island scholars and those that have experienced places like Micronesia.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ideology and Imperialism in America's Westernmost "Frontier", March 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Remaking Micronesia (Paperback)

In _Remaking Micronesia: Discourses over Development in a Pacific Territory, 1944-1982_, David Hanlon examines the ideological construction of post-World War Two American economic development in "Micronesia," a geopolitical term he employs to represent the Caroline, Marshall, and Northern Mariana Islands. Hanlon asserts that the discourses of economic development (i.e., federally funded projects, agricultural studies, etc.) in the history of Micronesia's political relationship with the United States sought to "remake" the islands and islanders into a modern, monolithic American community. Hanlon argues convincingly through his discourse analysis of US military and federal documents, among other primary and secondary sources, that the rhetoric of "American development" ultimately served as a discursive strategy of manipulation which attempted to elide the underlying purpose of post-World War Two American imperialism in this region, that is, the militarization of Micronesia's lands, seas and peoples.

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Another consiracy theory, February 10, 2001

By 

Bruce M. Petty (New Plymouth, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Hanlon: Remaking Micronesia Cloth (Hardcover)

I found Mr. Hanlon's book a laborious read, to say the least. He uses incredibly long sentences. Picking one of many at random, I counted seventy words and 10 commas. The theme of the book seems to be one of conspiracy; the United States verses the people of Micronesia. His use of document sources is extensive, and much of what he concludes may or may not be true. However, I think his conspiracy theory might have been more convincing if he had made the effort to go beyond the documents, and sought out individuals still living who were very much a part of the U S. effort to administer the islands after World War II. Just as a for-instance, Capt. James B Johnson, USNR, Ret. lives in Florida. In the late 1940s and early 1950s he was the Naval Administrator for the Northern Mariana Islands, The Volcano Islands, and the Bonin Islands. He returned to the Saipan during the Trust Territory administration of the islands and served in a number of capacities as a civilian. I myself lived on Saipan for five years, doing my own research. Not once did I meet an individual who did not hold Capt. Johnson in the highest regard. I think if Hanlon had gone to Capt. Johnson and others like him for their in-put on his conspiracy theory he might have come away with a completely different appreciation for what was attempted in the early American administration of these islands. Bruce M. Petty, Fairfield, Ca.