Pacific Studies Vocabulary Flashcards

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers 20 essential concepts from the lecture notes on Pacific culture, history, identity, and contemporary issues.

Cultural Diversity

The existence of many different cultures, languages, traditions, and beliefs across the Pacific where no two nations are exactly the same.

Sea of Islands

A concept created by Pacific scholar Epeli Hauʻofa explaining that Pacific peoples are connected by the ocean rather than separated by it.

Indigenous Knowledge

Traditional knowledge passed down through generations including navigation, medicine, storytelling, and environmental care to protect culture and identity.

Representation

How Pacific peoples, cultures, and stories are portrayed in media, politics, education, and society to challenge stereotypes and provide a voice.

Colonialism

The control and domination of Pacific nations by foreign powers such as Britain, France, and America, leading to land loss and language suppression.

Creativity

The use of imagination and cultural expression through art, dance, music, weaving, tattoos, storytelling, and performance to keep cultures alive.

Regionalism

Pacific nations working together as one region on collective issues like climate change, trade, and politics to strengthen unity.

Migration

The movement of people from one place to another for work, education, or family, which spreads Pacific cultures globally.

Identity

A person’s understanding of themselves through culture, ancestry, language, gender, beliefs, and experiences.

Worldviews

The way different cultures understand life, spirituality, and the world, shaping values like collectivism and connection to land and ocean.

Equity

Fairness and ensuring people have access to the support and opportunities needed to reduce inequalities in health, education, and employment.

Capitalism

An economic system based on businesses, profit, and private ownership that can create wealth but also increase inequality and exploit resources.

Resilience

The ability of Pacific communities to recover and stay strong through challenges like colonisation, climate change, and migration.

Lapita

An ancient Pacific culture known for pottery and navigation, believed to be the ancestors of many Pacific peoples.

Pacific Studies

An academic field that centres Pacific voices, histories, and cultures instead of looking at the region through Western viewpoints.

Diaspora

Pacific peoples living outside their ancestral homelands while maintaining cultural connections and preserving their culture abroad.

Digital Pacific

The use of technology, social media, and digital spaces to connect communities, share culture, and amplify Pacific voices globally.

Climate Change

Long-term environmental changes caused by human activities, such as rising sea levels, which threaten Pacific homes and ways of life.

Decolonisation

The process of challenging colonial systems and restoring Indigenous knowledge, language, and power to reclaim self-determination.

Innovation

Creating new ideas or technologies to solve problems and adapt to modern challenges while blending traditional knowledge.