The Meanings of Work in Contemporary Palau: Policy Implications of Globalization in the Pacific
Economic and political changes in Palau in the last two decades have led to a rapid increase in the numbers of foreign workers. At current levels of growth, Palauans could become a minority in their own country. We examine the global processes that have produced this phenomenon and discuss their social and cultural impacts on Palau. In doing so we examine ways the meanings of work in Palau are understood, and how these are changing. We conclude that a new distinctly Palauan system of occupations is emerging that is neither traditional nor purely western and that is widely shared between Palauans and non-Palauans.
The Emergence of Local Entrepreneurs in Palau
Palau, located in the Western Caroline Islands, is more prosperous than its neighboring countries and bears the highest GDP per capita in Micronesia. Except for foreign aid forming the majority of their income, Palauans are known for their success in adopting a modern economy. Especially compared to their Yapese neighbors, Palauans are more aggressive in their approach in dealing with foreign influences. Most Pacific Islanders failed in commerce when they opened their own businesses in the beginning of encountering a modern economy because of “Trader’s Dilemma,” which is the quandary between the moral obligation to share their newfound wealth with kinfolk and neighbors and the necessity to make a profit and accumulate capital (Evers 1994; Grijip 2003:277-278). Glen Petersen (1986) studied some bankrupt storeowners in Pohnpei and suggests that this bankruptcy is better understood in terms of indigenous redistributive concepts than as failed examples of nascent capitalism (Petersen 1986:83). Whichever, Palau is unique because of its success. Many scholars have tried to explain Palau’s successful experience. Some agree that high receptivity to foreign culture is the most profound characteristic of Palauan culture. Others argue that Palauans’ performance in the modern economy is due to their traditional monetary system. These explanations tried to single out some characteristics of Palauan culture, but do not illustrate how Palauans confronted the new economic situation. In fact, there are many Palauans who tried to own their own stores, but most of them were bankrupt within two to five years. There are only a few successful cases of businesses that have survived to this day. It might not be a coincidence that most of them are biracial people. What are Palauans’ strategies in coping with the new economic situation? This article focuses on successful Palauan entrepreneurs’ experiences running their businesses after WWII. I suggest that the rise of entrepreneurship in Palau is related to the Japanese colonial legacy and to those biracial people whose fathers are Japanese, Okinawan, or Chinese who came to Palau during the war. These biracial people’s “differences” made it easier for them to overcome Trader’s Dilemma, and to access foreign resources. After they had accumulated wealth in the modern economy, they used cash to pursue local prestige, such as Palauan money, udoud. I argue that the process of modernization in Palau is a process of hybridization, which means Palauans practice two kinds of economic systems simultaneously, in which traditional cultural values are re-affirmed in the market economy.
New Data on Intracultural Variability: The Hot-Cold Concept of Medicine and Illness
Anthropologists have frequently described the hot-cold concept as important and universal in popular Latin American medical theory. In the hot-cold concept of humoral medicine, health is believed to be a balance between hot and cold elements in the body. When the body's equilibrium is upset by being too "hot" or too "cold," illness can occur. Balance can be restored by treatment with foods, remedies, or medicines of the opposite valence. This relationship between disease and treatment has sometimes complicated the delivery of Western health care to Latin patients. Recent articles cite a need for the collection of more systematic, empirical data regarding the hot-cold classification system (Logan 1977), as well as a need to measure and account for intracultural variation (Foster 1979) to achieve a better understanding of the hot-cold system.