Dissertation Research: Social Processes and Political Tranformation in Belau

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Belau is a U.S. Trusteeship in western Micronesia. The society has changed in response to U.S. political control after World War II, and has been especially affected by U.S. policy on nuclear armament. The proposed research will analyze the response of the people of Belau to changing U.S. policy. It will focus especially on the political participation of women and on how women characterize the transformations that have taken place in their lives. For anthropology, this project is part of a growing body of ethnographic research that attempts to analyze changes in societies in terms of global context. It has methodological significance in that it will combine social history with anthropological field techniques. It will provide much needed information on South Pacific Islands where nuclear enterprises have affected local people's environments. This research will try to develop a new way for social scientists to understand the debate on international nuclear arms. By understanding how individuals and social groups come to grip with the threat of nuclear warfare and how they respond to changing political policy, this project will help us understand social processes within the international nuclear context.