An Anthropological Exploration of Ordinary Ethics in a Hierarchical Society: The Case of Contemporary Micronesian Chiefdoms

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K13278
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 04030:Cultural anthropology and folklore-related
• Research Institution: Tokyo Metropolitan University
• Principal Investigator: Masaharu Kawano 東京都立大学, 人文科学研究科, 准教授 (20802648)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 日常倫理 / 再帰性 / 身分階層制 / 首長制 / ミクロネシア / ポーンペイ島

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Focusing upon “Ordinary Ethics” in human life (i.e., the ubiquitous exploration for “better” conditions by local residents), I examined how people transform their own behavior into “better” practices in a Micronesian hierarchical society. Initially, I had planned to conduct fieldwork in Pohnpei, the main island in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), but had to abandon it owing to the national border closure of the FSM as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, I was able to approach this issue by analyzing the ethnographic materials and my past survey data. The specific findings of my study revealed that the Pohnpeians often judge what kind of value is “better” among multiple values to maintain and create interactional order in various kinds of ceremonial feastings, and that they make these values visible through their own alternative practices, such as unconventional display of foods.

Free Research Field

文化人類学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

オセアニア島嶼部に特有な身分階層制（首長制）に関する人類学的研究は、植民地化や市場経済の浸透といった外在的な変化との相互作用として階層性を捉える方向性と、儀礼や祭宴といった具体的な実践の場から階層制の構築プロセスを解明する方向性に大別される。本研究は、階層制の内在的な変化を捉えることで後者の研究を発展させる狙いから、個々の住民が階層制のもとで自らの振る舞いを「より善い」実践へと洗練させるプロセス、すなわち、日常倫理（＝住民による「より善い」実践の日常的な探求）の様相を検討することにより、身分階層制の内在的変化を明らかにし、当該領域の発展を図るものである。