Topics in the Contemporary Pacific. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2015. xii, 243 pp. (Map, tables.) US$54.00, cloth. ISBN 978-0-8248-4102-7.
Are politicians really as self-serving and corrupt as they are often depicted to be by scholars and news media alike? Are they to blame for the cynicism and disillusionment that is often expressed when it comes to describing contemporary politics? Jack Corbett has interviewed 112 politicians from Pacific countries and draws upon biographic sources for many others to find out what these politicians themselves think of this characterization and of the work they do. His aim is to construct a “political-centered account of political life in the Pacific Islands” (22).
Not surprisingly, zooming in on the details of how political lives and careers are experienced offers Corbett a nuanced understanding of the ambiguities and dilemmas of leadership and politics more generally. Corbett has structured the book as a would-be career as he follows these politicians from their decision to go into politics to candidacy in an election, to political dealings in parliament or as a minister, to the day of retirement. The starting point has been to take the accounts of the interviewees seriously rather than being normative or trying to identify what makes good or bad politicians. Corbett does discuss the question of whether these politicians may be lying or polishing their images in the interview situation, but as he points out, even if they have done so, the interviews and the patterns that emerge from them are still a valuable account of political life from the point of view of those who practice it. This approach leads to an interesting discussion of structure versus agency in political life pursued through what Corbett refers to as “collective portraits”; an amalgam of individual voices to identify patterns and commonalities.
The book begins with a chapter that thoroughly delimits the study and its rationale (supplemented by an appendix on the methodology of life interviews, which seems aimed at those who prefer “objective” measures rather than those familiar with interpretive approaches).
The second chapter outlines the backgrounds of the politicians in question and what they claim motivated them to enter politics—family, upbringing, kinship, community relations, educational resources, or church membership, and how they have relied upon or built “profiles” and “reputation.”
Chapters 3 and 4 outline perspectives on the four core roles of politicians: candidate, representative, legislator, and minister. The main topics covered here include how profile, constituency dynamics, gender, geographic location, and much else affect trends of growing expectations, the influence of gatekeepers, and senses of uncertainty. These chapters are about what it means for these politicians to represent as well as their strategies in how to achieve it.
Chapter 5 returns to what is arguably the main theme of the book, namely the question of what motivations and interests politicians have. Corbett finds that most of his interviewees claim to be driven by strong views (although it is not clear to me as a reader what they consider a “view” to be, nor what is meant by “ideal” as a cultural category). The chapter continues by going through the ways such factors as money, ambition, calling, and challenge are seen as motivating to the interviewees.
Chapter 6 discusses the legacy that politicians make for themselves along with the contradictions and challenges of leadership (versus ideals of democracy). The first half of this chapter is my favorite, with fine coverage of various positions and arguments pertaining to the dynamics of politics and the corruption of politicians. The second half is about considerations of when (or if) to leave politics, either due to age, financial costs, family, and the chances of regaining a seat, among others.
The concluding chapter 7 returns to the overall issues outlined in the introductory chapter.
While the interview-based approach to the topic has undoubtedly presented the author with a wealth of material, the potential of the material for theoretical insights are, unfortunately, rarely explored in depth. Corbett chooses wisely to anonymize his interviewees, but the consequence is that many of the quotes stand as mere apt illustration of a point that has been made through a review of the literature. Most of the analytical points have been documented by others, and it is not clear to me how the interview excerpts do more than add empirical flavor to the discussions of the dynamics of “being political” in the Pacific that the author arrives at. The analysis would have been stronger if the interview material had figured more prominently.
While the theoretical discussions drawn upon are relevant, the book generally provides a good recapitulation of existing positions and arguments. Unfortunately, some of the discussions are engaged somewhat superficially. Most problematic is that the term “anti-politics” has more connotations than Corbett gets around to covering. To Corbett, it appears to refer to the disillusionment and cynicism by which political leaders across the board are classified as corrupt (which is the popular view Corbett wants to dispel), whereas James Ferguson, whom Corbett cites, discusses anti-politics as the masking of political decisions in a language of “experts” and “neutral technocratics.” This is a significant difference even if disillusionment and resentment of politicians as amoral stem from such ploys to disguise decisions as “necessary” rather than “choice.” That is, I am not convinced that the book adds much that is new to our theoretical understanding of discourses of leadership and “anti-politics.”
Nonetheless, the book is well written in a clear and unpretentious language, and the interesting and novel empirical perspective on Pacific political leadership is insightful. For that reason, I would recommend it as particularly relevant for those specializing in Pacific politics and their leaders, though there is much to be gained by those interested in political leadership more generally, as well as by novices keen to gain an introduction to the dilemmas faced by Pacific leaders.
Steffen Dalsgaard
IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
pp. 209-211