The Cult of the of the Individual

Hezel, Francis X. (2007-01-20). [www.micsem.org The Cult of the of the Individual]. Micronesian Counselor (Report). Kolonia, Pohnpei: Micronesian Seminar. pp. 1–10.

• Has attachment: File:SIQQNXNW.pdf

Abstract: All cultures, even traditional small island societies, recognize to some extent the importance of the individual, investing each person with a certain range of choices and protection. On the other hand, even fully modernized societies like the US make some allowance for the social dimension of the individual self, so that personal choices are modified somewhat by the demands and expectations of the community. Nonetheless, a real tension exists between the individual and the social everywhere, and each culture is weighted toward one or the other pole on this sliding scale.

As Pacific Island societies struggle to modernize, we are likely to attribute all of the bumps in the road to cultural conflict between an island society and the West. This may be true, but it sheds little light on the precise nature of the problem and so offers us little help. My suggestion is that we use another filter, one that allows us to see many, if not all, of these problems as rising from differences in the relative weight given the individual and the society...

Extra details:

DOI: 10.4324/9780429339202-9
MAG: 3007737788
CorpusID: 212806545
OpenAlex: W3007737788