Academic Journal

Physical isolation and failed socialization on Pitcairn Island: A warning for the future?

Bibliographic Details
Title: Physical isolation and failed socialization on Pitcairn Island: A warning for the future?
Authors: Si Sheppard
Source: Journal of New Zealand & Pacific Studies. 2:21-38
Publisher Information: Intellect, 2014.
Publication Year: 2014
Description: In this essay I will attempt to account for the failure of state formation on Pitcairn Island by the Bounty mutineers in 1790. I will track the course of the mutiny itself, the settlement on Pitcairn, and the ensuing collapse of the polity. I will list the proximate reasons for this outcome, including gender imbalance, a racially stratified social order and the absence of representative conflict resolution mechanisms. I conclude that the ultimate cause for the anarchic quality of life on Pitcairn is the distinctive contribution of its effectively perfect geopolitical isolation. This historical exemplar should serve as a warning to the would-be founding fathers of the future if the next wave of human colonization commences with the possible establishment of settlements in the even greater isolation of outer space.
Document Type: Article
Other literature type
Language: English
ISSN: 2050-4047
2050-4039
DOI: 10.1386/nzps.2.1.21_1
Access URL: http://openurl.ingenta.com/content/xref?genre=article&issn=2050-4039&volume=2&issue=1&spage=21
Accession Number: edsair.doi.dedup.....85ddff2e8f420d28d9beadc0e420b599
Database: OpenAIRE
Description
ISSN:20504047
20504039
DOI:10.1386/nzps.2.1.21_1