Description
Book SynopsisUncovering Indigenous Models of Leadership focuses on Native and Indigenous leadership as an expression of a lived experienceas seen, felt, and heardfrom the perspectives provided by Native Pacific Islanders, Polynesians, and, more specifically, Samoans from the Talavou clan. Central to this study is the question: What themes and elements influence Samoan leadership and how might these leaders provide others, elsewhere, with a different model of leadership, to reduce the inequitable effects of capitalism's insatiable hunger for more power and material gain, so that all people on planet Earth might thrive?This study asserts that alternative models of leadership must be uncovered and that Native and Indigenous People, specifically leaders, hold the keys to moving our species beyond survival so that we can all thrive. Liberating, inclusive, and anchored in self-determinism, it demonstrates that Native and Indigenous People know who they are, why they exist, and that they will continue to
Trade ReviewWith a sharp, informed critique of the “Global North,” Jon Peterson tees up its growing inequities and captures his own complexity as a member of both this North and the “Global South” through the Samoan “Talavou” clan. It is with this polyocular gaze that Peterson deftly captures and expresses his own duality in finding himself belonging to more that one set of cultural relatives. Focusing on leadership, a by-product of culture, as an “expression of a lived experience,” Peterson takes the reader on a thoughtful, intellectual and purposeful journey fleshing out a leadership for community that emerges from and embraces the communal. Juxtaposed to the exploitive culture of “the North,” Peterson crafts a Samoan metaphor for servant leadership, utilizing voices from both cultures and emphasizing collective leadership through the works of Durkheim, Blumer, Bourdieu and Tuhiwai-Smith. -- James Nelson, Ph.D., LMFT, President, Change Inc.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Chapter 1: The Global Paradigm, World System, and Theoretical Context Chapter 2: Research from the Field and the Journey Home Chapter 3: Research Approach and Aiga / Family Narratives of Samoan Leadership Chapter 4: Discussion and Conclusions Bibliography
