Mānava ‘i he Loto Manava: Creatively Critical Tongan Sense-Making in the Glocal South
Mānava ‘i he Loto Manava: Creatively Critical Tongan Sense-Making in the Glocal South

Summary/Abstract: Critical theory and theorising bring social contexts into closer observation and interrogation. Yet, our social worlds and societies are continuously evolving, so how relevant and appropriate are the critical theories developed in the Glocal South, given the dynamic and fluid contextual realities of diasporic Moana communities today? Critical theory and theorising in Te Moananui-nui-ā-Kiwa/Oceania centres ‘relationality’ in conceptualising and understanding change, shifts and transformation beyond the social realm and into spaces where abstract knowledge and critical thinking are intertwined and somewhat inseparable with other entities in the world – the fonua (land, placenta) and moana (ocean, Oceania). As tangata ‘o e moana (people of the ocean, people of Oceania), our framing and analysis of criticality embodies speculative yet creative epistemological and embodied sense-making, which positions social theory and theorising in relational negotiation with tangible and intangible wonderings within Te Moananui-nui-ā-Kiwa. Doing critical theory in the Glocal South, in particular, the Moana/Oceania, calls forth a grounded speculative observation and interrogation through a Tongan lens, through the notions of vā (socio-relational connections), loto (heart, soul), mānava (breath of life), manava (womb) and to‘utangata Tonga (extended family).

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