Paper short abstract:

Most young Tongans grow up in fragmented environments marked by contradictory moral expectations. Their identity performances often result in social judgement and misunderstandings. This paper discusses how Tongans negotiate and understand morality in regards to individual and cultural identity performances

Paper long abstract:

Most young Tongans grow up in fragmented environments that are often marked by contradictory moral expectations. Their identity performances differ from their parents', often resulting in social judgement and misunderstandings on both sides. Drawing on existential theory to analyse the experiences of Tongan young people in Tonga, New Zealand and Australia, this paper discusses what it means to be Tongan today and how ways of 'being' become socially acceptable within conflicting environments. The paper further discusses how morality is negotiated and understood in regards to individual and cultural identity performances. Young Tongans are increasingly enabled to actively transform themselves, or as sociologist Philip Wexler (1992:10) calls it, "work on their identity production". Some conservatively-oriented Tongans resist such new ways of being, often learned through non-Tongan interactions. They call westernised Tongans fie pālangi or 'wanna-be white'; statements that link such forms of existence to 'fakeness', being 'plastic' or 'unreal'. However, older Tongans seem to be unwilling to articulate what proper behaviour actually is, leaving the younger generation without an explanation of how to meet their expected behavioural standards. This paper combines customary forms of Tongan identification (relatedness) with western notions of autonomy (individualism) through Heidegger's (1967) existential phenomenology to illustrate the existential experiences of Tongan young people. Looking at cultural values, social relationships and demonstrations of power, it is argued that some Tongan youth are criticised and socially excluded for their identity performances. This paper illustrates such existential challenges.