Physical isolation and failed socialization on Pitcairn Island: A warning for the future? | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Volume 2, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2050-4039
  • E-ISSN: 2050-4047

Abstract

Abstract

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.

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/content/journals/10.1386/nzps.2.1.21_1
2014-04-01
2024-04-20
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