ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the shifting identities of adolescents growing up in multicultural societies, especially in the Pacific. In the postmodern era, the constitution of their cultural identity is not only compounded by rapid cultural changes that are associated with globalization, but also by the paradoxical revival of cultural traditions that the large-scale compression of time and space has incited in many societies, especially those with a colonial history (Meyer and Geschiere 1999). As a consequence, young people are increasingly caught in dilemmas that emerge from the diversity of cultural circumstances in which they are growing up. At home they are expected to abide by traditional customs, but loyalty to their parents and family background is increasingly challenged by enticing images dominating public spaces that are supposedly conflicting with their upbringing.
