Gender, Power and Sexual Abuse in the Pacific: Rev. Simpsons Improper Liberties

(Hardback)

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In 1843 on the island of Tahiti the evangelical missionary Rev. Alexander Simpson was accused of sexually assaulting three of the female students under his care, and of taking improper liberties with at least three more. The events did not come out in public for at least a decade, while Simpsons power in the local community only grew and rumblings relating to his wrong-doings were ruthlessly crushed. By exploring the case of Rev. Simpson, Emily Manktelow gives us key insights into the gender, power and racial dynamics of a particular case of sexual abuse on the frontiers of European colonialism. She explores the social and sexual context of clerical abuse, considers the hierarchies of gender and power that determined how the case was handled, and investigates the nature of colonialism, gender and abuse in the 19th century. The uncomfortably timely content of Gender, Power and Sexual Abuse in the Pacific allows us to interrogate the way we deal with and represent issues of abuse, authority and childhood. It aims to give voice to those whom the archive has silenced, and to listen to what they have to tell us about gender, sexuality and abuse in the modern world.

Reviews

Through solid and insightful scholarship, Manktelows book works on many levels of historical enquiry, including British influence in the South Pacific, missionary history, feminist history, and the history of sexual assault. Manktelow also provides a wonderful resource for teaching students to consider the archives as depositories of institutional power. * The Journal of Pacific History *
Both innovative and wide-ranging ... Manktelow's explicit reflection on contemporary events for the writing of this history is powerful and engaging ... An admirable book, notable for Manktelow's method, poised and balanced prose, and finely crafted and thoughtful analysis. * Journal of British Studies *
This is a thoroughly researched and very probing discussion of allegations of sexual abuse within the early missionary movement. Manktelow's impressive historical excavation is informed by studies of gender and authority to produce a creative and thought-provoking study. * Alison Twells, Reader in History, Sheffield Hallam University, UK *

Author Bio

Emily J. Manktelow is Lecturer in British Imperial History at the University of Kent, UK. She is the author of Missionary Families: Race, Gender and Generation on the Spiritual Frontier (2013) and co-editor of Subverting Empire: Deviance and Disorder in the British Colonial World (2015).