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The New Nobility: Tonga’s Young Traditional Leaders

The Kingdom of Tonga’s progress towards democracy has been slow and, although the country has had as prime minister a ‘commoner’ and longtime pro-democracy activist, there is still widespread uncertainty about Tonga’s political future. The King has retained important executive powers and all aspects of Tongan society are still influenced by the hierarchical ordering of the monarchy, nobility and commoners (tu‘a). In the context of significant political tensions, an unusual initiative has been occurring quietly in the background since 2012: the formalisation of a group of the children of royal and noble families by a Tongan civil society organisation which is intent on changing, at least to some extent, leadership in Tonga. This chapter examines this group of ‘young traditional leaders’, asking whether it constitutes a potentially radical development in Tonga’s sociopolitical context or whether it simply serves to shore up the power and privilege of the country’s traditional elite.