Social change in Melanesia : development and history

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Social change in Melanesia : development and history

Paul Sillitoe

Cambridge University Press, 2000

  • : pbk

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Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

This book, first published in 2000, is a companion volume to An Introduction to the Anthropology of Melanesia (1998). It gives a clear and absorbing account of social change in Melanesia since the arrival of Europeans covering the history of the colonial period and the new postcolonial states. Paul Sillitoe deals with economic and technological change, labour migration and urbanisation, and formation of the modern state, but he also describes the sometimes violent reactions to these dramatic transformations, in the form of cargo cults, secession movements, and insurrections against multinational companies. He discusses development projects but brings out associated policy dilemmas, reviews developments that threaten the environment, and implications for local identity, such as romanticises 'primitive culture'. This fascinating account of social change in the pacific is addressed to students with little or no background in the region's history and development.

Table of Contents

  • Preface
  • 1. Change and development
  • 2. The arrival of Europeans
  • 3. Another history
  • 4. Technological change and economic growth
  • 5. Land rights and community
  • 6. Business big men as entrepreneurs
  • 7. From tribespeople to peasants
  • 8. Mining, misunderstanding, and insurrection
  • 9. Forestry and local knowledge
  • 10. Migration and urbanisation
  • 11. Cargo cults and millennial politics
  • 12. Missionaries and social change
  • 13. From tribal to state politics
  • 14. Custom and identity.

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