The Anthropology of Morality in Melanesia and Beyond

258 Pages·2008·0.83 MB·English

by  Barker, John

THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF MORALITY IN
MELANESIA AND BEYOND
Anthropology and Cultural History in
Asia and the Indo-Pacific
Series Editors:
Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern
University of Pittsburgh, USA
This series offers a fresh perspective on Asian and Indo-Pacific Anthropology.
Acknowledging the increasing impact of transnational flows of ideas and practices
across borders, the series widens the established geographical remit of Asian studies
to consider the entire Indo-Pacific region. In addition to focussed ethnographic
studies, the series incorporates thematic work on issues of cross-regional impact,
including globalization, the spread of terrorism, and alternative medical practices.
The series further aims to be innovative in its disciplinary breadth, linking
anthropological theory with studies in cultural history and religious studies, thus
reflecting the current creative interactions between anthropology and historical
scholarship that are enriching the study of Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. While
the series covers classic themes within the anthropology of the region such as ritual,
political and economic issues will also be tackled. Studies of adaptation, change and
conflict in small-scale situations enmeshed in wider currents of change will have a
significant place in this range of foci.
We publish scholarly texts, both single-authored and collaborative as well as
collections of thematically organized essays. The series aims to reach a core audience
of anthropologists and Asian Studies specialists, but also to be accessible to a broader
multidisciplinary readership.
Recent titles in the series
Situating the Uyghurs Between China and Central Asia
Edited by
Ildikó Bellér-Hann, M. Cristina Cesàro, Rachel Harris and Joanne Smith Finley
ISBN 978 0 7546 7041 4
Gender, Christianity and Change in Vanuatu:
An Analysis of Social Movements in North Ambrym
Annelin Eriksen
ISBN 978 0 7546 7209 8
Family, Gender and Kinship in Australia
The Social and Cultural Logic of Practice and Subjectivity
Allon J. Uhlmann
ISBN 978 0 7546 4645 7
The Anthropology of Morality in
Melanesia and Beyond
Edited by
JOHN BARKER
University of British Columbia, Canada
© John Barker 2007
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
John Barker has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as the editor of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
Gower House Suite 420
Croft Road 101 Cherry Street
Aldershot Burlington, VT 05401-4405
Hampshire GU11 3HR USA
England
Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
The anthropology of morality in Melanesia and beyond. -
(Anthropology and cultural history in Asia and the
Indo-Pacific)
1. Social values - Melanesia 2. Social ethics - Melanesia
3. Ethnology - Melanesia 4. Melanesia - Social life and
customs
I. Barker, John, 1953-
303.3'72'0995
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The anthropology of morality in Melanesia and beyond / [edited] by John Barker.
p. cm. -- (Anthropology and cultural history in Asia and the Indo-Pacific)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7546-7185-5 (alk. paper)
1. Ethnology--Melanesia. 2. Ethics--Melanesia. 3. Anthropological ethics. 4.
Melanesia--Social life and customs. I. Barker, John, 1953-
GN668.A57 2007
305.800995--dc22
2007025293
ISBN 978 0 7546 7185 5
Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall.
Contents
List of Contributors ix
Acknowledgements xi
Series Editors’ Preface, Andrew Strathern and Pamela J. Stewart xiii
1 Introduction: The Anthropological Study of Morality in Melanesia 1
John Barker
PART I: MORAL EXEMPLARS IN VILLAGE SOCIETY
2 Morality, Politics and the Melanesian Big Man: On The Melanesian
Manager and the Transformation of Political Anthropology 25
Joel Robbins
3 When is it Moral to be a Sorcerer? 39
Doug Dalton
PART II: THE MORALITY OF MODERNITY
4 Moral Exchange and Exchanging Morals: Alternative Paths
of Cultural Change in Papua New Guinea 59
Bruce M. Knauft
5 All Sides Now: The Postcolonial Triangle in Uiaku 75
John Barker
6 Reconfiguring Amity at Ramu Sugar Limited 93
Frederick Errington and Deborah Gewertz
PART III: NEW MEN AND NEW WOMEN
7 Changing Minds: Hysteria and the History of Spirit
Mediumship in Telefolmin 113
Dan Jorgensen
8 Morals and Missionary Positionality: Diyos of Duranmin 131
Roger Ivar Lohmann
vi The Anthropology of Morality in Melanesia and Beyond
9 “In the Way” in Melanesia: Modernity and the New
Woman in Papua New Guinea as Catholic Missionary Sister 149
Nancy C. Lutkehaus
PART IV: BEYOND MELANESIA
10 Homo Anthropologicus in Aboriginal Australia: “Secular
Missionaries,” Christians and Morality in the Field 171
Robert Tonkinson
11 Reaching for the Absolute 191
F. G. Bailey
Epilogue 209
Kenelm Burridge
Bibliography 211
Index 229
For Ken Burridge: Scholar, Mentor, Exemplar
This page intentionally left blank
List of Contributors
F. G. Bailey is Professor Emeritus in Anthropology at the University of California
San Diego. A major figure in the study of culture and politics, he is the author of
the classic, Stratagems and Spoils (1969) and numerous other significant books and
articles. His most recent book is The Saving Lie: Truth and Method in the Social
Sciences (2003).
John Barker is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia.
He has published extensively on missionaries and Christianity in Oceania and First
Nations communities in British Columbia. He is editor of Christianity in Oceania
(1990) and, with Douglas Cole, of At Home with the Bella Coola Indians (2003), as
well as author of Ancestral Lines: The Maisin of Papua New Guinea and the Fate
of the Rainforest.
Kenelm Burridge is Professor Emeritus in Anthropology at the University of British
Columbia. He is the author of numerous widely-read books on Melanesian society,
millenarianism, missionaries and individuality. His books include Mambu (1960),
New Heaven, New Earth (1969), Tangu Traditions (1969), Encountering Aborigines
(1973), Someone No One (1979) and In the Way (1991).
Doug Dalton is a Professor of Anthropology at Longwood University. He is the
editor of a special issue of Oceania on “A Critical Retrospective on ‘Cargo cult’:
Western/Melanesian Intersections” as well as numerous articles on the Rawa people
of Papua New Guinea and anthropological perspectives on millenarianism.
Frederick Errington is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Trinity College
and Deborah Gewertz is G. Henry Whitcomb Professor of Anthropology at Amherst
College. Singly and together they have authored a series of innovative and widely-
read works concerning the confrontations of Melanesian people with variation
forms of modernity. Their jointly authored books include Cultural Alternatives
and a Feminist Anthropology (1987), Twisted Histories, Altered Contexts (1991),
Articulating the “Last Unknown” (1995), Emerging Class in Papua New Guinea
(1999), and, most recently, Yali’s Question: Sugar, Culture, and History (2004).
Dan Jorgensen is an Associate Professor and Department Chair of Anthropology
at the University of Western Ontario. He is the author of numerous articles on the
Mountain OK people of Papua New Guinea analyzing their indigenous religion and
society as well as the impact of Christianity, mining, and involvement in national
politics.