Emerging Class in Papua New Guinea: The Telling of Difference

ISBN-13: 9780521652124 / Angielski / Twarda / 1999 / 190 str.

Deborah B. Gewertz; Frederick Karl Errington

Opis

Class has become a feature of life in Papua New Guinea, evident in both "traditional" and "modern" settings. This book examines the emergence of class differences and its social and cultural ramifications in Wewak, capital of the East Sepik Province. It movingly conveys the injuries of class inequalities, and reveals how class has worked in similar and different ways, and how it has become possible and plausible for relatively affluent "nationals," even those living in modest urban centers, to present themselves as fundamentally superior to other Papua New Guineans.

Recenzje

"...this is a valuable book of immediate relevance. It has important things to say about and to the people of Papua New Guinea and a message about the larger question of class. I hope it inspires vigorous discussion and additional research on this vital issue." The Contemporary Pacific, Michael French Smith, LTG Associates

Spis treści

List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. The middle class, the (new) Melanesian way: the Wewak Rotary Club; 3. How the grass roots became the poor: the sleights of hand in the construction of desire; 4. The realization of class exclusions: golf and the boundaries of solidarity; 5. The hidden injuries of class: desiring the unattainable; 6. The problem(s) of the poor: law, order and tinned mackerel and water buffalo; 7. Class and the definition of reasonability: the case of the 'compo girl'; Conclusion: on dark nights of the soul; Notes; References; Index.