Since 1975 the economy of Papua New Guinea has focused on mineral, rather than agricultural production as previously. This is the first book to look at these changes in a complex, rapidly evolving nation from an economic perspective.

This title traces the relationships between music, space and identity, from inner city scenes to the music of nations, to give a wide-ranging perspective on popular music. It examines the influence of cultures, economics, politics, and technology on the changing structure and geographies of music at local and global levels. Sound Tracks also combines an analysis of changing personal identities - social, ethnic and sexual - with an extended discussion of globalization and local resistance. It takes music from its role as an expression of local culture in indigenous societies, to its gradual...

Sound Tracks is the first comprehensive book on the new geography of popular music, examining the complex links between places, music and cultural identities. It provides an interdisciplinary perspective on local, national and global scenes, from the 'Mersey' and 'Icelandic' sounds to 'world music', and explores the diverse meanings of music in a range of regional contexts.
In a world of intensified globalisation, links between space, music and identity are increasingly tenuous, yet places give credibility to music, not least in the 'country', and music is commonly linked to...

An overview of urbanization in 11 independent island states of the Pacific. It examines modern rapid growth, urban economy and society (especially land and identity) and the environmental consequences of over-urbanization in terms of contemporary urban planning and sustainable development.

The handover of Hong Kong to China focused attention on the colonies that remain in what is supposed to be a postcolonial world. This paradox lies at the heart of this comprehensive and authoritative book, which is about the last colonies, those remaining territories formally dependent on metropolitan powers. It discusses the surprisingly large number of these territories, mainly small isolated islands with limited resources. The Last Colonies provides a broad-based and provocative discussion of decolonization, and interdependence in the modern world, from a unique and original perspective.

As small worlds, where resources are often stretched, islands have had an intense experience of migration. For many small islands in a global era, migration represents a dialogue between different places, some urban, some rural. This book examines diverse facets of migration out of and into a variety of islands, from the North Atlantic to the South Pacific. It traces the way in which migration is of crucial importance, for demography, economics, culture, indeed the whole of island life and identity; it contrasts with the reality of emigration and the rhetoric of return. Topics explored...

This book provides the first ever English-language analysis of France's so-called "confetti of empire," the colonial remnants referred to as "DOM-TOMs"--the departements et territoires d'outre-mer. France shows no signs of relinquishing its remaining overseas outposts which are located from the tropics to the poles--Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Saint Pierre, and Miquelon in the western hemisphere, Reunion and Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna in the Pacific as well as its claims on Antarctica and several sub-Antarctic islands....

Where do thousands of people in wigs, jumpsuits and fake Priscilla eyelashes go each January to swelter in 42-degree heat as they celebrate The King? Parkes, of course - 365 kilometres west of Sydney - for the annual Parkes Elvis Festival. But how, and why, did this sleepy town get all shook up by Elvis? Written by two long-time fans of the festival, Outback Elvis introduces the local characters, the lookalikes, the impersonators and the tribute artists - and the town that made this big hunk o' Elvis love possible.