Twenty years ago, the Gebusi of the lowland Papua New Guinea rainforest had one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Bruce M. Knauft found then that the killings stemmed from violent scapegoating of suspected sorcerers. But by the time he returned in 1998, homicide rates had plummeted, and Gebusi had largely disavowed vengeance against sorcerers in favor of modern schools, discos, markets, and Christianity.
In this book, Knauft explores the Gebusi's encounter with modern institutions and highlights what their experience tells us more generally about the interaction between local...

In the wake of tensions between modern and postmodern sensibilities, what larger directions now emerge in cultural anthropology? In this major work, Bruce Knauft takes stock of important recent initiatives in cultural and critical theory. By combining critical reviews and ethnographic engagements with fresh readings of major figures and approaches, the work develops a larger vantage point for considering the dispersing influence of practice theories, postmodernism, cultural studies, postcolonial studies, modern/post-positive feminism, and multicultural criticisms.

Considering recent theoretical developments, this volume takes stock of the relationship between culture, power and representation that informs fields such as anthropology. From the 1960s to the early 1990s, anthropology has struggled with the tense relation between modern and postmodern sensibilities. Today the field requires humanism to self-consciously mediate an appreciation of cultural diversity with a critique of representation and inequality. By so doing, important perspective is gained on theoretical initiatives such as postmodernism, cultural studies, post-Marxism, modern/postmodern...

South coast New Guinea has long been a focus of ethnographic attention, with its varied cultures, its reputation for flamboyant sexual practices, and its traditions of headhunting. Dr. Knauft examines previous ethnographic material to reanalyze the region's seven major language-culture areas, covering a range of topics including sexuality, social inequality, the status of women, religion, politics and violence. Ethnographically rich and theoretically sophisticated, this book will be essential reading for all those interested in Melanesia, and should be read by anyone concerned with the...