State of the Pacific 2015 book launch (day 2)
We are pleased to be launching a series of books edited and authored by Department of Pacific Affairs scholars during the State of the Pacific 2015 conference.
Talking it Through: Responses to Sorcery and Witchcraft Beliefs and Practices in Melanesia
Editors: Miranda Forsyth and Richard Eves
ANU Press, 2015
Sorcery and witchcraft practices and beliefs are pervasive across Melanesia. They are in part created by, and give rise to, a wide variety of poor social and developmental outcomes. These include uneven economic development, low public health, lack of social cohesion, crime, fear and insecurity. A further very visible problem is the attacks on men and women who are accused of being practitioners of witchcraft or sorcery, which can lead to serious bodily harm, banishment and sometimes death.
Today, many communities, individuals, church organisations and policymakers in Melanesia and internationally are exploring ways to overcome the negative social outcomes associated with witchcraft and sorcery practices and beliefs.
This book brings together a collection of chapters written by a diverse range of authors, both Melanesian and non-Melanesian, providing crucial insights both into how these practices and beliefs are playing out in contemporary Melanesia, and also the types of interventions that are being trialled or debated to address the problems associated with them.
From 'Stone Age' to 'Real-Time': Exploring Papuan Temporalities, Mobilities and Religiosities
Editors: Martin Slama and Jenny Munro
ANU Press, 2015
There are probably no other people on earth to whom the image of the 'stone age' is so persistently attached than the inhabitants of the island of New Guinea, which is divided into independent Papua New Guinea and the western part of the island, known today as Papua and West Papua.
From Stone Age to Real-Time examines the forms of agency, frictions and anxieties the current moment generates in West Papua, where the persistent 'stone-age' image meets the practices and ideologies of the 'real-time' a popular expression referring to immediate digital communication.
The volume is thus essentially occupied with discourses of time and space and how they inform questions of hierarchy and possibilities for equality. Papuans are increasingly mobile and seeking to rework inherited ideas, institutions and technologies, while also coming up against palpable limits on what can be imagined or achieved, secured or defended.
This volume investigates some of these trajectories for the cultural logic and social or political structures that shape them. The chapters are highly ethnographic, based on in-depth research conducted in diverse spaces within and beyond Papua. These contributions explore topics ranging from hip hop to HIV/ AIDS to historicity, filling much-needed conceptual and ethnographic lacunae in the study of West Papua.
Bougainville Before the Conflict 2nd Edition
Editors: Anthony J. Regan and Helga-Maria Griffin
Pandanus Books
The essays in this collection are directed toward making information accessible to a generalist audience who recognize the intrinsic historical, cultural, and linguistic interest of Bougainville and who seek to enhance their understanding of one of the world's most successful peace processes.