Papua New Guinea's Lowland Communities

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the fieldwork conducted in 1980-1982 by Bruce M. Knauft and his wife Papua New Guinea's lowland 'backward' communities, which they revisited in 1998. The paper explains that, in contrast with the typical anthropological position that laments change in rainforest cultures, Knauft assessed that the social change in these cultures was constructive and that it involved dispensing with beliefs in sorcery that had produced very high rates of homicide. Instead, the people had taken well to Christian missionary work, as encouraged by the Papua New Guinea government in several comparable groups.

From the Paper:

"Anthropologists have often lamented all cultural change in `primitive' societies as part of a tendency to view cultural homogenization with dismay. This can reflect a kind of colonial nostalgia as groups are approached by the influences of the outside world and adapt. In extreme forms, one finds a notion of all change as negative and a corrupt practice of more technologically advanced societies."

More papers on Papua New Guinea's Lowland Communities:

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• Essay # 9054 : "Disparity in Papua New Guinea Education"

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