Money Games

Since the Colonial era, gambling has come to dominate nighttime activity in Papua New Guinea. This richly detailed ethnography intersects with theories of money, value, play, money, exchange, informal economy, materiality, social change, leadership, and the anthropology of Melanesia.

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Gambling in Papua New Guinea, despite being completely absent prior to the Colonial era, has come to supersede storytelling as the region’s main nighttime activity. Money Games is an ethnographic monograph which reveals the contemporary importance of gambling in urban Papua New Guinea. Rich ethnographic detail is coupled with cross-cultural comparison which span the globe. This anthropological study of everyday economics in Melanesia thereby intersects with theories of money, value, play, informal economy, social change and leadership.