In the Absence of the Gift

New Forms of Value and Personhood in a Papua New Guinea Community

Anders Emil Rasmussen (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

210 Seiten

2020
Berghahn Books (Verlag)
978-1-78920-806-1 (ISBN)

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By adopting ideas like “development,” members of a Papua New Guinean community find themselves continuously negotiating what can be expected of a relative or a community member. Nearly half the people born on the remote Mbuke Islands become teachers, businessmen, or bureaucrats in urban centers, while those who stay at home ask migrant relatives “What about me?” This detailed ethnography sheds light on remittance motivations and documents how terms like “community” can be useful in places otherwise permeated by kinship. As the state withdraws, Mbuke people explore what social ends might be reached through involvement with the cash economy.

Anders Emil Rasmussen is curator of ethnographic exhibitions at Moesgaard Museum, Denmark. His publications include Materialities of Passing (co-ed., Ashgate, 2016).

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1. Historical Roots for a Singaut Economy

Chapter 2. Visible While Away: Concepts of Vision in Exchange Practices

Chapter 3. The Power of Words: Curses and Blessings of Relatives

Chapter 4. It’s never tomorrow: Debt, Selfishness and the Contest of Obligation

Chapter 5. Historical Roots for Community as Level of Organization and as a Concept

Chapter 6. …to benefit the community: Value and the Member of Community

Chapter 7. All Things Considered: Organized Action as Appearances of Social Totalities

Conclusion

References

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	01.10.2020
Reihe/Serie	Pacific Perspectives: Studies of the European Society for Oceanists
Verlagsort	Oxford
Sprache	englisch
Themenwelt	Naturwissenschaften
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
ISBN-10	1-78920-806-8 / 1789208068
ISBN-13	978-1-78920-806-1 / 9781789208061
Zustand	Neuware