Beyond the village : local politics in Madang, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Papua New Guinea is on the verge of political independence and this volume gives important insights into the way its inhabitants are dealing with the new political institutions that have impinged upon them in the last years of colonial rule. The title suggests both the scope of the book and its main theme: it is not a study of a single village but of a district; and recent developments have widened the political horizons of its inhabitants in interesting ways. Dr Morauta shows how the people of Madang interpret the institutions of political representation; and her book gives continuity to previous studies, for it also reports on the activities of the now famous cargo cult leader Yali and his supporters. Yali{u2019}s cult has become virtually institutionalised and provides opportunities that compete with the administration{u2019}s political structures for the individual{u2019}s alignment.