In the Absence of the Gift: New Forms of Value and Personhood in a Papua New Guinea Community (Pacific Perspectives: Studies of the European Society for Oceanists, 5)

Rasmussen, Anders Emil

ISBN 10: 1789208068 / ISBN 13: 9781789208061

Published by Berghahn Books, 2020

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: In the Absence of the Gift: New Forms of Value and Personhood in a Papua New Guinea Community (Pacific Perspectives: Studies of the European Society for Oceanists, 5)
• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1789208068
• ISBN 13: 9781789208061
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Very Good
• Book Type: book

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

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