REFLECTIONS ON VIOLENCE IN MELANESIA

Editors: Sinclair Dinnen and Allison Ley
Hawkins Press/Asia Pacific Press

A short presentation by Monica Wehner
(excerpts from the book will be also added soon)

Activists, commentators and academics from throughout Melanesia reflect on aspects of violence in a region so often depicted as the tropical paradise of tourist brochures.
 
The background is the dislocation caused by the impact of globalisation on cultures where plantation economies have already been grafted onto traditional, pre-colonial societies. Chapter by chapter, the authors document the diverse meanings of violence in the region, making plain the huge variation in its nature and level across different Melanesian contexts.
Acknowledging the considerable levels of violence experienced in some parts of Melanesia, the authors show the complexity of  its phenomena and the folly of propounding simple explanations and simple solutions for a remarkably diverse group of island societies.
They challenge the thoughtless applicability of Western law and learning to the Melanesian world, noting that indigenous patterns of restorative justice, retribution and reconciliation continue to operate in conjunction with more modern forms. Furthermore, there are major paradoxes in the disappointments of reforms that have failed, and the ramifications of colonial plantation and mining economies.
This is not just a book for Melanesianists, but for all who are concerned about violence and its healing. It is not about recreating a pre-colonial utopia, nor about Western criminal law, but thinking in time and thinking in place.

Table of Contents
 
Foreword: John Braithwaite
1) Sinclair Dinnen, Violence and governance in Melanesia: an introduction

Section one: Representations
2) Maev O'Collins, Images of violence in Papua New Guinea: whose images? whose reality?
3) Christine Weir, 'The Gospel came...fighting is ceasing among us': Methodist representations of violence in Fiji and New Britain, 1830-1930
4) Bronwen Douglas, Fighting as savagery and romance: New Caledonia past and present
5) Alaine Chanter, The production of social disorder: the example of the daily press in New Caledonia
 
Section two: The gender of violence
6) Cyndi Banks, Contextualising sexual violence: rape and carnal knowledge in Papua New Guinea
7) Anou Borrey, Sexual violence in perspective: the case of Papua New Guinea
8) Merrin Mason, Domestic violence in Vanuatu
9) Alan Rumsey, Women as peacemakers -- a case from the Nebilyer Valley, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea
 
Section three: Non-government organisations and domestic violence
10) Sarah Garup, Struggles of women and girls -- Simbu Province, Papua New Guinea
11) Afu Billy, Breaking the silence, speaking out truths: domestic violence in Solomon Islands
12) Christina Ramosaea, The Family Support Centre, Solomon Islands
13) Maxine Anjiga Makail, Domestic violence in Port Moresby
 
Section four: Violence and identity
14) Jean Mitchell, Violence as continuity: violence as rupture -- narratives from an urban settlement in Vanuatu
15) Michael Monsell-Davis, Social change, contradictions, youth and violence in Fiji
16) Michael Ward, Fighting for ples in the city: young Highlands men in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
 
Section five: Violence and the state
17) Michael Goddard, Three urban village courts in Papua New Guinea: some comparative observations on dispute settlement
18) Glenn Banks, Razor wire and riots: violence and the mining industry in Papua New Guinea
19) Karl Claxton, Violence, internal security and security stakeholders in Papua New Guinea
20) Otto Ondawame, Indonesian state terrorism: the case of West Papua
21) Anthony J. Regan, 'Traditional' leaders and conflict resolution in Bougainville: reforming the present by re-writing the past?
 
Epilogue: Margaret Jolly, Further reflections on violence in Melanesia
 
350 pp.
ISBN 1 876067 13 6 

For details you may contact:

Monica Wehner
Tel: +61 2 6279 8394
Fax: +61 2 6249 5525
Email: ssgm@coombs.anu.edu.au
Internet: http://rspas.anu.edu.au/melanesia
 
Allison Ley
Tel: +61 2 6249 3097
Fax: +61 2 6249 5523
Email: allison.ley@anu.edu.au
 
Asia Pacific Press
Tel: +61 2 6249 4700
Fax: +61 6257 2886
Email: books@asiapacificpress.com.au
Internet: http://www.asiapacificpress.com/
 
Hawkins Press (a division of The Federation Press)
Tel: +61 2 9552 2200
Fax: +61 2 9552 1681
Email: info@fedpress.aust.com
Internet: http://www.fedpress.aust.com/Books/Dinnen.htm