Sillitoe, Paul — Social Change in Melanesia

Cambridge, England, Cambridge University Press, 2000. First Edition. Softcover. Size: 8vo 8" - 9" tall. Sterling condition softcover copy, with unfurled tips, tight binding, and clean internals but for a very few scattered penned tick-marks in margins, unobtrusive, showing only very slight shelf- and edge-wear. Previous owner's inscription, neatly rendered at first free endpaper. From the publisher's blurb, "This book is a companion volume to An Introduction to the Anthropology of Melanesia (1998). It gives a clear and absorbing account of social change in Melanesia since the arrival of Europeans covering the history of the colonial period and the new postcolonial states. Paul Sillitoe deals with economic and technological change, labour migration and urbanisation, and formation of the modern state, but he also describes the sometimes violent reactions to these dramatic transformations, in the form of cargo cults, secession movements, and insurrections against multinational companies. He discusses contemporary development projects but brings out associated policy dilemmas, reviews developments that threaten the environment, and implications for local identity, such as romanticises 'primitive culture'. This fascinating account of social change in the pacific is addressed to students with little or no background in the region's history and development. An introductory account of social change in Melanesia covering the colonial and post-colonial eras. Topics include economic and technological change, urbanisation, development of the modern state, the often violent reactions to these dramatic transformations, and dilemmas of development that threaten the environment." Volume contains scholarly apparatus in the form of, e.g., notes, index, and bibliography. xx, 1-264 pp.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. . . . Near Fine