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In this short review, I have tried to sketch an overview of historical development of political anthropology and its recent trends. I was enthused to prepare this review article as there does not exist any of such simplified introduction of one of the prominent sub-fields in cultural anthropology for the Nepalis readers, in particular. I believe this particular sub-field has to offer much to understand and explain the recent trends and current turmoil of the political transition in the country. Political anthropologists than any other could better explain how the politics is socially and culturally embedded and intertwined, therefore, separation of the two – politics from social and cultural processes – is not only impossible but methodologically wrong, too. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v5i0.6365 Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 5, 2011: 217-34

AbstractThis article tells the story of the sacred place named Mata Loko ("River's Source") in Karendi on the western end of the island of Sumba. This ethnographic case of an eastern Indonesian society where the traditional religion of Marapu persists sheds light on questions of how local belief systems are part of environmental adaptations. The use of sacred resources is restricted by the belief that marapu, the ancestors, are guardians of the forest and is enforced by supernatural sanctions. The ecological and religious processes that are described in this article illustrate that interactions between indigenous and world religions impact local cultural ecologies. In experimenting with their indigenous religion, Karendi people are simultaneously experimenting with traditional resource management. The Mata Loko case illustrates that the ritual management of scarce resources such as water and culturally/historically valuable resources such as bamboo is a form of conservation planning. Together cultural history, reciprocal exchange, and ancestral religion provide a framework for protecting valuable natural resources.

La stabilité et la sécurité autant que l'indivisibilité d'un État sont tributaires des relations entre ce dernier et la religion. Les rapports entre l'État et la religion sont aussi classiques que contemporains. Classiques, d'une part, parce qu'on sait que ce problème a été résolu en France notamment, depuis 1905. Ce faisant, l'on a assisté à la démarcation de l'État par rapport à la religion. D'autre part et surtout, contemporains, car dans toute société humaine, il est couramment admis que soit l'État a une relation d'imbrication à la religion (on parle alors d'État confessionnel), soit encore, il lui est totalement indifférent (lorsqu'il est question de l'État laïc). L'État camerounais pour sa part opte pour cette dernière logique. En effet, depuis sa toute première constitution formelle, il affirme solennellement le rejet d'une religion d'État et par voie de corollaire la protection de ce droit fondamental que sont la liberté et l'égalité religieuses. L'objectif est alors de protéger les minorités religieuses par le rejet d'une religion unique. La quête permanente de l'harmonie, de la cohésion sociale et donc de l'unité nationale donne à observer dans les grandes métropoles camerounaises, la montée en puissance des églises, qui débouche elle aussi sur la prolifération des religions. Et auxquels s'ajoutent les troubles à l'ordre public et la violation des autres droits fondamentaux. L'étude pose alors la question fondamentale des rapports qu'entretiennent l'État et la religion en droit camerounais. Dans cet ordre de préoccupation, la constitution camerounaise et ses textes subséquents, rejettent explicitement la religion unique d'une part, et de l'autre adhèrent implicitement à la pluralité de religion. Sur le premier point, cela est rendu possible par l'affirmation du caractère laïc de la République, avec en toile de fond, la séparation de la société civile de celle religieuse, l'impartialité et la neutralité de l'État à l'égard des confessions religieuses, ainsi que le rejet d'une super religion. S'agissant du second point, le droit positif reconnaît la liberté de religion et l'aménage à l'effet de permettre à tout citoyen pris individuellement ou collectivement d'exprimer sa foi dans les limites de l'ordre public. Surtout que dans notre contexte, il ne fait plus l'ombre d'un doute que la diversité culturelle, linguistique et ethnique entraînent à leur tour une pluralité de religion. L'observation permet de se rendre compte que toutes les religions se valent à condition qu'elles opèrent dans la légalité.

Much research has been conducted into the processes of 'invention of tradition' and 'construction of national identity' in Melanesia often focusing on the opposition between tradition and modernity. Oppositions like local versus national, rural versus urban, traditional versus westernised or authenticity versus inauthenticity have been emphasised; sometimes with reason, sometimes not. Even if many researchers no longer take for granted such analytical frameworks, lots of areas remain unexplored. The experience of the leaders who emerged in the 1960s and 1970s in Melanesia is one such neglected area. The 'tradition versus modernity' discourse usually describes a huge gap between these leaders, seen as westernized and alienated from their culture, and the people, who are 'simply living' this culture. Following Hobsbawm in particular, many scholars have seen the discourses they developed as spurious traditions justifying political manipulations. This was quite different from my own experience. During a trip in the South Pacific in 1991, I met some of the leaders of the Front de Libération Nationale Kanak Socialiste (FLNKS) in New Caledonia, and everything in their daily life and their discourses seemed to contradict this idea of an ontological difference between tradition and modernity. These individuals all had a prominent role within the FLNKS, some being elected politicians at a kind of 'national' level. All played an important role in the customary life (or the everyday life) of their own village, or tribu. They also maintained strong ties with the Church. Soon after I became involved in an editorial project with the anthropologist Alban Bensa aiming to gather and publish Jean-Marie Tjibaou's works, interviews and speeches (Tjibaou 1996). This work confirmed my feeling that these Melanesian leaders proceeded along very specific lifepaths, in which colonisation, Christianity and a Melanesian experience of the social world were totally melded. Thus, a sociology of these new élites might help to understand contemporary Melanesia. I am studying the matter from the experience of Vanuatu and here I formulate some general propositions, drawing on my first fieldwork in Vanuatu and my experience of New Caledonia. There is an abundant literature on 'invention of tradition' in Melanesia. In it the different discourses developed by Melanesian leaders are often seen as the Machiavellian constructions of westernised élites. This surprised me, although I cannot tell if my surprise came mostly from my knowledge of the Kanak leaders or from the respect I had for their struggle. One thing is sure: I could see that neither their relation to their 'tradition,' their manner of taking up western models, nor their ties to Christian religions were ever analysed in a non-polemical, impartial way. It would be more productive to analyse how these three sources act as mediators, both social and ideological. The study of the new Melanesian élites cannot be limited to the assessment of their action as political leaders. It is necessary to devote particular attention to their biographies and, when possible, to the syncretistic thinking some of them display. In their thoughts and actions, these individuals were marked by the acceleration of history which saw them pass from their villages to the city, from their rural and tribal communities to institutions into which the European colonisers had gradually given them access. Their exposure to western institutions made them privileged witnesses to the profound changes that shook the Oceanian world for over half a century. Whatever their personal histories and origins, and whether or not they saw their countries achieve independence, throughout their careers they resorted to ideas, images, and strategies which were clearly comparable from one end of the Pacific to the other; to such an extent that today these leaders cannot be understood solely by looking at the specific people or culture to which they belonged. ; AusAID