Suchergebnisse

In the 1960s and 1970s, what most people knew - or at least thought they knew - about Papua New Guinea's 'traditional' societies was that they were essentially egalitarian: excepting a few societies which possessed hereditarial chieftaincies, leadership was typically by 'bigmen', who achieved their status through competition, and community decision making was predominantly consensual. Although challenged by a number of scholars from the mid 1970's, this stereotypical view still has a good deal of currency. In recent years, however, stimulated by a series of reviews of the provincial government system and attempts to nurture new local-level political structures, it has come under increasing challenge within Papua New Guinea. In the mid 1990s people are (re)discovering chiefs on a wide front and are looking to traditional 'chiefly' structures as part of a move towards more extensive political decentralization. this paper looks briefly at the discussion of traditional authority in the anthropological literature, examines the emerging political discourse on 'chiefs' within Papua New Guinea, and comments on its contemporary political significance.

Factors in interethnic conflict.

THE RESULT APPEARS TO BE AN OVERWHELMING VICTORY FOR PRESIDENT AQUINO AND HER SUPPORTERS, ACROSS THE NATION (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF REGIONS I AND II, THE STRONGHOLDS OF MARCOS AND ENRILE). ALLIANCES AND ALLEGIANCES REMAIN FLUID, HOWEVER, AND ONCE CONGRESS BEGINS TO TACKLE SOME OF THE CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES BEFORE IT-LAND REFORM, MEASURES TO ACHIEVE ECONOMIC RECOVERY, THE COMMUNIST INSURGENCY, REGIONAL AUTONOMY IN THE MUSLIM SOUTH AND THE NORTHERN CORDILLERAS, TO MENTION A FEW-THESE CLEAVAGES MAY CHANGE. (SINCE THIS PAPER WAS FIRST DRAFTED ONE MAJOR SHIFT HAS BEEN THE RESIGNATION OF VICE-PRESIDENT LAUREL FROM THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS PORTFOLIO AND HIS MOVEMENT ACROSS TO THE OPPOSITION.) MOREOVER LEFT-WING CRITICS OF THE GOVERNMENT POINT TO THE PERSISTENCE OF POWERFUL FAMILY INTERESTS IN THE NEW CONGRESS AND ARGUE THAT THE CHANGE OF REGIME HAS DONE NOTHING TO RESOLVE THE FUNDAMENTAL INEQUALITIES IN PHILIPPINE SOCIETY; FOR THEM, REVOLUTION REMAINS THE ONLY SOLUTION. BEYOND THIS, LOCAL ELECTIONS (FOR SOME 1,900 GOVERNORS, MAYORS AND OTHER LOCAL OFFICIALS) ARE SCHEDULED FOR EARLY 1988, AND WILL FURTHER TEST THE EXTENT OF PRESIDENT AQUINO'S SUPPORT AND ULTIMATELY HER ABILITY TO CONTROL WHAT HAPPENS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE.