Emerging Class in Papua Ne Guinea The Telling of Difference [Paperback]

This 1999 book examines the emergence and ramifications of class in an urban setting in Papua New Guinea.Class has become a feature of life in Papua New Guinea, evident in both 'traditional' and 'modern' settings. This book examines the emergence of class differences and its social and cultural ramifications in Wewak, capital of the East Sepik Province. It movingly conveys the injuries of class inequalities, and reveals how class has worked in similar and different ways, and how it has become possible and plausible for relatively affluent 'nationals', even those living in modest urban centers, to present themselves as fundamentally superior to other Papua New Guineans.Class has become a feature of life in Papua New Guinea, evident in both 'traditional' and 'modern' settings. This book examines the emergence of class differences and its social and cultural ramifications in Wewak, capital of the East Sepik Province. It movingly conveys the injuries of class inequalities, and reveals how class has worked in similar and different ways, and how it has become possible and plausible for relatively affluent 'nationals', even those living in modest urban centers, to present themselves as fundamentally superior to other Papua New Guineans.Class has become a feature of life in Papua New Guinea, evident in both traditional and modern settings. This book examines the emergence of class differences and its social and cultural ramifications in Wewak, capital of the East Sepik Province. It movingly conveys the injuries of class inequalities, and reveals how class has worked in similar and different ways, and how it has become possible and plausible for relatively affluent nationals, even those living in modest urban centers, to present themselves as fundamentally superior to other Papua New Guineans.List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. The middle class, the (new) Melanesian way: the Wewak Rotary Club; 3. How the grass roots became the poor: the sleightl³¢