Description
Berghahn Books Christian Politics in Oceania 2012 Edition by Matt Tomlinson, Debra McDougall
The phrase "Christian politics" evokes two meanings: political relations between denominations in one direction, and the contributions of Christian churches to debates about the governing of society. The contributors to this volume address Christian politics in both senses and argue that Christianity is always and inevitably political in the Pacific Islands. Drawing on ethnographic and historical research in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji, the authors argue that Christianity and politics have redefined each other in much of Oceania in ways that make the two categories inseparable at any level of analysis. The individual chapters vividly illuminate the ways in which Christian politics operate across a wide scale, from interpersonal relations to national and global interconnections. Table of contents :- FiguresMapsAcknowledgmentsNotes on ContributorsChapter 1. Christian Politics in OceaniaMatt Tomlinson and Debra McDougallChapter 2. Mediating Denominational Disputes: Land Claims and the Sound of Christian Critique in the Waria Valley, Papua New GuineaCourtney HandmanChapter 3."Heaven on Earth" or Satan's "Base" in the Pacific?: Internal Christian Politics in the Dialogic Construction of the Makiran Underground ArmyMichael W. ScottChapter 4. The Generation of the Now: Denominational Politics in Fijian ChristianityMatt TomlinsonChapter 5. Christian Politics in Vanuatu: Lay Priests and New State FormsAnnelin EriksenChapter 6. Evangelical Public Culture: Making Stranger-Citizens in Solomon IslandsDebra McDougallChapter 7. Anthropology and the Politics of Christianity in Papua New GuineaJohn BarkerChapter 8. Chiefs, Church and State in Santa Isabel, Solomon IslandsGeoffrey WhiteChapter 9. Why is There No Political Theology among the Urapmin?: On Diarchy, Sects as Big as Society, and the Diversity of Pentecostal PoliticsJoel RobbinsChapter 10. Afterword: Reflections on Political Theology in the PacificWebb Keane BibliographyIndex