Christian Politics in Oceania

Matt Tomlinson is currently an ARC Future Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at Australian National University's College of Asia and the Pacific.

“A key strength of the volume is its broad conception of ‘Christian politics’, understood both as the relations between Christian groups and the articulation between Christianity and wider societal structures… Its attention to scale, denominational difference and to the histories of colonial and postcolonial state formation in the region will provide a useful basis for further comparative work on Christian movements, both within the Pacific Islands and further afield.”  ·  Social Anthropology/Anthropologie sociale“The volume is refreshingly open and non-ideological...All the essays are detailed, thoughtful and considerably nuanced in their analyses. As such, the volume is a fine example of the emerging discipline of the anthropology of Christianity, finally not afraid to move into theology, history, psychology and sociology for a more complete analysis. Because of their common multi-disciplinary approach, the essays complement each other well.”  ·  Pacific Affairs"From its first page, like all good anthropology, Christian Politics in Oceania challenges assumptions... The chapters…raise issues that are relevant to and important for Christianity and all religions. That a religion like Christianity is internally diverse; that it entangles with politics, traditional cultures, material objects and interests, and individual and collective divisions in society; and that it inevitably serves some governmental and 'state-like' functions are all points that anthropologists can profitably apply to all regions and to all religions."  ·  Anthropology Review Database“This is an edited volume that really works: path-breaking, sophisticated, ethnographically rich, epistemologically reflective in always illuminating and generative ways, with all of the constituent pieces speaking in fascinating and varied ways to key, shared themes of real value. The chapters all work together very well, and each is at the same time also distinctive in significant and often enjoyable ways…Great for the Pacific and well beyond.”  ·  Don Brenneis, University of California, Santa Cruz“This is an excellent book on a pivotal topic in the contemporary Pacific, where Christianity is routinely evoked in national politics, and where denominational differences both shape and emerge from local rivalries…[E]very contributor makes an argument, and each offers a range of propositions and insights that set the bar very high. This book will stand as the baseline and point of departure for subsequent efforts for some time to come.”  ·  Dan Jorgensen, University of Western Ontario

• 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