Resistance Through Emulation
Frederick Karl Errington, Deborah B. Gewertz · 2019
This chapter discusses the social and cultural changes that have occurred among Karavarans following European arrival with an inquiry into the nature of the Australian colonial regime in the Territory of Papua New Guinea. It examines an incident of late colonial history in which the administration disciplined two anthropologists for unintentionally engaging in the production of a disquieting article that differed significantly from officially sanctioned texts. Fred had spoken to a European reporter on a colonial newspaper who then published an article conveying that the Karavarans were greatly—perhaps violently—discontented with the regime. Emulation became what might be seen as a particularly Melanesian form of resistance, one by which local groups attempted to maintain or enhance their own worth. Karavaran cargoism was a program of "self-containment" designed to efface colonial differences through emulation. Patrols and their reports were a significant part of the ongoing colonial encounter. Patrols and reports were thus central to a process of imposed surveillance and ordering.