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Social Science Cultural

Ancestral Lines

The Maisin of Papua New Guinea and the Fate of the Rainforest, Second Edition

by (author) John Barker

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Apr 2016
Category
Cultural, Customs & Traditions, Developing Countries
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781442635920
    Publish Date
    Apr 2016
    List Price
    $34.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781442635937
    Publish Date
    Apr 2016
    List Price
    $66.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781551115894
    Publish Date
    Nov 2007
    List Price
    $24.95
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781442601055
    Publish Date
    Nov 2007
    List Price
    $24.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442603233
    Publish Date
    Nov 2007
    List Price
    $19.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442606807
    Publish Date
    Nov 2007
    List Price
    $19.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

This compelling ethnography offers a nuanced case study of the ways in which the Maisin of Papua New Guinea navigate pressing economic and environmental issues. Beautifully written and accessible to most readers, Ancestral Lines is designed with introductory cultural anthropology courses in mind. Barker has organized the book into chapters that mirror many of the major topics covered in introductory cultural anthropology, such as kinship, economic pursuit, social arrangements, gender relations, religion, politics, and the environment. The second edition has been revised throughout, with a new timeline of events and a final chapter that brings readers up to date on important events since 2002, including a devastating cyclone and a major court victory against the forestry industry.

About the author

John Barker is a professor of anthropology at the University of British Columbia. He has conducted anthropological fieldwork in Papua New Guinea and amongst the Nuxalk and Nisga`a First Nations of Canada. He has published extensively on Christianity amongst the indigenous peoples of Oceania and British Columbia, the history of anthropology, and the impact of environmental activists in Papua New Guinea.

John Barker's profile page

Editorial Reviews

"Ancestral Lines is a vivid portrait of how the Maisin draw upon their past to shape the modern present which,
like tapa designs, they continue to recreate anew. It is a rich, ambiguous depiction of rural PNG which should appeal
to multiple audiences. Because of the way it is written, theoretical simplicity, and first-person narratives of
fieldwork experience, the book is eminently suitable for entry-level undergraduates encountering cultural anthropology
for the first time. It would also be useful in courses on material culture in society and, of course, on sociocultural
change. In addition, Ancestral Lines is a welcome entry into the emerging literature on rural conservation in
the Pacific."

David Lipset, <em>Anthropos</em>

Barker's clear, engaging, and often self-reflexive writing style provides students with a readable and interesting ethnography.

Pacific Affairs