Resisting RAMSI: Intervention,Identity and Symbolism in Solomon Islands

ABSTRACT The Australian‐led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) continues to enjoy high levels of approval amongst Solomon Islanders. However, this approval belies the existence of a minority, but nevertheless important, dissenting perspective, one which has mostly emanated from Malaitan quarters. How are we to interpret Malaitan expressions of opposition to RAMSI? While these dissenting voices can, in part, be seen through a lens of legal and economic rationality, Malaitan opposition to RAMSI must be properly located within a deeper tradition of Malaitan resistance to the imposition of alien and centralised authority. Malaitans have responded to the RAMSI intervention by invoking kastom as a symbol of difference, unity and resistance, just as they have done in the past. It is argued that resistance to RAMSI must be (re)interpreted as having fundamentally cultural and historical underpinnings. Resisting RAMSI is as much about asserting culture and identity as it is about money and power. This argument is drawn out through an historically contextualised analysis of contemporary articulations of Malaitan resistance. The voices examined come from the public statements of prominent Malaitans, the published manifesto of the Malaita Ma'asina Forum, and interviews with former members of the Malaita Eagle Force.     

Solomon Carter Fuller, M.D. (1872-1953): American pioneer in Alzheimer's disease research

The appointment of Alois Alzheimer to Emil Kraepelin's clinic and laboratory at the Royal Psychiatric Hospital, University of Munich in 1903 offered new opportunities for clinical and pathological studies of the brain. At the opening of the facility in 1904, Alzheimer selected five foreign visiting students as his graduate research assistants, among whom was an American, Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller. A glimpse of Fuller's background as an African-American (born in Liberia) at the turn of the century, his continuing research after leaving Germany in 1906, and his critical view of the Alzheimer dementia entity are recounted. He was held in high esteem as a practicing neuropsychiatrist and teacher in the Boston area.     

Sorcery and Negotiating Economic Agency: A Critical Observation from Solomon Islands

In this paper, my aim is to add to the discussions of sorcery in Melanesia by focussing on its relation to economic agency in the context of a case example from Malaita, Solomon Islands. Using Taylor's (2015) categories of ‘distributive’ and ‘possessive’ agency as a critical point of departure, I illustrate how sorcery can be considered as an outcome when people are perceived not to be balancing these forms of economic agency. By drawing on the example of an entrepreneur from Malaita, I highlight the complexity of the negotiations between possessive and distributive agencies and show how critically investigating these negotiations is important for understanding why sorcery may happen but also how to limit the chances of it happening. Furthermore, I also illustrate how critical investigations of accounts of sorcery can reveal complexities of socio‐economic and political life in changing economic and social circumstances.     

Nobody asked the mother: women and maternity on Simbo,western Solomon Islands

This article's focus is on the role of mothers in Simbo, one of the New Georgia islands in the western Solomon Islands. Mother's role is examined from the standpoint of the actual experiences of motherhood and mother's perceptions and reactions to child rearing, child care, burdensome tasks, and social participation. Anthropological studies emphasize non-Western notions of maternity or romanticize the primitive. Obscured in the process is who these women really are. Western feminist accounts of Third World women emphasize the oppression and uniformity of the "natural" mother. This characterization of Simbo women is presented as a single non-Western view and is unrelated to a global vision. Simbo women as mothers feel oppressed and are envious of Western notions of parenting, yet at the same time feel that Western child rearing deprives the child. Maternity is a state of ambivalence, where women feel both love for and oppression by children, spouses, and other women. The tasks and responsibilities of childbearing are more difficult because of increased fertility and changes in social practices. Women without children are viewed with sympathy and mild condescension. Changes in social practices are in part due to the presence of missionaries after 1903 and the over 200 year involvement of the islands in world trading. The most significant impact on women post-Christianity is the change from the emphasis on female-child relationships to male-female relationships. Pre-Christianity, marriage ceremonies stressed equality of spouses and their kin groups. New customs emphasize brideprice and the husband's authority over women's bodies. The change in power affects fertility levels, child care, women's work, and contraception. Men today do less labor relative to women and, when husbands are absent due to temporary labor migration, women may not have any help. The nuclear family is responsible for all labor. Women specifically tend the gardens and house, care for children, and care for ill members of the family. The concept of maternity changes with the stage in the life cycle. The first child is the easiest because grandmothers help with infant care. Children are both indulged and then resented when the demands interfere with activities or the children are too difficult.