‘Adopting an obligation’: Innovative forms of inter-clan democracy in the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea

Abstract

This article explores how aspects of clan equality and fraternity within segments of a state can be basic elements of democratic society. It describes the innovative forms of inter-clan democracy in the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea (PNG) that emerged during times of regional conflict at the site of a multinational-run copper mine in North Solomons Province. Those men who had been sent to reinstate civil services near the mining site adopted children from that war-torn province into the matriclans of their own respective wives. In the role of adoptive father they could provide them with access to health and education facilities in the home province; men in the region thus challenged the PNG state to meet its obligations to protect the rights of the youngest generation to grow to adulthood.