German New Guinea Research Articles

Informality and The Idea of the Townn in Hubert Murray's Papua

Without pretension to novelty in the historical narrative, this paper examines how far economic informality emerged among Papuans in Pt. Moresby, capital of Australian Papua. Informal behaviour arises out of inability or unwillingness to conform with what Hart calls 'the institutional effort to organize society along formal lines', where form is 'the rule, an idea of what ought to be universal in social life'. The paper follows my study of informality among Chinese and indigenous Tolai in German New Guinea (GNG), where the goal was to impose conformity with a German ideology of 'national-economic purpose'. In Papua, bureaucratic effort was devoted to organizing society in accordance with a less coherent and compelling ideology, the 'preservation of village life' and, in Pt Moresby, with achieving an 'idea of the town' congenial to Europeans. 'Natives' were excluded from the town, other than as menial workers. The paper considers the bureaucratic effort to realize the 'idea of the town' in Pt Moresby and its impact on the traditional landowners and other Papuans, who proved more acquiescent to bureaucratic suasion than the Tolai in GNG. In consequence, urbanism was retarded and Papuan initiative smothered by paternalism. Much of the narrative revolves around comparisons of GNG, a classic plantation economy, with Papua, seen as an 'unlucky place', lacking natural resources, private investment and government funding, and handicapped (in the eyes of settlers) by undue concern for native welfare. Crucially, the Chinese intermediary class which drew the Tolai of GNG into the monetary economy was absent from Papua. Nor were white traders encouraged to perform this role, while official efforts to engage Papuans with 'the market' were ineffective. Colonial Papua was, as Charles Rowley said, an obsolescent society and economy. The comparatively vigorous economic informality in and around Rabaul before the Pacific War was emblematic of greater progress towards economic development than had proved possible in Hubert Murray's Papua, while Rabaul also expressed a more vigorous urbanism.

Protectorates and Twists: Law, History and the Annexation of German New Guinea

Protectorates and Twists: Law, History and the Annexation of German New Guinea

The Orchidaceae of German New Guinea

The Orchidaceae of German New Guinea

The Australians in German New Guinea, 1914-1921.

The Australians in German New Guinea, 1914-1921.

A Woman's Impressions of German New Guinea

A Woman's Impressions of German New Guinea

German New Guinea

German New Guinea

REVIEWS OF BOOKS

Book reviewed in this article:THE HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICAN MISSIONS: A History of Christian Missions in South Africa. By J. du PlessisASPECTS OF ISLAM: Aspects of Islam. By Duncan Black MacdonaldRELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN GERMAN NEW GUINEA: Deutsch‐Neu‐Guinea. By Prof. Dr. Med. R. NeuhaussSOME RECENT LITERATURE ON CHINA: Half a Century in China. Recollections and ObservationsSOME RECENT LITERATURE ON CHINA: The China Mission Year Book, 1911. Edited by D. MacGillivraySOME RECENT LITERATURE ON CHINA: Changing China. By the Rev. Lord William Gascoyne‐Cecil, assisted by Lady Florence CecilSOME RECENT LITERATURE ON CHINA: Tramps in Dark Mongolia. By John HedleySOME RECENT LITERATURE ON CHINA: China Under the Empress Dowager. Being the History of the Life and Times of Tzu Hsi. By J. O. P. Bland and E. BackhouseSOME RECENT LITERATURE ON CHINA: The Call of Cathay. A Study in Missionary Work and Opportunity in China Old and New. By the Rev. W. A. CornabyA CONTRIBUTION TO THEOLOGY FROM THE MISSION FIELD: Christ's Message of the Kingdom. A Course of Daily Study for Private Students and for Bible Circles. By A. G. HoggTHE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY: A History of the British and Foreign Bible Society. By William CantonTHE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN BOARD: The History of the American Board: An Account of the First Hundred Years of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. By William E. StrongINDUSTRIAL MISSIONS IN INDIA: Report of the Industrial Conference at KodaikanalTWO LITTLE‐KNOWN MISSION FIELDS: Seventeen Years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo. By Edwin H. GomesTWO LITTLE‐KNOWN MISSION FIELDS: An Unknown People in an Unknown Land. By W. Barbrooke GrubbINTER‐RACIAL PROBLEMS: Inter‐racial Problems. Papers communicated to the first Universal Races Congress, 1911. Edited by G. Spiller

NewCarabidae from German New Guinea and its Dependencies. (Col.)

NewCarabidae from German New Guinea and its Dependencies. (Col.)

NewCarabidae from German New Guinea and its Dependencies. (Col.)

NewCarabidae from German New Guinea and its Dependencies. (Col.)