Christian politics in Oceania
By: edited by Matt Tomlinson and Debra McDougall
Series: ASAO studies in Pacific anthropology -- v. 2
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 235
ISBN-13: 9780857457462
Subjects: Christianity and politics; Christian sects
Description: The phrase "Christian politics" points in two directions: political relations between denominations in one direction, and ways that Christian churches contribute to debates about how society should be governed in the other. The contributors to this volume address Christian politics in both senses and argue that Christianity is always and inevitably political in the Pacific Islands. Drawing on ethnographic and historical research in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji, the authors argue that Christianity and politics have redefined each other in much of Oceania in ways that make the two categories inseparable at any level of analysis. The individual chapters vividly illuminate the ways in which Christian politics operate across a wide scale, from interpersonal relations to national and global interconnections.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.