Contention and Dispute: Aspects of Law and Social Control in Melanesia. Edited by A. L. Epstein. [Canberra: Australian National University Press. 1974. 354 pp. (incl. index). £8·55.]
| Author | Simon Roberts |
| Date | 01 November 1979 |
| Published date | 01 November 1979 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1979.tb01578.x |
Nov.
19791
REVIEWS
143
practical aspects
of
copyright law. As an Australian book, it will not,
of
course, be
a
complete substitute for English books such as Copinger and
Skone James. Nevertheless, as pointed out above, it is,
in
many respects,
superior. The only prosblem is its high price--f0,000 including the first
year's service compared with
f0,000
for the latest edition of Copinger.
But
for
those scriously involved in the area, it must surcly become ari
indispensable work of reference and therefore an investment well worth
making.
s.
RICKeTSON.
CONTENTION
AND
DISPUTE:
ASPECTS
OF
LAW
AND SOCIAL CONTROL
IN
MELANESIA.
Edited
'by
A.
L.
EPSTEIN.
[Canberra
:
A'ustralian
National University
Press.
1974. 354
pp.
(incl. index).
€8.55.1
IN
this important collection of essays, Epstcin and his fellow-contributors
examine dispute settlement processes in a range of rural communities on
Papua New Guinea and its surrounding islands. But in doing
so
their wider
concern is with the future relationship between the national legal system and
the arrangements presently prevailing within the diverse local communities of
which this newly independent State is made
up.
It is the combination of this
broad perspective with meticulous study
of
what is happening at a local level
which gives these essays special interest and value. Creating and adjusting a
relationship between the national legal system and agencies at the local level
has presented major diftlculties in most developing countries, and the problems
have typically been compounded by the fact that those who have had
to
grapple with them are lcgal specialists with minimal knowledge
of
how things
work in the rural areas. Ethnographic accounts available to them have often
been of limited help as the anthropologist concerned has 'been more interested
in
the unique features of the people under investigation than with their points
of
contact with larger groupings. It was with these problems in mind that
individual contributions were prepared; and they are drawn together by an
introduction which admira'bly succeeds in placing them in the context of legal
development. With one exception,
a
paper. in which some historical data
are
analysed, all the essays focus on disputes researched in contemporary rural
communities. Through these case histories, which are for the most part
presented with enviable skill, the writers succeed in identifying some of the
major difficulties with which law reformers in Papua New Guinea are faced.
Perhaps the most startling lesson (and one which implies advantages
as
well
as difliculties) relates to the durable and flexiblc character of some indigenous
institutions.
"
Contact
"
has certainly led to some traditional procedures
falling away; for example, several contributors note a gradual movement away
from fighting and sorcery as means
of
handling disputes towards some kind of
negotiated outcome featuring compensation. Elsewhere, howcver, quitc thc
reverse has been observed. Andrew Strathern, writing about groups living in
the Mount Hagen district, notes how fighting died down in the early years
of contact with the national administration but now shows signs of flaring up
again.
He
associates this development directly with the availability
of
money
through participation in the wider economy. Far from breaking down existing
institutions, the amval of money has revitalised them: cash represents
"
a new
medium through which
old
patterns
of
obligation and rivalry between groups
and their big men can be played out once more" (pp.
247-248).
Whatever
the solution to this particular problem, the vigoiir and adaptability of these
traditional institutions demand to be taken into account whcn dcvclopmcnt
legislation is contemplated.
Something else which
the
essays underline is the problematic nature of any
distinction 'between the
"
legal
"
and the
"
political
"
so
far as these communi-
ties are concerned. Several of the contributions show clearly that no indigenous
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