Social change and agency among Kubo of Papua New Guinea

Abstract

An account of the history and actions of one man is used to show how agency was central to processes of social change among Kubo people of the interior lowlands of Papua New Guinea. Through a thirteen‐year period, a growing awareness of, but little exposure to, ‘Western’ modes of living challenged earlier certainties, created desires, and suggested alternatives. Modernity thus provided the context for change. But modernity is not itself a process of change. By drawing from ambiguities inherent in pre‐existing structures (or discourses) or created de novo through encounters with previously unimagined possibilities, and by favouring one or another of the multiple trajectories legitimized by those ambiguities, people were causally implicated in changing the conditions of their own existence. Those changes entailed a shift from a predominantly relational epistemology to an increasingly categorical epistemology. Résumé Dans cet article, le récit de la vie et des actes d'un homme servent à montrer comment l'intentionnalité (agency) a été essentielle dans les processus de changement social chez les Kubos des basses terres intérieures de la Papouasie‐Nouvelle‐Guinée. Sur une période de treize ans, la connaissance accrue qu'ils ont eue des modes de vie « occidentaux »– tout en y étant peu exposés – a remis en question des certitudes antérieures, créé des désirs, et suggéré des alternatives. La modernité a ainsi créé le contexte du changement, sans être en elle‐même un processus de changement. À partir des ambiguïtés inhérentes aux structures (ou discours) préexistantes ou créées de novo par la découverte de possibilités jusqu'alors inimaginables, et en privilégiant l'une ou l'autre des multiples trajectoires légitimées par ces ambiguïtés, les Kubos ont été impliqués dans une relation causale de changement des conditions de leur propre existence. Ces changements ont entraîné le passage d'une épistémologie principalement relationnelle à une épistémologie de plus en plus catégorielle.

Theorizing social change

“…The notion of ‘agency’– often ill‐defined or not defined – has become increasingly prominent in anthropological discussions of reproduction and change in social systems 8 . Under our preferred definition, agency is ‘intentional causal intervention in the world’ (Ratner 2000: 413); it is the capacity, within the context of existing systems of relations, to act on the world rather than merely in the world (Dwyer & Minnegal 2007). That capacity, however, does not ensure that actors will achieve intended outcomes (Sökefeld 1999: 424).…”

“…Our own approach follows from those of Sahlins and Ortner while attempting to resolve the difficulties noted above (Dwyer & Minnegal 2007). To the extent that agency entails choosing to do one thing rather than an alternative, we assert that agency is expressed at sites of ambiguity in socio‐ecological systems and, further, that these ambiguities may either pre‐exist in the dialectics of structure (or discourse) or arise de novo in the dialectics of strategy.…”

“…When they reimagined women, pigs, and land in categorical terms, they drew upon ambiguities that had been created in the domain of exchange by the intrusion of money into their social world; gift‐giving is personalized, monetary transactions are anonymous ... In all these cases, the choices people made – and, hence, their agency – were implicated in changing the conditions of their own existence, and the process entailed was inherent in the dialectic between alternatives or, as Sahlins (1981: 72) expressed it, in the dialectic between conventional and intentional values’ (Dwyer & Minnegal 2007: 558). In the second example above, concerning sedentarization, people acted on the basis of pre‐existing possibilities, and the observed changes entailed quantitative shifts in the expression of particular variables.…”

“…We thus proceed to address each of these themes in turn, as the basis for developing a more comprehensive account. That account is illustrated by explicit reference to our own long‐term research among peoples of the Strickland‐Bosavi region of southwestern Papua New Guinea (Dwyer 1990; Dwyer & Minnegal 1999; 2007; Minnegal & Dwyer 1997; 1999; 2001; 2007). We note, however, that where our earlier ethnographic reports have dealt with processes of change, each has emphasized a single aspect and, thus, taken alone also qualifies as partial.…”

Beyond Pious Critical Agency: Women, Interfaith Marriage and Religious Conversion In Aceh

“…The term agency refers to people's ability to make their own choices and act on them, even if they encounter opposition (Abu-Rabia-Quader and Weiner-Levy, 2013: 90;Dwyer and Minnegal, 2007). The issue of whether the social structure or personal agency that determines human action have long been the talk of the social sciences and ignited the interest of feminist intellectuals.…”