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Christian custom and the church as structure in 'weak states' in Melanesia

This paper investigates certain characteristic associations in the governance of three of the four independent states of Melanesia: Papua New Guinea (henceforth PNG), granted independence by Australia in 1975; Solomon Islands, granted independence by Britain in 1978; and Vanuatu which won independence from joint Franco-British colonial rule in 1980 (see Map). First, the seemingly paradoxical amalgam of Christianity and tradition or custom which serves as an uneasy ideological basis for national unity and identity. Second, the always ambivalent, often tense intersections of Christianity and 'politics'. Finally, the significance of the churches, with their intensely local roots but broadly global reach, as alternative structures in the context of ineffective or even absent state institutions.