Colonialism Development and Independence
The Case of the Melanesian Islands in the South Pacific

This book takes Western Pacific island territories as a case study in the behavioural understanding of colonialism.

H. C. Brookfield (Author)

9780521143882, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 20 May 2010

244 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.36 kg

This 1972 book takes Western Pacific island territories as a case study in the behavioural understanding of colonialism. It is argued that colonialism has many forms, and is not ended with the lowering of the metropolitan flag. It represents a conflict of systems, as worldwide forces impinge on local systems and seek to bring them into an essentially dependent relationship with metropolitan centres. The drive for independence is seen as the opposition to these forces, beginning with resistance to invasion, continuing through efforts to adapt the innovations and manage their impact, and going on to modern forms of political and economic nationalism. The book is based on field work and documentary research extending more than ten years; the emphasis on field evidence is unusual in a book of this nature.

List of figures
Preface
Note on conventions
1. On colonialism and development
2. Colonial beginnings
3 Diffusion and establishment
4. High noon: Melanesia in a white man's world
5. Tremors from faraway convulsions - 1905–1920
6. The ills of mercantilism
7. Hard times and new beginnings
8. Trauma - 1940–1946
9. The Hasluck period and the new colonialism
10. The advance toward political independence
11. The deepening commercial colonization of Melanesia
12. The face of pluralism in Melanesia
13. Melanesian reaction
14. A view of the Third World
15. Perils and prospects
Epilogue: toward an understanding of colonialism
Statistical appendix
List of references
Index.

Subject Areas: General & world history [HBG]