Identity in Forms: Paper Technologies in Dutch Anthropometric Practices Around 1900

This article analyses anthropometric forms used in three different Dutch contexts around 1900: an expedition in Dutch New Guinea, the Dutch police and prison registration system, where ‘Bertillonage’ was used to identify recidivist criminals, and a state-owned reform school for girls. The authors identify the loose form as an innovative ‘paper technology’ within anthropometry that opened up entirely new ways of linking bodies to identities and was critically important in inscribing bodies into knowledge systems. The article demonstrates how this crucial innovation within anthropometry took shape in practice. In order to show the techniques through which the inscription of bodies into knowledge systems took place, the article demonstrates how the forms organized, standardized and directed measuring practices and prepared the data for further use in filing systems. Moreover, it draws attention to the tension between the forms’ potential and actual practices. The article concludes by considering the ways these forms were filed and used as ‘data’ by judicial authorities, child protection professionals and racial and criminological scientists, each of whom produced different forms of ‘paper identity’ and whose anthropometric practices enacted different bodies.

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De-colonising Human Rights: Customary Justice and Child Protection in Papua New Guinea

The International Journal of Children s Rights ◽

10.1163/15718182-02503003 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 25 (3-4) ◽

pp. 622-657

Author(s):

Micheil Paton

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Papua New Guinea ◽

Child Protection ◽

New Guinea ◽

International Community ◽

Potential Contribution ◽

Justice Systems ◽

Accessible Form

This article argues that the potential contribution of customary justice systems to the realisation of human rights has been under-investigated, under-acknowledged and under-utilised, primarily due to historical and lingering colonial attitudes within the international community. The article focuses on the example of child protection in Papua New Guinea, a country where customary justice is the only accessible form of justice for the vast majority of the population. Some of the article’s recommendations may also be applicable in other societies. The article examines potential reasons for the reluctance of the international community to recognise and support customary justice systems in the implementation of human rights. The article argues that the application of customary justice constitutes a cultural right, and potentially offers some superior human rights practices from which the international community could learn and benefit.

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Agents of alienation: accountants and the land grab of Papua New Guinea

Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal ◽

10.1108/aaaj-10-2017-3185 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 32 (5) ◽

pp. 1558-1584

Author(s):

Glenn Finau ◽

Kerry Jacobs ◽

Satish Chand

Keyword(s):

Papua New Guinea ◽

Indigenous Peoples ◽

System Analysis ◽

New Guinea ◽

Registration System ◽

Case Study Methodology ◽

Content Type ◽

Land Grab ◽

Customary Land

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore and examine the role of accounting and accountants in customary land transactions between Indigenous peoples and foreign corporate entities. The paper uses the case of two accountants who utilised accounting technologies in lease agreements to alienate customary land from Indigenous landowners in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Design/methodology/approach Employing a case study methodology, the paper draws on contemporary data sets of transcripts related to a Commission of Inquiry established in 2011 to investigate PNG’s Special Agricultural Business Lease system. Analysis of other publicly available data and semi-structured interviews with PNG landowners and other stakeholders supplement and triangulate data from the inquiry transcripts. A Bourdieusian lens was adopted to conceptualise how accounting was used in the struggles for customary land between foreign developers and Indigenous landowners within the wider capitalist field and the traditional Melanesian field. Findings This paper reveals how accountants exploited PNG’s customary land registration system, the Indigenous peoples’ lack of financial literacy and their desperation for development to alienate customary land from landowners. The accountants employed accounting technologies in the sublease agreements to reduce their royalty obligations to the landowners and to impose penalty clauses that made it financially impossible for the landowners to cancel the leases. The accountants used accounting to normalise, legitimise and rationalise these exploitative arrangements in formal lease contracts. Originality/value This paper responds to the call for research on accounting and Indigenous peoples that is contemporary rather than historic; examines the role of accountants in Indigenous relations, and examines the emancipatory potential of accounting.

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Parenting for Child Development: The development and preliminary pilot of a parenting intervention to reduce violence against children in Papua New Guinea

International Social Work ◽

10.1177/00208728211008965 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002087282110089

Author(s):

Gary Robinson ◽

Simon Moss ◽

Yomei Jones

Keyword(s):

Papua New Guinea ◽

Low Income ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Child Protection ◽

Parental Attitudes ◽

New Guinea ◽

Well Being ◽

Harsh Parenting ◽

Child Protection Services ◽

Low Income Country

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a low-income country experiencing high rates of family violence and child maltreatment. Child protection services are under-developed, and few tertiary-trained social workers are employed by them. A research team was commissioned to develop a parenting programme for implementation in remote provinces. After development and co-design of the programme, a pre- and post-evaluation was conducted in 10 communities to test the programme’s potential to facilitate change. Measures of harsh parenting, family well-being and parental attitudes were translated by experienced academics and administered to parents by a team of staff and students from a local university. Responses were subjected to factor analyses. A series of paired-sample t-tests was conducted to ascertain change in parents’ reported family well-being and use of harsh disciplinary practices (sample n = 159). Encouraging numbers of caregivers attended the programme in all sites. The analysis of change between pre- and post-programme scores revealed statistically significant reductions in verbal abuse and corporal punishment, and in harsh parenting overall, with reductions in partner violence and family difficulties contributing to improvements in family well-being. The evaluation indicates that with further development, this programme could be implemented as a primary prevention measure to complement child protection services. To consolidate the programme’s future implementation by building the pool of trained personnel, links with social work education should be further developed.

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