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...persistently during discussions as a crucial dimension of indigenous female experience, especially in local rural settings. The process of editing a selection of the papers given at the workshop, mostly by indigenous women (Douglas 2000, ed.), made it clear that the phenomenon of women's groupings in Melanesia demanded systematic study. (1) This was particularly so with respect to local women's groups, most of which are church-linked. Such groups are increasingly conspicuous features of the socio-economic landscape in communities across the region and are often part of elaborate district, provincial, national, and regional women's networks, but have so far largely escaped scholarly attention. Apart from Debra McDougall, who was then in the field in Ranongga, Solomon Islands, all the contributors to this collection had a link to the workshop: Bronwen Douglas convened it; Margaret Jolly, Martha Macintyre, and Alice Aruhe'eta Pollard attended; Anne Dickson-Waiko wanted to but had to cancel at the last moment; Anna Paini and Regina Scheyvens were unable to attend but distributed early versions of the papers included here.
The collection took shape slowly but its lengthy gestation gave it a built-in historical dimension since the ethnographic presents of the contributions span more than a decade. This is especially valuable with respect to Solomon Islands, the focus of three of the papers and the site of recent political and economic convulsions. Having undertaken comparative fieldwork in Western Province, Guadalcanal, and Malaita in the relatively buoyant national political climate of the early 1990s, Scheyvens is optimistic about the future of women's organized social, political, and human rights initiatives. Pollard, a leader in women's affairs for more than a decade and a key player in the sombre aftermath...
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