Intensification, Complexity and Evolution: Insights from the Strickland‐Bosavi Region

Abstract

Agricultural systems must be understood as embedded within the total socio-cultural system of which they are a part. Difference in the intensity of those systems is, therefore, but one aspect of difference in the complexity of the total systems. Processes of intensification and innovation that are implicated in change to agricultural systems are, similarly, instances of more general processes of adaptation and transformation which underwrite change in complex systems. These considerations inform understanding of differences between, and change within, non-hierarchical and communally organised societies of the interior lowlands of Papua New Guinea. With a focus on two societies of the Strickland-Bosavi region of Papua New Guinea this paper locates considerations of agricultural intensity and intensification within the broader contexts of socio-cultural complexity and processes of adaptation and transformation.Connections between agricultural intensity and social complexity are intricate. For analysts, the difficulties entailed in unravelling these connections are compounded, first, by relationships between environment and agricultural intensity, secondly, by relationships between population density and both agricultural intensity and social complexity and, thirdly, by change. Social formations, agricultural systems, populations and environments are themselves constellations of multiple variables, all of which are subject to change. Further, change in any one of those variables is likely to be both cause and effect of change in others. Whether our interests and concerns are with reconstructing 10 000 years of socioecological evolution, or coming to grips with the impacts of recent global events on the lives and lifestyles of people, it is essential to acknowledge that we are dealing with overdetermined systems and recursive processes.

Theorizing social change

“…In several articles, and with reference to our own empirical data, we have made a distinction between two broadly defined processes of change (e.g. Minnegal & Dwyer 1997; 2001). We label these ‘adaptation’ and ‘transformation’.…”

“…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.…”

Poor rural places in Papua New Guinea

“…Societies that possessed these systems have been called 'successful' (Gardner and Weiner, 1992: 125) and 'powerful' (Forge, 1990). Their populations grew faster, their social organisations were more complex (Minnegal and Dwyer, 2001), their trade networks were more extensive and their leaders held sway over greater numbers of followers and larger local areas (Modjeska, 1982).…”