Introduction to Special Issue ‘Rethinking Decolonisation in Papua New Guinea’

Abstract

This article is an introduction to a special issue entitled ‘Rethinking Decolonisation in Papua New Guinea’. This introduction suggests that we view ‘decolonisation’ or ‘independence’ not only as a historical period, but as an event that has been imagined by many people both during and after it occurred. Drawing on the work of Adom Getachew, we argue that it is fruitful to examine decolonisation in this extended sense. Doing so, this article argues, allows us to see that decolonisation often involves more than just the two actors of the ‘coloniser’ and the ‘colonised’. It also helps us better understand forms of political innovation in which the goal is not the creation of a nation‐state. By broadening our awareness of a range of decolonising processes, we can expand our understanding of this important political process.