Review by Toby Ley

A discussion paper published through the Australian National University’s ‘State, Society and Governance in Melanesia’ series authored by: Michael Leach, James Scambary, Matthew Clarke, Simon Feeny, & Heather Wallace. ISSN: 1328-7854

In 1992, former prime minister of Solomon Islands, Solomon Mamaloni famously described his home as ‘a nation conceived but never born’, going on to say,

‘All of these small “island nations” were independent entities long before the northern explorers found them. Their cultures differed from each other. However, inter migration between islands close to each other has resulted in some similarities in customs and other characteristics. The merging of these ‘island nations’ into one ‘sovereign authority’ was by human design… Unfortunately, for all practical purposes it was the greatest error of the British administration in this region.’

‘Understanding Future Leaders Attitudes to National Identity in Melanesia and Timor-Leste’ presents findings and analysis of 1,160 surveys conducted with University students from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Timor-Leste between June 2009 and March 2010. Unfortunately, Fiji was not included in the study, which would have been interesting, especially in light of the country’s diverse cultural makeup, distinct foreign policies and influential political status in Melanesia.

In any case, the paper is both relevant and worthwhile, lending quantitative data to topic areas usually confined to qualitative examination and drawing attention to the important and fundamental differences between concepts of ‘state-building’ and ‘nation-building’. This is an important exercise, especially given the recognised barriers to development that a divide between functions of the ‘nation’ and ‘state’ appear to create. Along with the background section exploring the concepts of nation- and state- building, the paper includes an overview of the methodology of the study and an in-depth exploration of the findings, conveyed via several fascinating tables and graphs accompanied by strong analysis.

The findings presented in the paper lend weight to the argument that while state-building is important, greater attention needs to be paid to the challenges of nation-building in Melanesia and Timor-Leste,

‘While the international community is preoccupied with post-conflict state- building (focused on improving governance, institutional capacity, accountability, and the rule of law) the broader processes of nation-building (community development, identity formation, and national integration), and of creating the conditions for social cohesion and political stability have been relatively neglected.’

A recent ODI opinion piece contends, along a similar vein, that state-building efforts could be enhanced not only by supporting weak governments, but through complementary ‘citizenship-building’ efforts. By improving citizens’ levels of participation and their democratic demands, governments become more accountable, in turn strengthening capacity.

The hypothesis of ‘Understanding Future Leaders Attitudes to National Identity in Melanesia and Timor-Leste’ is that by studying the views of today’s educated elites, we can gain a better understanding of some of the challenges confronting efforts to build a stronger sense of national identity and achieve greater social cohesion in political communities. A nuanced understanding of the attitudes of these elites could prove useful to Pacific governments, donors and civil society in terms of assisting policymakers with prioritising policy focus areas and resource allocation. Information from the survey brings attention to particularly disenfranchised members of communities (such as women) and brings attention to issues of particular concern. For example, the paper highlights tensions surrounding rural-urban migration, with 91% of Papua New Guineans surveyed stating a belief that ‘people moving to cities and towns causes social problems’. Such figures could prompt politicians and policymakers to increase efforts to improve urban management strategies and/or rural service delivery.

Highlighting the diverse cultural and ethno-linguistic make-up the four countries, (sharing more than 1000 distinct languages between them), it is possible that information gathered could be used to assist governments with future decisions regarding the structure of their language education policies. One particular table shared in the discussion paper (see below) helps illustrate why Timor-Leste’s recent decision to make Portuguese an official language proved so controversial.

While the findings of the study are undeniably valuable, policy makers should be wary of the temptation to apply more meaning to the study than was originally intended. The authors acknowledge that the findings reflect the views of ‘an educated stratum of youth’. These educated elites are not only more likely to be younger but also a wealthier, urban-raised minority afforded a rare opportunity to mingle with people from distant provinces and countries. As such, it is important to remember that the views expressed in the surveys may not necessarily reflect beliefs held by ider populations. That being said, those surveyed represent a significantly influential and powerful group of the future, a segment of society worth understanding better.

Among others, some of the key findings of the student survey include:

• -The level of respect felt for traditional authority and kastom/adat matched the level of respect for modern state authority
• -Although Christianity was recognised as a key marker of national identity, respect for traditional authority and custom usually exceeded it in perceptions of importance
• -Differences in geographical region of origin, language background and gender, along with historical, colonial and missionary legacies all noticeably influenced attitudes toward national identity
• -There are significant levels of disaffection surrounding issues of rural-urban migration
• -Women expressed lower levels of closeness to their home villages, and lower levels of faith in traditional authorities for dispute resolution across all four countries. In PNG, women were also significantly less proud of their country’s ‘fair and equal treatment of all citizens’
• -The key sources of national pride lay less in the capacity of the state and more with popular affiliations to society, culture, and independence. There were high levels of respect for political institutions in principle but less faith in their actual performance.

The paper contends that if hurdles relating to governance and service provision can be addressed, there is potential to improve social cohesion and build nations upon the bases of shared pride in national history, culture, faith and the demonstrated belief in the overarching principles of democracy. Ideas that a healthy arts and culture environment are fundamental to nation building have also been explored in this discussion paper by PiPP.

‘Understanding Future Leaders Attitudes to National Identity in Melanesia and Timor-Leste’ begins by lamenting not enough attention is being paid to nation-building objectives. It shares Scott’s (2005) contention that a weak state is a cause rather than an effect of the comparative weakness of national identity. Rather than debating whether state-building or nation-building projects are the development version of the ‘chicken’ or the ‘egg’, it seems clear that projects in developing countries would be more likely to succeed if nation-building objectives were to be given greater attention and worked on complementarily with state-building goals.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 7th, 2012 at 6:00 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.