Date of Award
2009
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program
Anthropology
Abstract
This thesis is based on an ethnographic research project that explores the relationship between charismatic women and Christianity in Telefolmin, Papua New Guinea, and sheds light on issues surrounding gender and the politics of modernity. As
fewer cash remittances come to the village as the nearby Ok Tedi mine moves towards closure, and as more men leave the village in search of money, women are taking on the everyday jobs that were once the responsibility of men. When these facets of labor migration come together, what one is left with is an increasing feminization o f subsistence, which increases women’s burdens. Telefol women, especially prayer mamas, are managing these burdens (bikpela hevi) through the church, which not only tells them how to live but also provides them with a context in which to
This thesis is based on an ethnographic research project that explores the relationship between charismatic women and Christianity in Telefolmin, Papua New Guinea, and sheds light on issues surrounding gender and the politics of modernity. As
fewer cash remittances come to the village as the nearby Ok Tedi mine moves towards closure, and as more men leave the village in search of money, women are taking on the everyday jobs that were once the responsibility of men. When these facets of labor migration come together, what one is left with is an increasing feminization o f subsistence, which increases women’s burdens. Telefol women, especially prayer mamas, are managing these burdens (bikpela hevi) through the church, which not only tells them how to live but also provides them with a context in which to act.
Recommended Citation
Gordon, Christina Marie, "From Mining Widows to Prayer Mamas: Women, Christianity and Modernity in a Papua New Guinea Village" (2009). Digitized Theses. 4102.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/4102