Working Session: Cargo Cults, Kastom, and Kago Kalja: Old Theories and New Realities in the Study of Melanesian Movements
Organizers: Marc Tabani and Marcellin Abong

Before the end of the second round (2010) of this session we already had ten papers. Most of them were almost finalized. To the papers already received, Joel Robbins proposed to add his own contribution. Joshua Bell proposed also to implicate James Clifford who gave so many rich comments during our 2009 session in Santa Cruz. In Alexandria, four out of the original ten participants discussed their papers (Elfriede Hermann, Joshua Bell, Marcellin Abong, Marc Tabani) and Martha Macintyre’s important contribution to the general discussion was presented in absentia by Christine Jourdan. Terry Brown, who was among the session attendees, brought some fresh and interesting thinking to the issues and has agreed to write a paper for our expected volume.

Hence, it has been decided: 1) that this was the last round of this session; 2) that we go forward and edit the papers for a monograph at the Pacific-Credo Publishing House; 3) that the deadline to receive completed papers is mid-September 2010 (or sooner if possible); 4) that in order not to reproduce some critiques which have been raised against Holger Jeben’s book (mainly the absence of debate between the different papers in that volume), we ask all the participants to actively take into account and integrate in their own papers aspects of this debate issuing from our papers; 5) for that reason we ask all authors to comment and to critique as much as possible the papers of other authors and to send them directly through email to those concerned or to the whole list of authors; nevertheless everybody is free to concentrate on the papers they want and there is the option of even not commenting on other papers at all when it is justified; and 6) we ask that the final papers be no longer than 12,000 words.

Marc Tabani, CNRS-CREDO, University of Provence, 3, place Victor Hugo, 13003, Marseille, FRANCE; tel: 33(0)4 94 59 34 26; fax 33(0)4 91 10 61 21; <marc.tabani@pacific-credo.fr>

Marcellin Abong, Vanuatu Cultural Centre, B.P. 184, Port Vila, VANUATU; Fax 678-26590; <abong.marcellin@vanuatuculture.org>