On Violence and Colonial Dialogue
Mar, Tracey Banivanua. Violence and Colonial Dialogue: The Australian-Pacific Indentured Labor Trade. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2007. pp. 270. Cloth.
While I originally picked this up expecting it to be a deep analysis of the Pacific “labor trade” (or slavery), it wound up being something quite different. Instead, this book is better read as a study of colonial violence through the lens of the Pacific labor trade. It fits well with texts like Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghosts or Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. The rise of “Melanesianism” (essentially a Pacific Orientalism) can still be seen today. In short, this is a must-read for anyone interested in colonial history or indigenous studies.