Paige West

This project traces the shifting meanings of three commodities central to the experience of modernity in Papua New Guinea (PNG) as they circulate from producers, to distributors to consumers. It also examines the social relations of production and consumption that go into each commodity. I will study three sets of people: the Gimi, village residents in the Eastern Highlands Province (EHP) of PNG; merchants in Goroka, the capital of the EHP; and Australians living in Queensland, Australia (AU). I will study the relationships between these people in the production, distribution, and consumption of coffee, gold, and images of native souls as commodities extracted from rural PNG, processed and distributed in Goroka, and consumed in Queensland. The end product will be a book manuscript.