Attitudes to National Identity in Melanesia and Timor-leste ― A Survey of Future Leaders in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Timor-leste

This volume presents the findings of an 18-month research project, which took place between June 2009 and March 2010, on the attitudes of college students in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Timor-Leste regarding national identity and issues of nation building. The authors surveyed 1,160 students and four focus groups using questions from the International Social Survey Program module on national identity, adding new questions about local conditions. Questions asked about gender, age, province of origin, and self-identified language proficiencies; attitudes towards the importance of specific indicators of national identity, the strength of affiliations with different levels of political community, national pride, and group loyalty indicators; and media preferences for language and preferences for agents of dispute resolution in various situations. Introductory chapters describe nation building in general and the methodology for the study, followed by case study chapters on each country, with background on its context and the results of the survey, including a regional breakdown. The final chapters consist of a comparative analysis of the four sites and discussion of policy implications. The preface is also presented in Tetun and French. Annotation c2014 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Michael Leach is Associate Professor in Politics and Public Policy at Swinburne University of Technology.
James Scambary is a research consultant and PhD candidate in the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia programme at the Australian National University.
Matthew Clarke is Professor and Head of School in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University.
Simon Feeny is Associate Professor in Development Economics at RMIT University.
Heather Wallace is an Adjunct Fellow in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University and an international development consultant.