Mining for Music: Ethical Entanglements in Lihir, Papua New Guinea

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

    Abstract

    In this chapter the author describes her experience working as an ethnomusicologist in partnership with a multinational mining company in the Lihir Islands, Papua New Guinea. Taking as a case in point a decade-long project documenting the sung narratives of the Islands known as pil, which culminated in the publication of the book Pil: Ancestral Stories of the Lihir Islands (Institute for Papua New Guinea Studies 2018) and a book launch celebration in September 2019, the author examines the role of the mining company in supporting Lihir cultural heritage and what this engagement means for Lihir people. Ultimately the author concludes that the ethical dilemma in this complex relationship is less about engaging with a mining company and more about the personal, and global, decisions made in maintaining one’s work and research relationships as individual lives and the wider world change.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationThe Routledge Companion to Ethics and Research in Ethnomusicology
    Editors Jonathan P. J. Stock and Beverley Diamond
    Place of PublicationNew York
    PublisherRoutledge, Taylor & Francis Group
    Pages199-208
    Edition1st
    ISBN (Print)9781003043904
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2023

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Mining for Music: Ethical Entanglements in Lihir, Papua New Guinea'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this