Anarchy and the Art of Listening: The Politics and Pragmatics of Reception in Papua New Guinea

Anarchy and the Art of Listening is an ethnography of politics as it is practiced on the other side of the spoken word, in the act of listening. James Slotta explores how people in the Yopno Valley of Papua New Guinea cultivate their listening to exercise power, shape their futures, and sustain their communities in the face of ambitious leaders and powerful outside institutions.

As in many parts of the global south, missionaries, NGO workers, educators, mining companies, politicians, develo...