Cargo cult
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Cargo cults were spiritual and political movements that arose among indigenous Melanesians following Western colonisation of the region in the early 20th century. The first documented cargo cults were religious movements that foretold followers would imminently receive an abundance of (often Western) food and goods (the "cargo") brought by their ancestors.[1]: 11 [2]: 83, 90 [3] Cargo cults have a wide diversity of beliefs and practices, but typically (though not universally) include: charismatic prophet figures foretelling a coming cataclysm or utopia for followers (a worldview known as millenarianism);[4][2] predictions by these prophets of the return of dead ancestors or other powerful beings bringing the cargo;[1] the belief that ancestral spirits were responsible for the creation of the cargo;[4] and the instruction by these prophets to followers to fulfill the prophecy by either reviving ancestral traditions or adopting new rituals, such as ecstatic dancing or imitating the actions of colonists and military personnel, like flag-raising, marching and drilling.[4] Use of the term has declined in anthropological scholarship on the basis that it bundles together too wide a diversity of movements[4] and is too pejorative.[5]
Anthropologists have described cargo cults as rooted in pre-existing aspects of Melanesian society, as a reaction to colonial oppression and inequality disrupting traditional village life, or both.[2]: 85 [4] Groups labeled as cargo cults were subject to a considerable number of anthropological publications from the late 1940s to the 1960s. After Melanesian countries gained political independence, few new groups matching the term have emerged since the 1970s, with some surviving cargo cult groups transitioning into indigenous churches and political movements.[4] The term has largely fallen out of favour and is now seldom used among anthropologists, though its use as a metaphor (in the sense of engaging in ritual action to obtain material goods) is widespread outside of anthropology in popular commentary and critique,[6] based on stereotypes of cargo cultists as "primitive and confused people who use irrational means to pursue rational ends".[7]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Worsley-1957was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
Otto-2009was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Schwartz-180was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference
Lindstrom-20182was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Lindstrom, Lamont (1993). "Chapter 2. The birth of cargo cult". Cargo Cult: Strange Stories of Desire from Melanesia and Beyond. University of Hawai'i Press. pp. 13–36. doi:10.2307/j.ctv9zcktq.8. ISBN 978-0-8248-1526-4. JSTOR j.ctv9zcktq.8. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
- ^ Lindstrom, Lamont (1993). "Chapter 1. What Happened to Cargo Cults?". Cargo Cult: Strange Stories of Desire from Melanesia and Beyond. University of Hawai'i Press. pp. 1–12. doi:10.2307/j.ctv9zcktq.7. ISBN 978-0-8248-1526-4. JSTOR j.ctv9zcktq.7. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
Cargo cult is one of anthropology's most successful conceptual offspring. Like "culture," "worldview," or "ethnicity," its usage has spread beyond our discipline. Other communities nowadays find the term as alluring as anthropologists used to .....
- ^ Otto, Ton (2004), Jebens, Holger (ed.), "Chapter 12. Work, Wealth, and Knowledge: Enigmas of Cargoist Identifications", Cargo, Cult, and Culture Critique, University of Hawaii Press, p. 210, doi:10.1515/9780824840440-013, ISBN 978-0-8248-4044-0, retrieved 25 June 2024