Provides insights both into how sorcery and witchcraft practices and beliefs are playing out in contemporary Melanesia, and also the types of interventions that are being trialled or debated to address the problems associated with them.

Introduction

This volume originates from two multidisciplinary conferences in 2013, one in Australia and one in Papua New Guinea, focusing on the negative social consequences of belief in sorcery and witchcraft in Melanesia.  The volume brings together a selection of papers from both conferences, and although the majority concern PNG, two chapters deal with Solomon Islands and two with Vanuatu. While there are a number of similarities in the experiences of these three countries, and indeed within them, there are also crucial differences, especially in regard to the extent of violence associated with the beliefs.