The course will provide an introduction to key issues in law, order and conflict in Melanesia. Utilizing theoretical approaches drawn from the disciplines of anthropology, criminology and conflict studies, the course aims to equip students with tools to facilitate the analysis and understanding of social order and disorder. The application of these approaches will be demonstrated via the examination of case studies from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji. The course will explore contemporary debates including competing notions of social order; the role of state and non-state mechanisms in social control; internal and external responses to problems of law and order in the Asia Pacific region, and the dynamics of peace processes and post-conflict reconstruction throughout the region. In examining these topics, students will be exposed to a variety of perspectives from both academic and donor discourses.

***In 2011 this course involves intensive lecture sessions from 12-23 September inclusive from 9.00 am-1.00 pm. The sessions will be held in Seminar Room C of the HC Coombs building.***

Students who satifsy the requirements of this course will have the knowledge and skills to:

Understand the key issues in law, order and conflict in Melanesia

Explain the principles sources of law, order and conflict in Melanesia with reference to detailed case studies of contemporary conflict

Assess the respective roles of notions of social order; state and non-state actors in social control; internal and external responses to problems of law and order in the Asia Pacific region

Contribute to the design and implementation of the dynamics of peace processes and post-conflict reconstruction.

Class participation (10%); Annotated Bibliography (30%), Essay – maximum 5,000 words (60%).