Postcolonialism and Neo-Pentecostalism: A case from Papua New Guinea

This article offers an anthropological analysis of a Papua
New Guinean nationalist ideology deeply inspired by neo-
Pentecostalism. The basis for this study comes from
ethnographic material collected during my fieldwork in the
Parliament of Papua New Guinea (PNG), where I worked
with a group of politicians and bureaucrats who have
become known for their iconoclastic and evangelical
actions, including their (in)famous destruction of traditional
carvings. By mapping their narratives of nation building,
I examine how two dimensions of Evangelical Christianity,
namely, its focus on the Biblical scriptures and its demonology,
were central to the formulation of this group's nationalist
and postcolonial ideology. This work provides a
contribution towards broader discussions on the effect
of evangelical movements on nationalism around the
contemporary world and, in particular, in the Global South.