Paper short abstract:

The paper examines changes in the lives of migrants on the Hoskins land settlement scheme as they began a new life where indigenous authority, social structures, clan identity and kinship networks were weak, and ideologies of work, progress, individual autonomy and national development were paramount.

Paper long abstract:

New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPOL) began operating at Hoskins, West New Britain Province (WNB), Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 1967. The plantation and milling company was the nucleus in an ambitious nucleus estate-smallholder development in which state leasehold land was developed for estate plantations and a smallholder land settlement scheme with settlers recruited from other parts of PNG. On the 15 September, last year NBPOL and smallholders celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the Hoskins nucleus estate-smallholder settlement scheme. The celebrations ran for a week as company employees and local and migrant smallholders enthusiastically joined in the festive events.

Most migrants who settled the land settlement scheme or worked for the company in the initial development phase saw themselves as intimately involved with bringing 'progress' and 'development' to WNB and contributing to nation building more broadly. Thus, the anniversary of the company was a cause for much celebration. Settlers not only viewed themselves as crucial players in the progress and development of the province and nation, but they also initially saw the scheme as being imbued with transformative powers and had high expectations of what the scheme would deliver them in terms of modernising lifestyles and advancing their standards of living. The paper examines migrants' attraction to the Hoskins nucleus estate development and their desire for a transformation of their social and economic lives as they began a new life where indigenous authority, social structures, clan identity and kinship networks were weak, and ideologies of work, progress, individual autonomy and national development were paramount.