What makes these stories arresting? They are ripping yarns, in which volunteers work unarmed on a tropical island where civil war has recently been suspended. They offer a contrast to Australia's glamorous Timor intervention. They present a different way of projecting Australian interest. They turn colonial stereotypes upside down. Bougainvilleans invited these volunteers and constantly determined the conditions in which they worked. They were required not to act but to bear witness. Month after month they held the ring and ...
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What makes these stories arresting? They are ripping yarns, in which volunteers work unarmed on a tropical island where civil war has recently been suspended. They offer a contrast to Australia's glamorous Timor intervention. They present a different way of projecting Australian interest. They turn colonial stereotypes upside down. Bougainvilleans invited these volunteers and constantly determined the conditions in which they worked. They were required not to act but to bear witness. Month after month they held the ring and provided facilities and services while peace negotiations dragged on to their conclusion in 2001. What is unique is not just the monitors' achievements, but the impact on them of working in a multinational force of men and women, soldiers and civilians. In many ways Bougainvillean men, women, and children shaped the lives of the monitors. This is a book with a happy ending.
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Add this copy of Without a Gun: Australians' Experiences Monitoring to cart. $100.00, very good condition, Sold by Masalai Press rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Oakland, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2002 by Pandanus Press.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. 219 pp., illustrations, bibliography, maps. What makes these stories arresting? They are ripping yarns, in which volunteers work unarmed on a tropical island where civil war has recently been suspended. They offer a contrast to Australia's glamorous Timor intervention. They present a different way of projecting Australian interest. They turn colonial stereotypes upside down. Bougainvilleans invited these volunteers and constantly determined the conditions in which they worked. They were required not to act but to bear witness. Month after month they held the ring and provided facilities and services while peace negotiations dragged on to their conclusion in 2001. What is unique is not just the monitors' achievements, but the impact on them of working in a multinational force of men and women, soldiers and civilians.
