AGE AND GENDER STRATIFICATION IN THE HIGHLANDS OF PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA - IMPLICATIONS FOR PARTICIPATION IN ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT

There is general consensus among scholars interested in economic development that the ways in which both innovating organizations and target groups define the appropriate roles for men and women (gender roles) have an important impact on the nature of the development process. Concepts of age and age stratification, however, also have a profound influence on the outcome of this process. This paper examines how the choices and opportunities of women in a contemporary Highland community in Papua New Guinea are shaped by pre-contact systems of both age and gender stratification. Of particular interest are the differing ways in which change and development can affect different age groups in a society characterized by age stratification. First, a brief summary of the salient features of the pre-contact culture of this community is presented. Second, an overview of the nature and style of economic development introduced into the community is given. Third, the manner in which the economic participation of women is constrained by contemporary notions of age and gender stratification is examined. Finally this case study is used to illustrate the complex task of integrating Third World women into the development process.