Resist the Allure of Hard-Right Cargo Cults

One of the most entertaining and tragic topics fresher anthropology undergraduates are likely to hear about is cargo cults. These movements, emerging in newly colonised lands, were created after locals saw wondrous goods and flying machines appearing from the sky for colonialists — and suddenly felt impoverished.

Cargo cult leaders were those locals who could convince followers of a special insight into the origins of the cargo and, importantly, how to get some of that precious and exotic stuff. This often involved copying the behaviour of the strange interlopers — for example marching up and down like colonialist troops to attract the generosity of the entities that dropped bounty from the heavens.

As well as getting some of the newly observed treasures, cargo cults were often focused on getting rid of the strange newcomers so that life could return to how it was — albeit with the cherished heavenly objects.

The bright anthropology student — or reader — will recognise that information about cults that sprung up in Melanesia and New Guinea from the nineteenth to mid-twentieth century has wider implications. Rather than being used to mock less technologically advanced societies, acting with desperation in the face of sudden change, they can help us examine aspects of movements that have sprung up in our ‘advanced’ nations.