A Technographic Anthropology of Mobile Phone Adoption in the Lau Lagoon, Malaita, Solomon Islands Geoffrey Glen Allan Hobbis A Thesis In the Department of Sociology and Anthropology Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Social and Cultural Analysis) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada And in a Cotutelle Agreement For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Social Anthropology and Ethnology) at École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales Paris, France March 2017 © Geoffrey G.A. Hobbis, 2017 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Geoffrey Hobbis Entitled: A Technographic Anthropology of Mobile Phone Adoption in the Lau Lagoon, Malaita, Solomon Islands and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy (Social and Cultural Analysis) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: Chair Dr. L. Roth External Examiner Dr. N. Nova External Examiner Dr. R. Foster Examiner Dr. J. Lessard Examiner Dr. E. Wittersheim Examiner Dr. F. Joulian Examiner Dr. B. Simon Thesis Co-Supervisor Dr. C. Jourdan Thesis Co-Supervisor Dr. P. Lemonnier Approved by Dr. B. Best Graduate Program Director March 20, 2017 Dr. A. Roy, Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science Abstract This thesis explores the experiences of villagers in the rural Lau Lagoon, Malaita Province, Solomon Islands, as they adopt mobile phones. I discuss how the adoption of mobile phone technology affects and is affected by existing information-communication technologies; how and to what extent Lau adoption of mobile phones is circumscribed by the marginal place of the Lau in globalized capitalist economies; and I elaborate on the main controversies that surround the adoption and use of mobile phones, local conceptualizations of how digital technologies work, their morality, what they are meant to be used for and for what they are not to be used. Specifically, I focus on the two primary functions of mobile phones in Gwou’ulu: the mobile phone as (1) telephone and (2) as movie-watching device. Theoretically, I rework approaches to technography for an investigation of digital technology and media consumption with a focus on mobile phones—in 2014 of the approximate 250 adults living in Gwou’ulu, 100 owned a personal mobile phone and many more shared a mobile phone. Technography, or ethnographies of technology, offers a strategic multi- disciplinary combination that examines the historical, economic, political, religious, environmental and material conditions that constitute the realm of possibilities that constrain but also facilitate particular sets of choices made by individuals in response to the adoption of new technologies such as mobile phones. My methods for data collection are a combination of participant observation and open ended interviews on individual mobile phone usage. My findings show village life in a transition period of technological and social digitization. They highlight how, in the Lau Lagoon, mobile phones shift information- communication technologies (ICTs) from the public to the private realm and how an individualized consumption of mobile phones fuels uncertainties as to if and how mobile phones, as telephone or as movie-watching devices, transform social relationships among village residents as well as relationships between villagers and their urban relatives. I argue that mobile phones and their diverse functions—from telephony to movie player to calculator—are best described as super-compositional objects because they encompass and agitate so many of the social relationships and cultural values that are otherwise the defining features of a particular group of peoples in a particular place. iii Keywords: Technography, Digital Anthropology, Digital Technology, Mobile Phones, Lau, Malaita, Solomon Islands iv Résumé Une anthropologie technographique sur l’adoption de téléphones portables dans le lagune Lau, Malaita, îles Salomon Cette thèse examine la façon dont les villageois de la lagune de Lau rurale, dans la province de Malaita, aux îles Salomon, font l'expérience de l'usage des téléphones portables. J'examine l'impact réciproque exercé par la technologie de téléphonie mobile récemment adoptée vis-à-vis des technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC) déjà en vigueur localement. Je m'interroge également sur l'incidence que la place marginale de Lau dans l'économie capitaliste peut avoir sur l'adoption et l'usage des téléphones portables. En outre, j'analyse les principales controverses locales autour de l'adoption et de l'utilisation des téléphones portables, la conceptualisation par les indigènes du fonctionnement des technologies numériques, la moralité associée aux téléphones portables ; j'explore enfin ce pour quoi ils sont et/ou ne sont pas destinés à être utilisés. Je me concentre ainsi sur les deux fonctions principales des téléphones portables à Gwou'ulu : d'un côté, on les emploie comme des téléphones, et de l'autre comme des dispositifs pour visionner des films. En 2014, sur environ 250 adultes habitant à Gwou'ulu, 100 possédaient un téléphone portable à titre individuel, et un plus grand nombre de villageois partageait l'usage de téléphones portables avec d'autres. Mon approche théorique approfondit l'analyse technographique permettant d'étudier les technologies numériques et la consommation des médias numériques. La technographie (c'est-à- dire l'ethnographie des technologies) est une approche pluridisciplinaire qui combine l'étude des conditions historiques, économiques, politiques, religieuses, environnementales et matérielles constituant les possibilités qui à la fois limitent et facilitent les choix des individus lors de l'adoption de nouvelles technologies, y compris les téléphones portables. Mon analyse se fonde sur l'observation participante et sur des entretiens semi-directifs menés avec les locaux et centrés sur la question de leur utilisation des téléphones portables. Les conclusions de ma recherche démontrent que la vie au village se situe dans une période de transition sociale et s'achemine vers une nouvelle forme de numérisation technologique. Ma thèse souligne comment, dans la lagune de Lau, les téléphones portables v transforment les TIC d'un secteur public à un secteur privé. Elle démontre aussi qu'un usage largement individualisé des téléphones portables nourrit les incertitudes locales relatives à la façon dont les téléphones portables, en tant que téléphones et que dispositifs permettant de visionner des films, contribuent à transformer les relations sociales à la fois au sein du village et entre les villageois et leurs proches installés en ville. J'avance l'idée que les téléphones portables et leurs diverses fonctions (de la télévision à la calculatrice de poche) sont mieux décrits comme des objets super-composés, parce que les téléphones portables embrassent et troublent un grand nombre de relations sociales et de valeurs culturelles qui sont les caractéristiques déterminantes d'un groupe donné dans un lieu donné. Mots clés : Technographie, anthropologie numérique, technologie numérique, téléphones portables, Lau, Malaita, îles Salomon vi Acknowledgements I am most indebted to the people of the Solomon Islands and especially the villagers of Gwou’ulu who welcomed me into their lives as not only a friend but as if I was family. We shared life together and all the joy, sorrow and even boredom that sharing life entails. They were patient teachers, tireless caregivers, great comedians and even better cooks. Tagio ‘asiana! Particular appreciation goes to Christine Jourdan and Pierre Lemonnier for co- supervising my doctoral research. Thank you Christine for inspiring me to undertake this thesis and thank you to both for helping me realize this goal. Thank you for the rigorous preparation, the support in the field, and the many comments on the many drafts of this document. Pierre Maranda, the “last Ancestral Priest of the Lau Lagoon,” was my friend and mentor. Without his aid, guidance and inspiration I would not have undertaken fieldwork where I did nor would I have been so successful. His death on July 5th 2015, mere months after Stephanie and I returned to Canada from the Lau Lagoon, was a loss to Canadian Anthropology and the Anthropology of the Solomon Islands. The best of what academic life should be can be found in a work space at Aix Marseilles University where the collegial members of CREDO (Centre de Recherche et de Documentation sur l'Océanie) incubate the future of oceanic scholarship. Likewise I am indebted to the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Simon Fraser University where I was able to spend six months as visiting graduate student, and to the Tuzin Archive for Melanesian Anthropology at the University of California, San Diego. And without financial support from the Bourse de la Foundation Martine Aublet through the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris I would not have been able to undertake this project and to that organization I am eternally grateful. David Akin has supported and guided me throughout my doctoral studies. Inviting me into his home, tutoring me on the history of Malaita, guiding my research program and emotionally supporting me through the travails of culture shock and, the much worse, reverse culture shock, I cannot thank him enough. Akin, as well as Naomi McPherson, provided inestimable help by reading the many drafts that led to the completion of this document. vii So many in the community of Pacific Islands scholars supported and inspired me. I particularly thank Alan Howard, Susanne Kuehling, Christopher Wright and Jaap Timmer for taking the time to talk with me about my research. I especially thank Ben Burt, Lissant Bolton and Michael Scott for inviting me to present some of my work at the Melanesian Research Seminar at the British Museum where my work was aided by provoking discussion. At a time of great stress when we struggled to find a field site in the Lau Lagoon Terry Brown swooped in and saved the entire project.