On language, (inter)disciplinarity, and collaboration with local scholars in Papua New Guinea environmental anthropology

How can anthropologists ensure the accuracy of the statements they make in their publications, especially in an era of ever increasing budgetary and bureaucratic pressures that limit the duration of fieldwork? What should the role of language abilities be in this context and to what degree is it necessary to learn the language of the place where one works as an anthropologist? How can anthropologists heed what are clearly important calls for the use of interdisciplinary methodologies—notably those blending ecological and ethnographic techniques—without impacting the reliability and quality of their work? What form should collaborations with local scholars take in this context? This review essay discusses these questions in relation to a recently published book: Jason Roberts' We Stay the Same: Subsistence, Logging, and Enduring Hopes for Development in Papua New Guinea. The essay contextualises Roberts' study as it pertains to the people of Lavongai Island; emphasises its three main contributions; shows some significant shortcomings of the book; and, finally, attempts to draw from these shortcomings some broader implications for the discipline of environmental anthropology in PNG. These highlight the key role of linguistic abilities for ethnography, the pitfalls of interdisciplinary methodologies when ethnography is involved, and the importance for foreign ethnographers to collaborate with national scholars.