Cargo cult 87701 223910757 2008-07-06T13:42:48Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{otheruses}} [[Image:JohnFrumCrossTanna1967.jpg|thumb|250px|Ceremonial cross of [[John Frum]] cargo cult, Tanna island, New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), 1967]] A '''cargo cult''' is any of a group of [[religious movement]]s appearing in tribal societies in the wake of interaction with technologically-advanced, non-native [[culture]]s—which focus upon obtaining the material wealth of the advanced culture through [[magical thinking]] as well as religious [[rituals]] and practices—while believing that the materials were intended for them by their [[deity|deities]] and ancestors. Although not the only locations, [[New Guinea]] and other [[Micronesia]]n and [[Melanesia]]n countries in the southwest [[Pacific Ocean]] are locations where these religious movements were documented after initial contacts following [[exploration]], [[Colonialism|colonization]], [[missionary]] efforts, and international [[war]]fare. The English, French, Russian, German, Australian, Japanese, and American material goods seen in contacts with these cultures have served to generate this religious behavior. [[Vanuatu]], in what was then [[New Hebrides]], is a prime example because it is well documented. Members, leaders, and [[prophet]]s of Cargo [[Cult (religious practice)|cults]] maintain that the manufactured goods (''"cargo"'') of the non-native culture have been created by spiritual means, such as through their deities and ancestors, and are intended for the local [[indigenous people]], but that, unfairly, the foreigners have gained control of these objects through attraction of these material goods to themselves by malice or mistake{{Fact|date=June 2008}}. Cargo cults thus focus on efforts to overcome what they perceive as the undue influence of the others attracting the goods, by conducting rituals imitating behavior they have observed among the holders of the desired wealth, and presuming that their deities and ancestors will, at last, recognize their own people and send the cargo to them instead. Thus a characteristic feature of cargo cults is the belief that spiritual agents will at some future time give much valuable cargo and desirable manufactured products to the cult members{{Fact|date=June 2008}}. In other instances such as on the island of [[Tanna (island)|Tanna]] in [[Vanuatu]], cult members worship certain Americans, who brought the desired cargo to their island during World War II as part of the supplies used in the war effort, as the spiritual entity who will provide the cargo to them in the future.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6370991.stm Cargo cult lives on in South Pacific] Phil Mercer, BBC News, 17 February 2007.</ref> == Overview == An isolated society's [[First contact (anthropology)|first contact]] with the outside world can be a shock — often the natives first will assume that the newcomers are spiritual beings of some kind who possess divine powers. Attempts may be made to fit the contact into the existing beliefs of the [[culture]]. Sharing of wealth by leaders often is part of the beliefs and social traditions in the Micronesian native cultures. With time, however, it will inevitably become apparent that the outsiders are mortal, that their power comes from their equipment (or cargo), and that they are not sharing the materials with the natives. Reliance upon cultural traditions may suggest that proper rituals are not being followed, especially in a culture that has been altered by colonists and missionaries, but that devising new rituals may result in the fulfillment of their expectations. Cargo cults tend to appear among people who covet this desired equipment, but are unable to obtain it easily through trade or established traditions. Given their relative isolation, the cult participants generally have little knowledge of modern [[manufacturing]] and are liable to be skeptical about Western explanations. Instead, symbols some associate with [[Christianity]] and modern [[Western society]] often tend to be incorporated into their rituals as magical artifacts. Across cultural differences and large geographic areas, there have been instances of the movements organizing independently. Famous examples of cargo cult activity include the setting up of mock [[airstrip]]s, [[airport]]s, [[office]]s, dining rooms, as well as the [[fetishization]] and attempted construction of western goods, such as [[radio]]s made of coconuts and straw. Believers may stage "drills" and "marches" with sticks for [[rifle]]s and use military-style [[insignia]] and "USA" painted on their bodies to make them look like soldiers, thereby treating the activities of western military personnel as rituals to be performed for the purpose of attracting the cargo. The cult members built these items and 'facilities' in the belief that the structures would attract cargo intended to be sent to them. Today, many [[historian]]s and [[anthropologist]]s argue that popular use of the term "cargo cult" is inaccurate and describes a variety of phenomena{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. However, the idea has captured the imagination of many people in [[developed nation]]s, and the term is used today without exactitude. Because of this misunderstanding, and possibly many other reasons, the cults have been labelled by some as [[Millenarianism|millenarian]], although they do not resemble the conventional definition of a spiritual reward due to arrive, but in the sense that they hold that receipt of all these material goods and wealth is imminent or will come about if they perform certain religious rituals. == History == The history of cargo cults seems to have begun before historical records in these countries of [[Melanesia]] and advances from materials that arrive with foreigners by canoe to sailing vessels, freighters, and airplanes. An indigenous tradition of exchange of goods and objects of wealth was tied to a belief that the ancestors and deities had an influence over these things and prophesies that they would return at some time laden with these objects of wealth for the members of the tribes. Discussions of cargo cults usually begin with a series of movements that occurred in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The earliest recorded cargo cult was the [[Tuka Movement]] that began in [[Fiji]] in 1885. Cargo cults occurred periodically in many parts of the island of New Guinea, including the [[Taro Cult]] in Northern [[Papua New Guinea]], and the [[Vailala Madness]] that arose in 1919 and was documented by [[Francis Edgar Williams| F. E. Williams]], one of the first anthropologists to conduct fieldwork in Papua New Guinea. Less dramatic cargo cults have appeared in [[western New Guinea]] as well, including the [[Asmat Regency|Asmat]] and [[Dani]] areas. The most widely known period of cargo cult activity, however, was in the years during and after World War II. First the Japanese arrived with a great deal of unknown equipment and later [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]] also used the islands in the same way. The vast amounts of [[Matériel|war matériel]] that were [[airdrop]]ped onto these islands during the [[Pacific War|Pacific campaign]] against the [[Empire of Japan]] necessarily meant drastic changes to the lifestyle of the islanders, many of whom had never seen Westerners or Japanese before. Manufactured [[clothing]], [[medicine]], [[canned food]], [[tent]]s, [[weapon]]s, and other useful goods arrived in vast quantities to equip soldiers. Some of it was shared with the islanders who were their guides and hosts. With the end of the war the airbases were abandoned, and "cargo" was no longer being dropped. In attempts to get cargo to fall by parachute or land in planes or ships again, islanders imitated the same practices they had seen the [[soldier]]s, [[sailor]]s, and airmen use. They carved [[headphone]]s from wood and wore them while sitting in fabricated control towers. They waved the landing signals while standing on the [[runway]]s. They lit signal fires and torches to light up runways and lighthouses. The cult members thought that the foreigners had some special connection to the deities and ancestors of the natives, who were the only beings powerful enough to produce such riches. In a form of [[sympathetic magic]], many built life-size replicas of airplanes out of straw and created new military-style landing strips, hoping to attract more airplanes. Ultimately, although these practices did not bring about the return of the airplanes that brought such marvelous cargo during the war, they did have the effect of eradicating most of the religious practices that had existed prior to the war. Over the last seventy-five years most cargo cults have disappeared. Yet, the [[John Frum]] cult is still active on the island of [[Tanna (island)|Tanna]], [[Vanuatu]]. ==Other use of the term== From time to time, the term "cargo cult" is invoked as an English language [[idiom]], to mean any group of people who imitate the superficial exterior of a process or system without having any understanding of the underlying substance. The error of [[logic]] made by the islanders consisted of mistaking a [[necessary condition]] (i.e. building airstrips, control towers etc.) for cargo to come flying in, for a [[sufficient condition]] for cargo to come flying in, thereby reversing the causation. On a lower level, they repeated the same error by e.g. mistaking the [[necessary condition]] (i.e. build something that looks like a control tower) for building a control tower, for a [[sufficient condition]] for building a control tower. The inception of cargo cults often is defined as being based on a flawed model of causation, being the confusion between the [[logical]] concepts of [[necessary condition]] and [[sufficient condition]] when aiming to obtain a certain result. Based on this definition, the term "cargo cult" also is used in business and science to refer to a particular type of [[fallacy]] whereby ill-considered effort and ceremony take place but go unrewarded due to flawed models of causation as described above. For example, Maoism has been referred to as "cargo cult Marxism"{{Fact|date=December 2007}} and New Zealand's optimistic adoption of liberal economic policies in the 1980s as "cargo cult capitalism".{{Fact|date=December 2007}} The term as an [[adjective]], is perhaps best known outside of [[anthropology]] because of a speech by physicist [[Richard Feynman]] at a [[Caltech]] commencement, wherein he referred to "[[cargo cult science]]", and which became a chapter in the book ''[[Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!]]''. In the speech, Feynman pointed out that cargo cultists create all the appearance of an airport right down to headsets with bamboo "antennas", yet the airplanes don't come. Feynman argued that some researchers often produce studies with all the trappings of real science, but which are nonetheless [[pseudoscience]] and unworthy of either respect or support. ==Quasi-analogies in Western culture== Without fulfilling the definition of the term, the cargo cult has been misapplied as an analogy to describe certain phenomena. In the area of [[business]], after any substantial commercial success — whether it is a new model of [[car]], a [[vacuum cleaner]], a [[toy]], or a [[motion picture]] — there typically arise imitators who produce superficial copies of the original, but with none of the substance of the original. Some [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Amazonian Indians]] have carved wood replicas of [[compact cassette|cassette tape recorders]] (''gabarora'' from Portuguese ''gravador'' or Spanish ''grabadora'') that they use to communicate with spirits.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Modern [[UFO religion]]s have been compared to the Cargo cults. This is because cults such as [[Heaven's Gate (religious group)|Heaven's Gate]] believe that by imitating the appearance and behavior of 'extraterrestrials', they will gain access to the landing of an alien spacecraft. The term also is used in the world of [[computer programming]] as "[[cargo cult programming]]" to describe a ritual inclusion of code which may serve no purpose in the program, but is believed to be an obstacle for some [[software bug]], or to be otherwise required for reasons unknown to the programmer<ref name = "CatB">[http://catb.org/jargon/html/C/cargo-cult-programming.html Cargo Cult Programming], the Jargon File.</ref>. The term "[[cargo cult software engineering]]" has been coined in the field of [[software engineering]] to describe a characteristic of unsuccessful software development organisations that slavishly imitate the working methods of more successful development organisations<ref name = "McConnell">[http://stevemcconnell.com/ieeesoftware/eic10.htm Steve MCCONNELL]</ref>. Any new [[management fad]] is a possible subject for cargo cult-like adoption by poor managers. ==Sources and further reading== * Inglis, Judy. ''Cargo Cults: The Problem of Explanation'', ''Oceania'' vol. xxvii no. 4, 1957. * Worsley, Peter. ''The trumpet shall sound: a study of "cargo" cults in Melanesia'', London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1957. * K, E. Read. ''A Cargo Situation in the Markham Valley, New Guinea''. ''Southwestern Journal of Anthropology'', vol. 14 no. 3, 1958. * Lawrence, Peter. ''Road belong cargo: a study of the Cargo Movement in the Southern Madang District, New Guinea''. Manchester University Press, 1964. * [[Marvin Harris|Harris, Marvin]]. ''Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture''. New York: Random House, 1974. * Trenkenschuh, F. 1974. ''Cargo cult in Asmat: Examples and prospects'', in: F. Trenkenschuh (ed.), ''An Asmat Sketchbook'', vol. 2, Hastings, NE: Crosier Missions. * Wagner, Roy. 1981. ''The invention of culture''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. * Lindstrom, Lamont. ''Cargo cult: strange stories of desire from Melanesia and beyond''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993. * Kaplan, Martha. ''Neither cargo nor cult: ritual politics and the colonial imagination in Fiji''. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995. * Jebens, Holger (ed.). ''Cargo, Cult'', and ''Culture Critique''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004. * A several pages are devoted to cargo cults in Richard Dawkin's book, ''The God Delusion'' * A chapter "Cargo Cult" is devoted in David Attenborough's travel book "Journeys to the past: Travels in New Guinea, Madagascar, and the northern territory of Australia", Penguin Books, 1983 (ISBN 0 14 00.64133) ==See also== *[[Prince Philip Movement]] * ''[[Dream Park]]'' — Cargo Cults were used as a backdrop to this science-fiction/murder mystery novel * ''[[Island of the Sequined Love Nun]]'' * [[Johnson cult]] * ''[[John Frum]]'' * ''[[Mondo Cane]]'' * ''[[The Gods Must Be Crazy]]'' * [[Magical thinking]] * ''[[Guns, Germs, and Steel]]'' — the author, Jared Diamond, poses as the initiating question ''"Why did you [Europeans] wind up with all the cargo?"'', as asked by a Papua New Guinean, Yali, who was the 'cargo cult'-associated prophet and political leader prominent in ''Road Belong Cargo'' * [[Culture war]]s * [[Culture shock]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6363843.stm Vanuatu cargo cult marks 50 years (BBC News)] * [http://enzo.gen.nz/jonfrum/index.htm Information on the Jon Frum Cargo Cult (still active)] * [http://www.actualanalysis.com/cargo.htm Contemporary Cargo Cults by John FitzGerald] * [http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/westoc/index.html Western Oceanian Religions] * [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/john.html 2006 Smithsonian Magazine article entitled: "In John They Trust."] * [http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/rvw/022/022smpl1.htm Cargo cults] includes a bibliography * [http://travel.ctomberg.com//SouthPacific2005/journal.php?day=22 Account of a Visit to a Jon Frum Village in 2005] * [http://www.afa.org/magazine/1991/0191cargo.asp Air Force Magazine], January 1991, Vol. 74, No. 1. Summary from the guys who fly those Cargoes. * [http://cabinetmagazine.org/issues/10/million_point.php Cabinet Magazine article] * [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmlYe2KS0-Y Cargo Cult YouTube Video] {{cults}} [[Category:Cargo cults| ]] [[cs:Cargo kult]] [[de:Cargo-Kult]] [[es:Cultos cargo]] [[fr:Culte du cargo]] [[io:Kult-kargajo]] [[it:Culto del cargo]] [[lt:Krovinių kultas]] [[nl:Cargocult]] [[ja:カーゴ・カルト]] [[no:Cargo]] [[pl:Kult cargo]] [[pt:Culto à carga]] [[ru:Культ карго]] [[simple:Cargo cult]] [[fi:Lastikultti]] [[sv:Cargokult]] [[zh-yue:貨物崇拜]] [[zh:貨物崇拜]]