Cargo cult

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Cargo cult is a term used to denote various spiritual and political movements that arose among indigenous Melanesians following Western colonisation of the region in the late 19th century. Although the term "cargo cult" has been used by anthropologists to "label almost any sort of organised, village-based social movement with religious and political aspirations", features common to most cargo cult groups include the presence of charismatic prophet figures who foretold an imminent cataclysm and/or a coming of utopia for followers (a worldview known as millenarianism).^[1][2] Claims made by these prophets varied greatly from movement to movement, with some predicting the return of the dead (sometimes onboard a ship) or an abundance of food (often resulting in followers killing their livestock and abandoning cultivation).^[3] Some movements sought to appease "ancestral spirits or other powerful beings" through having their followers either revive ancestral traditions or adopt new rituals, such as ecstatic dancing or imitating the actions of colonists and military personnel.^[1] Although anthropological accounts suggested that some "cargo cults" foretold the coming of a bounty of Western goods or money as part of their prophecy^[1] this was not a universal feature of such movements, with some prophets tellling their followers to abandon Western goods.^[3] Anthropologists have described cargo cults as rooted in pre-existing aspects of Melanesian society,^[2] and/or a reaction to colonial oppression and inequality disrupting traditional village life.^[1]

The term "cargo cult" was introduced to the field of anthropology by an issue of Pacific Islands Monthly in 1945 around the end of World War II, though similar previous phenomena, first documented in the late 19th century, had been labelled with the term "Vailala Madness".^[1] Following the coining of the term, groups under this label were subject to a considerable number of anthropological publications focusing on the phenomenon through the 1960s. Since the 1970s after Melanesian countries gained political independence, few new groups matching the term have emerged, with some surviving "cargo cult" groups transitioning into indigenous churches and political movements.^[1]

The term has largely fell out of favour and is now seldom used among anthropologists, though its use as a metaphor is widespread outside of the discipline of anthropology in popular commentary and critique.^[4] Recent scholarship on "cargo cults" has challenged the suitability of the term for the movements associated with it, with recent anthropological sources arguing that the term is born of colonialism and prejudice and does not accurately convey the diversity of movements included or the nature of the movements to which it refers,^[1] though some anthropologists continue to see the term as having some descriptive value.^[2]