Re-claiming Shared Identity and Restoring Hope for the Survival of the Remaining Commons in Papua, Indonesia (original) (raw)
Related papers
2011
This chapter is based on my study on West Papua of 2005, which has been published in English under the title: An Act of Free Choice. Decolonization and the Right to Self-Determination in West Papua (Oneworld Oxford 2009; see www.oneworld-publications.com). An Indonesian translation appeared under the title Tindakan Pilihan Bebas. Orang Papua dan
Reimagining Life - Papua Decolonisation Part 1
The first part of a draft work on the need to go beyond the modern nation-state as a solution to the problems of Indonesian colonisation in West Papua. It takes up the work of Jan Pouwer and other scholars and activists.
Reimagining life - Papua Decolonisation Part 2
Melanesian peoples have a very long history of both doing their own thing and doing it in a culturally resilient manner. While modern master narratives presume outcomes which are in keeping with their own conscious or unconscious specifications, Melanesian life, in various places, provides something of a counter to those presumptions Papuan people continue to assert their right to self-determination. T
Reimagining life - Papua Decolonisation Part 3
DUALITY, AN UNCONSCIOUS-IN-CULTURE, and the end of Society. "The myths show that when the relative superiority of one value over another gives way to and absolute superiority of one value, this means the end of society" (Pouwer 1992:96 in relation to Platenkamp 1988) The unconscious-in-culture of the modern nation-state, by contrast to many First Peoples Ways, consists of clusters of top-down metaphors. These metaphors systematically disguise the workings of social arrangements which concentrate power in the hands of a few the name of 'centralisation'. Things 'go up' to and 'come down from' the imaginary centres. Far too much power is concentrated in the hands of a few with corresponding systems of architecture. Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers of State, a single god, a priestly caste, 'the capital'; elaborate court buildings and so on.
Countering Imperialism: two intersecting anthropologies of Papuan histories
AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 2022
Reflecting on the violence in Papua and how this is shaping Papuan lifeworlds and triggers attempts to disengage from Indonesian and Dutch imperialism, we, I Ngurah Suryawan and Jaap Timmer, position ourselves as nationals from colonising states-one current, Indonesia and one historic, Netherlands-in relation to our anthropological research in Papua. We came to the long-drawn-out conflict and growing affirmations of cultural autonomy in Papua from different backgrounds, and this has affected the way in which we try to contribute to remedy decades of violence. Yet, as we will show, we converge in the way we recognise that a key role we can play as anthropologists is to contribute to a better understanding of Papuan cultures and more appreciation of their creative expressions and to enable, for Papuans, a decolonial epistemology.
"The Activation of the Recent Past: National Identity Formation and Conflict in West Papua"
Although the role of the national past has attracted considerable analysis in the literature of nationalism, there are certain aspects of this issue that have been understudied. For example, there has been limited interest in systematically examining how non-state nationalisms, which lack the necessary institutions for the consolidation of national identities, conceive and project their past. Moreover, there is an unbalanced treatment in favor of the employment of a distant or mythical past, rather than of the impact of the recent past in the construction and reproduction of national identities. I argue that West Papuan nationalism provides with an opportunity to tackle with these two overlooked theoretical issues. West Papuans can be regarded as a "new" nation, since the process of national identity formation started in the post-war period and especially after 1961. West Papuan nationalism does not seek to construct an ahistorical national continuity, but primarily focuses on the recent past (and the collective present), namely on developments that are connected with the decolonization of the region and its integration in the Indonesian state The core argument is that the Papuan past does not build on the activation and dissemination of myths of common descent, but is rather understood and represented through collective popular memories, which refer to these developments. The paper begins by delineating some distinctive traits of the West Papuan national identity and outlining the core events of the Papuan recent past, which will hopefully explain the absence of nationalist references to a Papuan mythical past. The second section argues that the concept of "popular memory", rather than "myths of descent", is more suitable for the analysis of the Papuan case. The third section will try to indicate how specifically the recent past and popular memory are activated in West Papua.
The traditional net bags of West Papua (noken) were recently declared intangible cultural heritage by the UNESCO, which, all of a sudden, propelled them on to a global stage. Given these new developments and given West Papua’s problematic relationship to the Indonesian nation-state, the net bags give expression not only to local identity but also to global cultural heritage politics, a global indigenous peoples’ movement and the integration into and resistance against the nation-state. Discussing the contradictory meanings of the net bags, this paper points at the problematic nature of the right to culture and diverging cultural policies on a local, national and international level. Culture here not only implies recognition and integration, but also folklorisation, exclusion, competition and the suppression of cultural citizenship of groups that feel marginalised by the national policies. Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs, vol. 48, no. 1 (2014), pp. 35–66
Get up, stand up: West Papua stands up for its rights
2010
This report addresses the momentous events that have transpired in West Papua and its diaspora in recent months. A response to the recent International Crisis Group (ICG) report entitled Radicalisation and Dialogue in Papua1 is also necessary as it is being used as justification by the Indonesian government in two serious initiatives currently underway: the prosecution of activist leader Victor Yeimo on charges of 'rebellion' and the unfolding TNI military operations in the highlands of West Papua. One initiative may unjustly deprive a man of his liberty; the other will almost certainly cost the lives and livelihoods of innocent Papuan civilians. The ICG report is biased, poorly conceived and researched. Its conclusions are therefore questionable even while the consequences of those conclusions are potentially so dire. A rebuttal is essential.
Indonesian repression and betrayal in West Papua [Review]
Pacific Journalism Review, 2018
Papua Blood: A Photographer’s Eyewitness Account of West Papua Over 30 Years, by Peter Bang. Copenhagen, Denmark: Remote Frontlines, 2018. 248 pages. ISBN 978-87-430-0101-0 See No Evil: New Zealand’s Betrayal of the People of West Papua, by Maire Leadbeater. Dunedin, NZ: Otago University Press, 2018. 310 pages. ISBN 978-1-98-853121-2 TWO damning and contrasting books about Indonesian colonialism in the Pacific, both by activist participants in Europe and New Zealand, have recently been published. Overall, they are excellent exposés of the harsh repression of the Melanesian people of West Papua and a world that has largely turned a blind eye to to human rights violations.