Freedom in Entangled Worlds: West Papua and the Architecture of Global PowerEben Kirksey first went to West Papua, the Indonesian-controlled half of New Guinea, as an exchange student in 1998. His later study of West Papua's resistance to the Indonesian occupiers and the forces of globalization morphed as he discovered that collaboration, rather than resistance, was the primary strategy of this dynamic social movement. Accompanying indigenous activists to Washington, London, and the offices of the oil giant BP, Kirksey saw the revolutionaries' knack for getting inside institutions of power and building coalitions with unlikely allies, including many Indonesians. He discovered that the West Papuans' pragmatic activism was based on visions of dramatic transformations on coming horizons, of a future in which they would give away their natural resources in grand humanitarian gestures, rather than watch their homeland be drained of timber, gold, copper, and natural gas. During a lengthy, brutal occupation, West Papuans have harbored a messianic spirit and channeled it in surprising directions. Kirksey studied West Papua's movement for freedom while a broad-based popular uprising gained traction from 1998 until 2008. Blending ethnographic research with indigenous parables, historical accounts, and narratives of his own experiences, he argues that seeking freedom in entangled worlds requires negotiating complex interdependencies. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Breakout 19982000 | 21 |
Plateau 20002002 | 81 |
Horizons 20022028 | 173 |
Acknowledgments | 221 |
Notes | 225 |
| 283 | |
| 301 | |
Other editions - View all
Freedom in Entangled Worlds: West Papua and the Architecture of Global Power Eben Kirksey No preview available - 2012 |
Common terms and phrases
Aceh Agus Anggaibak Anonymous anthropologist Antonius Wamang asked attack Awom’s banyan began Benny Giay Berkas Perkara Biak Brimob collaborations colonial cultural Derrida Dutch East Timor Eben Kirksey Elsham Eluay Eluay’s emerged Enarotali entangled worlds Ester Faleomavaega figures foreign freedom dreams freedom fighters Freeport global Golkar Guinea Gus Dur Haraway highlands historical hope human rights imagination independence indigenous Indo Indonesian military Indonesian security forces Indonesian soldiers interview in Indonesian investigation Itchy Old Jakarta Jayapura John Rumbiak killed Kopassus Kostrad Manokwari Mawen Mee tribe meeting Megawati merdeka messianic Morning Star flag multiple murder nesian officers operations Papua Photograph by Eben Pigome political president promises recorded interview reportedly reports revolutionary rhizome rumors Rutherford Sentani social story struggle Suharto tape-recorded interview Tembagapura Timika tion told troops Tsing Tsugumol violence Wamang Waropen Wasior West Papuan West Papuan activists writes Yali Yogi