Click the star to add/remove an item to/from your individual schedule.
You need to be logged in to avail of this functionality.

Accepted Paper:

The indigenous activist-anthropologist's dilemma  
Welyne Jeffrey Jehom (University of Malaya)

Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses several anthropological conundrums related to the role of the researcher in community development, the responsibilities of the scholar to the discipline, and the tension between activism and academic vocation.

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses several anthropological conundrums related to the role of the researcher in community development, the responsibilities of the scholar to the discipline, and the tension between activism and academic vocation. I shall explore these issues in the context of my research and involvement in the production of pua kumbu, a traditional Iban textile. Central to the production of the pua kumbu is not just the knowledge of the weaving techniques, the natural dyes, designs and motifs but also the animistic beliefs and rituals, folklore, stories, and taboos associated with this Iban textile. Since 2013, I have studied indigenous and traditional knowledge as a development tool, focusing on the pua kumbu as the "artefact" to naturally facilitate the Iban community into becoming the "social lab" and the "subject matter". I performed a social experiment by engaging a community of weavers, and creating a platform for the women to weave for the commercial market with the emphasis on the conservation of the intangible aspect of the pua kumbu. Several anthropologists have branded my role as "improper", arguing that it compromises my research. How is partnering with the community to uplift their livelihood by progressing their creations and conserving the intangible aspect of the pua kumbu detrimental to my research, when modern perceptions of traditional life is associated with poverty, and rural living and economic practices are considered backward?

Panel P03
Activist scholarship with Indigenous peoples in the global south
  Session 1 Tuesday 3 December, 2019, -