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Topic: Contestation of Empowerment Discourses in dealing with
Problems Faced
by Indigenous Peoples in Kalimantan
Introduction
The existence of indigenous peoples is rmly ac!nowledged by the
"#$%
Constitution of the &epublic of Indonesia' (owe)er* this
ac!nowledgment is
)ariously de ned by actors engaged in what so+called
,empowerment- programs
and acti)ities concerning the peoples' .ome say that e/orts
should be made to
ful ll the peoples0 rights by building their capacities so that
could 1oin the
de)elopment process and li)e as common people' .ome others say
that they
should be gi)en their rights to determine their own ways of life
and all they need
is protection of their rights instead of ad1usting them to the
dominant group of
society' In spite of these contradictory )iews* both claim that
they ha)e
commitment in promoting rights of indigenous peoples'
The issue abo)e is part of other issues surrounding the
existence of indigenous
peoples in Kalimantan' There are )arious actors in)ol)ed in
these issues* most
in2uential of them are go)ernment* 345s and corporations' It is
interesting to
disentangle the complexity of these issues and how the role of
the actors in
creating or shaping them' 6nd the word that might represent the
issues is7discourses0' The use of this word here refers to (ilhorst
89 ;< when discussing
about 345s in which she de nes it as ,coherent sets of
references that frame
the way we understand and act upon the world around us' They are
an ensemble
of ideas* concepts and categories through which meaning is gi)en
to
phenomena- 8p' =oth in its conceptual formulation and
implementation* the concept of
empowerment becomes )ery li?uid and open to be gi)en with
)arious meanings'
6 program under the name of empowerment deli)ered by The
@inistry of .ocial
6/airs for indigenous peoples in Kalimantan* for instance* is
including relocating
the communities who used to be li)ing in long communal houses or
li)ing
separately to each other in forest to be li)ing in family+siAed
houses prepared in
certain locations' In that process* the program will be stated
as being successful
when the communities ha)e lea)ed the ways they used to li)e as
indigenous
peoples and become as other common )illages'
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This instance shows that the concept of empowerment is directed
to a )ision that
people being empowered would be released from their
powerlessness and
become more powerful by li)ing as part of dominant group of
society' It is can be
found here the appearance of what .idman call* by referring to
@ichel Foucault*
as ,disciplinary society- in which ,order is maintained through
technologies of
control such as spatial separation* time management* con nement*
sur)eillance*
and a system of examinations that classify and ran! indi)iduals
for the purpose
of normaliAing social beha)ior- 8 "##=* p' 9$% ased on this
issue* in this in?uiry I want to explore how the contestation
of
discourses a/ects empowerment concept and acti)ities toward
indigenous
peoples in Kalimantan' To do so* there are se)eral ?uestions
raised in this study'
First* who are the actors in)ol)ed in these discourses' .econd*
what are thediscourses surrounding the existence of indigenous
peoples in Kalimantan' Third*
how these discourses raise and shape what to be the problems
faced by the
peoples' Fourth* is there any possibility to expose genuine
local discourse of real
problems faced by the peoples that would lead to the production
of local based
!nowledge* which is not under the pressure of
,metropole+periphery relation-
8Connel* 9 B* p' B
