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 dened by actors engaged in what so+called ,empowerment- programs
and acti)ities concerning the peoples' .ome say that e/orts should be made to
fulll 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 is
7discourses0' The use of this word here refers to (ilhorst 89::;< when discussing
about 345s in which she denes 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' =<' These discourses contest each other and create di)erse
concepts of empowerment as it is used to deal with the problems faced by
indigenous peoples'
>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'
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* connement* sur)eillance*
and a system of examinations that classify and ran! indi)iduals for the purpose
of normaliAing social beha)ior- 8"##=* p' 9$%<' This means the focus of the
empowerment program more to raise the ?uality of indi)iduals ran! in those
communities based on dominant social norms'
@eanwhile* other actors such 3ongo)ernmental 5rganiAations 8345s< tend
launch ad)ocacy programs through e/orts * among others* such as promoting
and campaigning the protection of indigenous peoples0 rights'
Furthermore* when the empowerment concept is stated* the ?uestion of whether
or not it suits the communities is raised' The issue is about the dominant western
concept that is imposed to the local indigenous communities' This operates as
Connell 89::B< says* ,The common logic is that a system of categories is created
by metropolitan intellectuals and read outwards to societies in the periphery*
where the categories are lled in empirically- 8p' CC<' It seems here that the
contestation of discourses does not only produce di)erse concept of
empowerment but also maintain the communities left behind without any )oice
to sound regarding their own life'
>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 the
discourses 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' CB<'
.eidman* .' 8"##=<' Contested knowledge: Social theory in the postmodern era:
>lac!well 5xford'