“When I saw the elephants”: extraction of minerals and gendered precariousness in the Acehnese landscapes

Antropologia

关键词: indonesia;    gender;    environment;    natural resources;   

DOI  :  10.14672/ada2018138997-112

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

In the wake of the 2004 tsunami and the peace agreement in 2005, people of West Aceh, Indonesia, returned to normal life after decades of warfare and violence. Female-centred agriculture resumed and the all-male clientelistic networks intensified their rash exploitation of new and established assets, such as gold and logs. In this paper, I draw on a long-term ethnography in the men’s world of artisanal gold mining and I explore matrifocal tendencies, gender relations and their entanglements with the utilization of local natural riches. In particular, I unpack a set of contradictory dynamics that characterize a cohort of young rural Acehnese men. Specifically, I analyse their Islamic piety, their disposition towards hetero-normative conjugality, their consumption-oriented behaviour and their urges to disengage. My objective is to demonstrate that stop-and-go ventures in the racialized and gendered hubs of natural wealth allow these men to fulfil their manifold needs better than agriculture. I also want to highlight that the access to “men’s natural resources” comes at a high cost emotionally, mentally, physically and professionally, which is much higher for those who are poorly connected to the political elites.

【 授权许可】

Unknown