[Asia_news] [Indonesia.study.group] Reminder: ISG 24 October 2012

[Indonesia Project]

INDONESIA STUDY GROUP

 

 

Wednesday,  24 October, 12.30 - 2.00 pm

Seminar Room B (Arndt Room), Coombs Building, Fellows Road, ANU

 

Eben Kirksey (UNSW, Sydney)

 


>From Rhizome to Banyan


 

The dominant political party of Suharto's Indonesia, Golkar, used the
banyan-a dominant forest tree with a chaotic network of roots and
branches-as its symbol. As West Papua's independence movement transitioned
from being underground, to emerging in broad daylight, elite leaders
appropriated the banyan as a political form. The banyan serves as a model of
subversion, replication, and domination. This mode of subversive engagement
is an alternative to another botanical figure, the rhizome, an underground
stem. Rhizomes ceaselessly establish connections among organizations of
power, social struggles, and other heterogeneous forms. This paper will
explore the unexpected collaborations of two Papuan activists with different
tactics of struggle. Theys Eluay, who had been a Golkar parliamentarian, a
trusted member of the banyan party for years, suddenly emerged in the year
1998 as the leader of West Papua's movement for merdeka (freedom). As Theys
Eluay made public statements challenging the status quo, he secretly
strengthened his ties to Indonesia's old guard--including former President
Suharto. Antonius Wamang, a guerrilla fighter who was convicted for killing
two American teachers, and one Indonesian, was drawn into unexpected
collaborations with Indonesian military agents. Wamang's struggle embodied a
principle of the rhizome, which "can be connected to anything other, and
must be."

 

 

Subject to approval from the speakers, ISG presentations (audio and visuals)
are generally available soon after the event for download
<http://crawford.anu.edu.au/acde/ip/seminars/> .

 

The committee welcomes suggestions for seminar speakers and topics. Please
contact any of us: Sri Wahyuningroem x 52411;  Ronit Ricci x 53180; Ed
Aspinall x 55915; Greg Fealy x 52302, John McCarthy x 50494; Ross Tapsell x
53677; Marcus Mietzner x 57241; Umbu Reku Raya x 55537; Daniel Suryadarma x
50304; Robert Sparrow x 53885.

 

If you would like to be added to the ISG mailing list, please send your
contact details, including your email address, to
<mailto:indonesia.project at anu.edu.au> indonesia.project at anu.edu.au.

 

 

ENQUIRIES:
Nurkemala Muliani
Indonesia Project
x 55954
nurkemala.muliani at anu.edu.au

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.anu.edu.au/pipermail/asia_news/attachments/20121023/dc8ad0c1/attachment.html 
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
Indonesia.study.group mailing list
Indonesia.study.group at mailman.anu.edu.au
http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/indonesia.study.group