1st Edition
Religion, Decolonization, and the Planetary Community Voices from the Indonesian Archipelago
In light of the two great phenomena that define the era of the Anthropocene, globalization and climate change, what does it mean to be a human subject or person in the world today? One response to these phenomena in the world has been some sort of return to nationalism (usually on the political right) or localism/bioregionalism (usually on the political left). A second response has been a continuation of the spread of neo-liberal capitalism without any apparent regard for the problems it is causing (on the political right) or with social and environmental protections tagged on (on the political left).
This volume provides what is needed: new and multiple stories and ideas about the many different ways of being human in the world, and what this might mean for the planetary future. The volume brings together 17 scholars (14 Indonesians and three Global North scholars) working from or deeply influenced by the Indonesian archipelago. Each contributor examines the interconnected themes of religion, decolonization, and the planetary from their distinctive disciplinary and geographic locations.
This volume is divided into four parts, each with four chapters that share a thematic focus. “Thinking about Decolonization and the Planetary” provides the philosophical and theoretical groundwork for decolonizing religion and planetary thinking from an Indonesian context. “Decolonizing Human–Nature Relations” presents case studies that demonstrate how some Indigenous Peoples and local communities live in subjective relationships with nature, opening up new possibilities for caring for and with the natural environment. “Decolonizing Religion, Nature, and Gender Studies” presents case studies of religious, gender, and ecological binaries that both disadvantage some groups and provide spaces for hybridity, resistance, and embodied practices of human–nature relations by women, LGBTQ+, and other minoritized communities. “Decolonizing Legal and Rights Frameworks for Indigenous Peoples” offers analyses of
the top-down frameworks of law and human rights that perpetuate (post)colonial marginalization and erasure of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and they propose ways of decolonizing these frameworks to better respect and integrate lived religion for a better planetary future.
This cutting-edge volume will be of interest to those within religion and critical theories, religion and Southeast Asia, religion and ecology, and religion and nature. In addition, it would be a valuable read for anyone who studies the broader humanities within the context of Indonesia or environmental humanities.
Introduction Jonathan Davis Smith
Part 1: Thinking about Decolonization and the Planetary
1. Decolonization and Planetary Thinking Whitney A. Bauman
2. Decolonizing Religion: toward an Engaged “Religious” Methodology Samsul Maarif
3. Decolonizing the Decolonization Discourse: The Dutch and the Making of Religion in Indonesia Frans Wijsen
4. Toward Decolonial Blue Ecotheology: Voices from the Archipelago Leksmana Leonard
Part 2: Decolonizing Human-Nature Relations
5. Bengawan Solo Riwayatmu Kini: Reading River Pollutants through Women’s Eyes as a Decolonizing Act Dewi Candraningrum
6. Decolonizing Human-Animal Relations in Indonesia: Insights from Bara, Cindakko, and Tobalo Indigenous Communities in Sulawesi Andi Alfian
7. Marapu Indigenous Economy: Ritual Agriculture in between Modern Disenchantment and Religious Ecology in Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia Krisharyanto Umbu Deta
8. Rethinking Human-Nature Relations in the Religious Education Curriculum on Indigenous Religions in Indonesia Jear N. D. K. Nenohai
Part 3: Decolonizing Religion, Nature, and Gender Studies
9. [Re]constructing [An]other Space: Ritual as a Site of Resistance for the Bissu Community in South Sulawesi, Indonesia Petsy Jessy Ismoyo
10. Waria Battling Everyday Life: From Identity Cards to Climate Disaster in Semarang, Indonesia Puspa Aqirul Mala
11. Daur Resik as an Ecofeminist Recycling Initiative: Living Well with Waste in Five Indonesian Cities for a Better Planetary Life Kania Bening Rahmayna
12. Decolonizing Human-Nature Relations: Ecofeminist Climate Activism in East Kalimantan, Indonesia Hudriansyah
Part 4: Decolonizing Legal and Rights Frameworks for Indigenous Peoples
13. Indigenous Rights Violations in Indonesia’s Capital Relocation: Green Criminology and The Voice of Indigenous Peoples in East Kalimantan, Indonesia Fany N. R. Hakim
14. Ibu Bumi Dilarani: How Environmental Law Conflicts with a Relational Approach to Nature in The North Kendeng Highlands, Central Java, Indonesia Ivan Wagner
15. Separative Conservation and Forest-Integrated Communities: The Manusela National Park Dilemma in Seram Island, Maluku, Indonesia Vikry Reinaldo Paais
16. The Use of Ritual in Mediating Customary Land Disputes by the Dayak Kantuk Community in West Kalimantan, Indonesia Bibi Suprianto
Biography
Whitney A. Bauman is Professor of Religious Studies at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, FL. He is also co-founder and co-director of Counterpoint: Navigating Knowledge, a non-profit based in Berlin, Germany that holds public discussions over social and ecological issues related to globalization and climate change.
Samsul Maarif is Director of the MA Program of the Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies (CRCS), Graduate School, Universitas Gadjah Mada. His research interests include the religions of Indigenous Peoples, ecology, community development, and advocacy. He is the coordinator of the research-advocacy coalition for Indigenous Peoples “Rumah Bersama” (our shared home).
Jonathan Davis Smith is Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Religion and Public Life, University of Leeds, United Kingdom. He is also Visiting Lecturer at the Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. His research focuses on religion/culture, social movements, and environmental activism.
