Kalimantan's Agrarian Transitions, 'New Poverty' and the World Economic Crisis (Revised)
EWC Research Program, University of Hawaii Geography Department Seminar
Where: UH Manoa Saunders Hall 443B, 12 Noon - 1:00 PMWhen: October 22, 2009
What:
Kalimantan's Agrarian Transitions, 'New Poverty' and the World Economic Crisis
Lesley Potter
Thursday, October 22, 2009
12 Noon-1:00 PM
UH Manoa Saunders Hall 443B
In a previous paper (Potter, 2009, in review) the author examined farming system change in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) in the light of Rigg's typology of agrarian transitions (Rigg, 2005) and de Koninck's organizing framework for the CHATSEA* project (de Koninck, 2004). The author argued that the spread of oil palm plantations (partly fitting Rigg's 'professional' farming category), has been the most compelling of recent transitions. This runs counter to theories of 'deagrarianisation' applicable elsewhere in Southeast Asia but agrees with de Koninck's criteria of agricultural intensification and market integration. The author also noted the geographical restrictions on oil palm location and the fact that in remote areas earlier transitions, involving swidden farming and rubber, remain current. That research was undertaken before the rapid rise and precipitous fall of both oil palm and rubber prices in 2007-8 and the onset of the world economic crisis. Among Indonesia's 8 provinces hardest hit by the crisis are West and Central Kalimantan, leading producers of both commodities. The talk will examine the impacts of the economic crisis on employment, mobility and poverty at local level, including Rigg's concepts of 'new' and 'old' poverty'(Rigg, 2006) and draw conclusions about rural-urban interaction in Kalimantan.
*Challenging the Agrarian Transition in Southeast Asia
De Koninck, Rodolphe (2004) – 'The challenges of the agrarian transition in Southeast Asia' Labour, Capital and Society 37: 285-288
Potter, L. (2009) – "Agrarian transitions in Kalimantan: characteristics, limitations and accommodations" (under review for Contemporary agricultural expansion in Southeast Asia: Borneo in the eye of the storm') ed R. de Koninck
Rigg, Jonathan (2005) – 'Poverty and livelihoods after full-time farming: a South-east Asian view' Asia Pacific Viewpoint 46 (2): 173-184
Rigg, J. 2006. Land, farming, livelihoods, and poverty: Rethinking the links in the rural south. World Development, 34 (1): 180–202
Associate Professor Lesley Potter is a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Human Geography, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, having retired from the University of Adelaide at the end of 2003. She has carried out research in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia from 1981, being especially interested in smallholder activities and state policy in rural areas, and in the history of farms, forests and grasslands.
Primary Contact Info:
Name: Arlene Hamasaki
Email: HamasakA@EastWestCenter.org
Phone: 808-944-7639
