The Political Construction of Indigeneity: Theory and Evidence from Indonesia

• In Event: Indigenous Politics and Policy

Abstract

Political scientists have long recognized that in a world of migration, political conflict
between migrants and indigenous populations is common. Yet the simple
dichotomy between indigenous and settlers falters in many countries in the Global South, where indigeneity describes neither a genealogical nor a historical phenomenon, but rather a set of practices that constitute a traditional way of life as conceptualized by the modern
nation-state. Drawing on anthropological theory and comparative ethnography, this paper offers a new framework that conceptualizes indigeneity as a category of practice. We argue that indigeneity is contested and situational, and that indigenous identities may emerge through deliberate efforts by communities to situate themselves within the established social order as defined by the state’s template for defining identities. We illustrate this argument with a close analysis of the city of Singkawang (West Kalimantan province, Indonesia) and an original survey of Singkawang residents, that demonstrates that the Chinese of Singkawang have embraced the Indonesian state’s understanding of indigeneity and constructed a novel form of indigenous identity that is unambiguously Chinese and simultaneously comports with the state’s understanding of what comprises an indigenous identity. As a consequence, we show empirically that Chinese in Singkawang experience politics in ways similar to other indigenous communities in Singkawang, and they report no systematic differences in levels of exposure to discrimination or prejudice, and levels of attachment to the Indonesian state, relative to Singkawang’s ethnic Dayak and Malay residents.

Authors

• Risa Toha, Wake Forest University

• Thomas Pepinsky, Cornell University