UC Irvine UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Feral Natures and Excremental Commodities: Purity, Scale, and the More-than-Human in Indonesia Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/27p004hq Author Cahill, Colin William Publication Date 2017 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE Feral Natures and Excremental Commodities: Purity, Scale, and the More-than-Human in Indonesia DISSERTATION submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Anthropology by Colin William Cahill Dissertation Committee: Associate Professor Kristin Peterson, Chair Professor Tom Boellstorff Associate Professor Mei Zhan Assistant Professor Valerie Olson 2017 © 2017 Colin William Cahill DEDICATION For my parents, Bill and Ros, and my sister, Kristen, who have been more patient, generous, and loving than I imagined possible. !ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v CURRICULUM VITAE vi ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION x CHAPTER 1: Introduction: Waste, Ethics, and the More-than-Human in Indonesia 1 CHAPTER 2: Animal, Commodity, Environment: Civets in the History of Indonesian Coffee 24 CHAPTER 3: [Un]becoming a Resource: Determining the Nature of Civets in Indonesia 52 CHAPTER 4: The Market Rhythms of Commodity Production: Weather, Infrastructures, and Qualities of Life in the Anthropocene 76 CHAPTER 5: Translation, Classification, Purification: Making a [Fecal] Commodity 108 CHAPTER 6: Conclusion: 144 BIBLIOGRAPHY 147 !iii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1 The common palm civet 4 Figure 1.2 Civet coffee being dried 5 Figure 1.3 A map of the provinces of Indonesia 9 Figure 2.1 Coffee flowers and cherries 32 Figure 2.2 A map depicting the presence of Sundanese in West Java 33 Figure 3.1 A binturong reaching for a snack 52 Figure 3.2 Putra’s son embracing their family pet 53 Figure 4.1 Kopi tubruk 84 Figure 4.2 A map of the “outer islands” 85 Figure 5.1 Borer beetle damage to a coffee cherry 123 Figure 5.2 Roasting coffee in a clay pot 130 !iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Attending graduate school and developing this project, I was more often than not riddled with self-doubt. None of this has been easy for me, and without the support of numerous amazing individuals and intersecting communities, I would never have finished. Many communities have supported and sustained me through this process, and the best pieces of this dissertation—in its current form and as a process—reflect their care and generosity. The shortcomings and flaws are my own. I would first like to thank the communities of civet coffee producers, without whom this project wouldn’t have been possible. While I have anonymized their names, locations, and stories, there are contributions from each of them in this dissertation for which I am deeply indebted. They were patient and open-minded when a queer redhead from around the world showed up, asking for their help in developing better understandings of their work and lives. It has been a joy learning with them over cup after cup of the fruits (or seeds, really) of their labor. I moved between many sites for this project, and received guidance and support from many anonymized sources. One non-anonymized source, Zuhri Joe, provided crucial research assistance in Aceh, and it was a pleasure breaking durian together. I have been incredibly fortunate to have a dissertation committee who inspire me as a scholar and as a human—in each and every way that we define it. I express my deepest gratitude to my dissertation chair and mentor, Kris Peterson, who has witnessed my panic in every form and somehow always has the perfect response. She has mentored me with wisdom and care, and is a role model for the kind of scholar and colleague I hope to become. Tom Boellstorff, Mei Zhan, and Valerie Olson comprised the rest of my committee, and have each been incredible !v sources of guidance and inspiration. I feel privileged to study with them, to witness their brilliance, and to think alongside them, encouraged by the creativity, generosity, and rigor of their work. Kris, Tom, Mei, and Valerie have opened up seemingly inaccessible theoretical terrains for me, changing how I see, think, and experience the world. I thank each of them for their support and encouragement. My conversations with my mentors have been invigorating, filling me with creative energy. The same has been true of my experience working with Kavita Philip, who graciously joined my advancement exams committee. There is a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she weaves together history and theory, reconfiguring how I have thought about [post]colonial science and nature-making. I hope to bring a similar creative effervescence and generativity to my own intellectual endeavors. I benefitted from participation in the vibrant community of faculty, administrators, and graduate and undergraduate students that constitute the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. I have found kindness and wisdom in my friendships with Norma Miranda, Tom Douglas, and Chris Drover. Mike Burton has been generous with wisdom and has been a stellar conference buddy. I thank my cohort: Chima Anyadike-Danes, Ben Cox, Padma Govindan, Georgia Hartman, Beth Reddy, and Nick Seaver. I can’t imagine entering a PhD program with a lovelier group of peers. Their humor and brilliance has brought me so much joy during the most challenging of times. !vi I express my deepest appreciation to John Sommerhauser and Pat Frazier, whose hard work, dedication, and kindness made navigating the bureaucratic systems of the university both possible and enjoyable. Many individuals have provided brilliant feedback on drafts of chapters, and I regret that much of it isn’t yet visible in this current form. Chima, Georgia, Leah Zani, and Anna Zogas provided early feedback on two chapters. The community built through the Commodities of Empire project, and Sandip Hazareesingh, Jonathan Curry-Machado, and William Gervase Clarence-Smith provided helpful feedback on an early draft of chapter 2, and they challenged me to rethink how I understand colonial agriculture and its relationship to environmental history. Sophie Haines, Piero Di Giminiani, and Paige West read and provided crucial feedback on an early draft of chapter 3. This project would not have been possible without financial support from the Fulbright- Hays program, the American Institute for Indonesian Studies, and the Center for Asian Studies, the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies, the Department of Anthropology, and the School of Social Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. I express my deepest appreciation to my friends and colleagues across Indonesia. Ika, Termana, Putra, Irine, Sani, Maryani and Izzy have helped me find and build home in Jogja and Bali. They have been the best allies and co-conspirators, and I feel so fortunate to share their friendship, love and support. My research would not have been possible without support from the lovely communities at the American Indonesian Exchange Foundation and the Department of Anthropology at the University of Indonesia (UI). Nellie Paliama, Astrid Lim, Ceacilia Sitanggang, and Rizqi Arifuddin are miracle workers when it comes to navigating the visa and !vii research permissions process, incredible resources for finding the best food across Indonesia, and amazing colleagues. Irwan Hidayana and Tony Rudyansjah welcomed me to the Anthropology Department at UI and have provided stimulating discussion, encouragement, and inspiring models of intellectual engagement. I thank Sam Martin, Matthew Minarchek, Rebakah Daro Minarchek, Megan Hewitt, and Mark Phuong for their companionship and intellectual discussions in Jakarta. My work in Indonesia was set in motion by Leslie Dwyer and Degung Santikarma, who generously mentored me as an undergraduate student and introduced me to exciting intellectual communities in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Bali. Diyah Larasati and Romo Baskara Wardaya have also been amazing mentors, teaching me about critical Indonesian historiography. I would like to thank many additional friends and allies who have supported and encouraged me during this process. Tiar was my partner when I conceived of this project, and his support during this project has been incalculable. Vinh, Manny, Lío, and Michele brought joy to my life in the sterile, corporate landscape of Irvine. Wine nights, heart-to-hearts, and a healthy dose of Britney Spears brought the perfect kind of messiness into my life. My coffee community has brought companionship and joy to me during the writing of this. Elise Becker, Matthew Marchand, Heather Morelli, and Kristen Olson have been partners in work and play. We started out as baristas together, and in each of them I found a lifelong friend who has taught me to be a stronger, better person in unique ways. I have turned to many people for guidance during this process. Jonathan Flojo was the best psychologist a kooky grad student could have asked for. My Aunt Terry provided wisdom in moments when cynicism began to overtake me. In most of the moments when I wanted to quit, !viii Georgia Hartman was there to keep encouraging me. Georgia and Anna Kryczka have supported my passion for the best of distractions, RuPaul’s Drag Race. As my DragCon companions, they have inspired me to rethink what conferences and conference engagement can look like. I have been incredibly fortunate to find friendship and kinship through my work and research, but none of this would be possible without my most biological of kin. It has been a pleasure to build the kinds of families we choose, but I am also the luckiest of sons and brothers. My sister, who is the kinder, friendlier sibling, has been incredibly supportive. I have had so much fun growing together, and I can’t imagine a better ally in life.