Ecological Anthropology of Households in East Madura, Indonesia
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Ecological Anthropology of Households in East Madura, Indonesia Wilson Glenn Smith Thesis committee Thesis supervisor Prof. Dr. A. Niehof Professor of Sociology of Consumers and Households, Wageningen University Thesis co-supervisor Dr Y. Goudineau Director of Studies at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and at Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO), Paris Other members Prof. Dr. L.E. Visser Wageningen University Dr. H.M.C. de Jonge Radboud University, Nijmegen Prof. Dr. B. Hubert Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris, and Agropolis International, Montpellier Dr. B. Lacombe Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and Editions Harmattan, Paris This research was conducted under the auspices of the Graduate School of Wageningen School of Social Sciences (WASS) Ecological Anthropology of Households in East Madura, Indonesia Wilson Glenn Smith Thesis Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor at Wageningen University by the authority of the Rector Magnificus Prof. dr. M.J. Kropff in the presence of the Thesis Committee appointed by the Academic Board to be defended in public on Wednesday 25 May 2011 at 11 a.m. in the Aula Wilson Glenn Smith Ecological Anthropology of Households in East Madura, Indonesia Thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, NL (2011) With references, with summaries in Dutch and English ISBN 978-90-8585933-8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation results from enthusiasm, hopefully not ill-placed, that anthropology could become the premier social science discipline for empirically-grounded understanding of human societies, and a determination to help clear some of the hurdles on the road to such understanding. Along the way, I also hope to contribute new perspectives on a misunderstood Indonesian society. I am grateful to the ethnomusicologist Jacques Brunet for suggesting Madura as a site for field research and for alerting me to the excellent work being done there by Dutch scholars. Anke Niehof, along with her husband Roy Jordaan, were among those Dutch researchers I was instructed to contact at that time, and to this day they remain a constant source of support and insight into Madurese society. Professor Niehof’s study of fertility in central Madura provided direct inspiration for my comparative fertility study further east, and the overarching concept of households present in all her work to date provided my framework for observation and analysis. Fittingly, Professor Niehof was to become my Wageningen University (WUR) academic supervisor (promotor) for this dissertation, ensuring through patience, prodding and proofreading that something worthwhile could be produced. In concert with Professor Yves Goudineau – who graciously accepted to take over direction of my doctoral studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) following the retirement of Professor Georges Condominas, and provided invaluable support and guidance in Paris – this WUR-EHESS cotutelle and my dissertation could finally come to fruition. For this they have my deepest gratitude. To Professor Condominas, I must also express my enduring gratitude for accepting to direct my studies back in 1982, and my equally deep apologies that I could not defend this thesis while he was still active at EHESS. Special credit must be given to several scholars who influenced my thinking early on. It was Gerald Berreman’s introduction to anthropology course at the University of California, Berkeley that first convinced me of the discipline’s value for getting at what he called “the politics of truth,” for uncovering the unequal power relations at the root of injustice, and for getting me thinking about impression management and the promise and perils of ethnographic informants. Similarly, the course in anthropology of law given by Laura Nader at Berkeley convinced me that decision making processes represented an essential element of study, particularly when they could clarify issues of power, inequality and elite culture. Serendipity being what it is I would only later come to realize the methodological and ethical affinities that linked Professor Berreman and Professor Condominas (particularly the latter’s concept of préterrain and his Distinguished Lecture to the American Anthropological Association in November 1972). All of these influences led me to see quantitative behavioural observation and conscious efforts at ethical and political sensitivity as vital controls on informant discourse. William Abruzzi was the first to suggest to me that ecological theory is relevant to understanding societal processes; without his insights my rendering would have been hopelessly muddled. Eric Ross impressed upon me the importance of taking economic and social class differentials into account in any analysis, though I still need his help in grasping dialectics. Benjamin Matalon’s advice that the best way to contribute to progress in science was to take one direction and go i all the way with it dispensed with any qualms I had about adopting a research strategy that was not particularly popular in France. Although the sum total of their insights left me feeling less empowered to issue general and definitive statements regarding “Madurese society” and “Madurese culture” this predicament I find myself in is more liberating than constraining, for in exchange I feel I am now equipped to say some things of value about specific Madurese communities. In addition to the individuals already named above, I am indebted to the many teachers, colleagues and friends who have at one time or another suggested avenues of inquiry to pursue or pitfalls to avoid, and who have provided feedback and forums for my ideas. They include Taufik Abdullah, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, Jean Benoist, Claude Blanckaert, Muriel Charras, Michael Dove, Andrée Feillard, Maurice Godelier, Robert and Nancy Hefner, Marvin Harris, Huub de Jonge, Bernard-Germain Lacombe, Allen Johnson, Pierre-Yves Manguin, William Mitchell, Eugenia Piza-Lopez, Dominique Schnapper, William Shack, Riwanto Tirtosudarmo, Robert Wessing, Benjamin White, Michel Wieviorka and Latief Wiyata. While each of the aforementioned individuals contributed something to the formulation of my approach, none can be held responsible for any of its shortcomings or assumed to be necessarily in agreement with the doctrine espoused. During various periods of the field research, I was fortunate to find young, enthusiastic and hard-working field assistants, among them Risno, Astori, Heri, Tuni, Tutik, Saono, Hayyen, Fathor, Hartono, and others too numerous to name individually, but all of whom deserve thanks and recognition. My appreciation and deep gratitude also goes out to the 36 sample group households in Gedang-Gedang. Beginning in 1986, they allowed me to arrive unannounced on their doorsteps each week for a year and to visit and observe them – again unannounced – periodically until 2009. I can never hope to repay them for the data gathered and the Madurese language absorbed, not to mention the coffee and other tokens of generosity received. The village secretary, Asnawi, was consistently available and helpful in providing data and useful information on his village. I extend thanks to him and to the Gedang-Gedang village heads, Pak Mo’é and family and Pak Asro, for allowing me to conduct research in their village for so many years. I have gratitude towards and fond memories of the many people who provided for the material needs of shelter and sustenance: Pak Atromo and his family in Gedang-Gedang; Bu Atro and her family, especially her son Asnawi, in Juruan Laok; Ibu Rien and Pak Fathor, along with Pak Faried, Fifi, Mas Imam and Nih, in Sumenep; Pak and Ibu Soetrisno, in Surabaya; and Jufrina Rizal and family, in Jakarta. These forward and rear bases were priceless bastions of security and friendship. Pak Zaini, the livestock extension officer for Batuputih, provided invaluable and much- appreciated orientation and encouragement during the early stages of the move to the sub-district. Edhi Setiawan and wife Fony provided another bastion and our regular haunt in Sumenep, Rumah Makan 17 Agustus, where, in the antiques-filled back room we could dissect any and all aspects of Madurese life with Edhi and his many acquaintances from government, media and the arts. Among them was Zawawi Imron, connoisseur of Madurese literature and culture, who we would often visit at his home in Batang-Batang. Administrative and financial support was generously provided by various institutions, to which I remain indebted. The Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (LIPI – Indonesian Institute of Sciences), in Jakarta, the Pusat Penelitian Agro- Ekonomi, in Bogor, and the Universitas Airlangga provided academic sponsorship during my trips to the field. Fondation Fyssen, in Paris, the Sigma Phi Society of Berkeley, California, and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society of New Haven, Connecticut each awarded grants to fund aspects of this project. The Centre Asie du ii Sud-Est (CASE-CNRS) provided generous financial support for this study on many occasions. The Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and Wageningen University (WUR) subsidized printing and travel expenditures, and WUR and the friendly staff of the Sociology of Consumers and Households (SCH) graciously provided office space and assistance. SCH-WUR provided an hospitable and stimulating environment for a high-risk longitudinal doctoral candidate like me through their external PhD track, and in addition SCH-WUR accepted the added complications of doing so under the cotutelle arrangement with EHESS. For all of the above support, I am sincerely grateful. On the editing side, I am thankful that Anke Niehof, Yves Goudineau and Roy Jordaan were there to offer their careful and complete review of the manuscript and that Margaret van Wissen could devote her time to patiently and precisely editing and page-setting the manuscript, allowing me to avoid many infelicities. Last but not least, my wife, Hélène Bouvier-Smith, is the person without whom this dissertation would never, ever, have seen the light of day. Her contributions could have been noted in virtually all of the above paragraphs.