Author: Johan Jean Weintre
Weintre, Johan Jean, 2015 Resources and Governance Bounded by Dayak Worldviews: The Taman and Kantu’ Communities in Kapuas Hulu District, Kalimantan, Flinders University, School of History and International Relations
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This thesis critically examines the modi operandi of governance and natural resource management that is bounded by local worldviews through the case study of two remote Dayak communities in West Kalimantan. It examines whether the combination of indigenous customs and the devolution of authority as a result of regional autonomy has influenced the guardianship of traditional communities and their capacity to safeguard natural resource yields and maintain sustainability of their environmental assets.
After the demise of the authoritarian Suharto regime in 1998, legislation was put in place that directed many aspects of resources management to the local and regional level. The devolution of authority was legislated in a two-stage decentralisation process. Firstly, political and administrative decentralisation was legislated in the Law on Regional Government (UU22/1999). While the legislation on fiscal balance between the central government and the regions (UU25/1999), provided durability to the inter-governmental financial separation. In a second stage, this was further refined by the Law on Decentralisation and Local Autonomy (UU32/2004) in 2004. Decentralisation encouraged members of local communities at village, district and provincial level to engage in the function of the previously denied local decision making process.
In addition to the national political dynamics of Indonesian governance, a second internal social development has taken place. After being discouraged in an era of local cultural restraint, the re-instatement of Dayak identity and views has broadened social perspectives. It results in a need to understand the concerns and values of local communities, with a focus on their livelihoods and meaning of their environment.
This thesis will contribute to the understudied knowledge of local social capital capacity, natural resource negotiations and governance in two areas. Firstly, it will analyse the local social capital capacity in two communities, including the historical development of governance structures pertaining to natural resources. Secondly, it will provide understanding of how these rural communities organise their environmental assets to improve their levels of security and wellbeing.
Keywords: Emic Perception, Kantu', Taman, Worldview, Resources, Borneo
Subject: Asian Studies thesis, International Studies thesis, Development Studies thesis
Thesis type: Doctor of Philosophy
Completed: 2015
School: School of History and International Relations
Supervisor: Priyambudi Sulistiyanto