Institut für Ethnologie
20.01.2026: Vortrag im Ethnologischen Kolloquium von Timo Duile
15. Januar 2026, von Christina Fastner
Timo Duile (Universität Bonn) zum Thema:
Indigenous Dialectics: The State and Indigenous Peoples in Indonesia
My talk investigates indigeneity as a political force in Indonesia. The first part sheds light on indigeneity in the national context of Indonesia. It analyzes how it developed dialectically from late colonialism to the post-reformasi era in its relation to the state and the political economy. Indigeneity, as understood in the Indonesian context as adat (custom), was conceptualized in the late colonial era by Dutch scholars as authentic tradition, but reflected wider economic and political issues. Ever since, it emerged as a concept with and against the state throughout Indonesian history. In the second main part, my talk provides a case study of South Sulawesi. It sheds light on the process of recognition of indigenous communities in the Duri highlands. The Duri live in the regency of Enrekang, which in 2016 was among the first regencies in Indonesia to adopt a local regulation (peraturan daerah) on the recognition of indigenous communities. This case study scrutinizes the processes of how indigeneity is evoked on a local level and how it interacts with state institutions, political economy, and ideologies. I argue that indigeneity as a political concept comes into existence through its negation and sublation of and by the state. Also, I discuss how indigeneity is both an outcome of neoliberal ideologies and a means of critique against dispossession and capitalism.
Wir freuen uns sehr auf die Veranstaltung, zu der wir alle interessierten Personen herzlich einladen.
Das Kolloquium findet immer dienstags im großen Seminarraum des Instituts statt:
Institut für Ethnologie
Seminarraum 222, 2. OG
Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, Westflügel
20146 Hamburg