A commenter on Savage Minds lamented the failure of anthropological bloggers to use their forum for activism as well as critical engagement with the discipline.  We are really good at the latter, but often fail at the former. In part, I would think, this is because we get so caught up in our own particularisms.  But I don’t think  its because anthropologists are against activism on behalf of indigenous communities…. 

With that said, I wanted to call attention to Survival International’s campaign for West Papua.  SI has recently called attention to the government’s pseudo protection of indigenous people’s by denying outsiders access. Indonesia has consistently hindered information, and engaged in a campaign of disinformation.  I remember hearing one West Papua activist speak outside of Indonesia and the crowd was peppered with a few who when it came time to ask questions  were clearly towing the government line. Information on human rights and environmental costs associated with West Papua is highly political.  So in addition to supporting Survival International efforts on this, I would also encourage folks to read up on West Papua.  If you teach, direct some of your class time to sources on the topic.  Below are a few that come to mind:

Blogs:

The Melanesian recently posted on refugee status, and given its editorial board, we can expect much more.

Canada’s West Papua Action Network links Canadian and Papuan activists: a good source for current actions, human and environmental concerns.  The links page connects to a variety of other sources.

Free West Papua is less critical of the situation, but offers a less separatist opinion… not really the sort of intervention that I would pursue, but its good to read many different solutions to what is certainly a problem.

West Papua Action is based in Ireland… I have always found the site informative

A couple of books that I like:

Raiding the land of the foreigners by Danilyn Rutherford address the problems of the foreign state and indigenous identity among Biak. 

Reverse Anthropology by Stuart Kirsch considers both the impact of Ok Tedi mine on downstream communities in the Independent Papua New Guinea including political refugees from Indonesia.  Kirsch’s theoretical and activist positions clearly inform this book, emphasizing indigenous modes of analysis for contemporary problems.  

 

I welcome further references, as this is not my area of expertise per se, but I want to give space for other good sources of information.