c/oEnvironments. Conflictive human-environmental relationships, indigeneity and sustainability in Aceh and Kalimantan, Indonesia

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Kristina Großmann
• Subject Area: Asian Studies ; Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 526127226

In the course of current environmental changes in Indonesia, conflicts over the control of land, forest and mining products are increasing. Thereby, not only power and the access to natural resources are vibrantly negotiated but also different conceptualizations and meanings of the ‘environment’ collide. c/oEnvironments analyses conflicting human-environmental relations and contested practices of sustainability within the nexus of mining, indigenous land management programs and climate protection initiatives in the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and Central Kalimantan. The project leader and two research assistants are investigating which lines of conflict emerge within diverse human-environmental relationships and how these discrepancies can be bridged. Through the multilocal research approach of comparing the two Indonesian provinces, the project contributes to the systematic analysis of diverse human-environmental relationships. In a first step, participatory art-based methods (photovoice/filmvoice and storytelling) are used to analyze the diverse, overlapping and conflictual human-environment relationships of villagers in the context of land conflicts in Aceh and Central Kalimantan. In a second step, the project works out possibilities of integrating and acknowledging these diverse but marginalized human-environment relationships in indigenous land management programs within the framework of Participatory Laboratories. The research results will not only be made available in the form of academic publications and conference contributions, but also in the form of a film documentary and podcasts. c/oEnvironments contributes to the further theorization of the nexus society, ecology and politics by combining the concepts of political ecology, socio-ecological research, relational approaches and political ontology with transdisciplinary approaches. Through the inter- and transdisciplinary analysis of conflictive human-environment relationships and virulent resource conflicts, c/oEnvironments contributes to the new development of synergetically linked anthropological and transdisciplinary theories and methods and responds to the current crisis of sustainability.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Indonesia
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Semiarto Aji Purwanto