Rich Forests, Poor People
Resource Control and Resistance in Java
$24.95, £14.95 paperback
978-0-520-08931-0
Available Now
336 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 19 b/w illustrations, 6 figures, 13 tables, 2 maps
June 1992, Available worldwide
Categories: Anthropology; Ecology; Southeast Asia; Ecology, Evolution, Environment; Anthropology
June 1992, Available worldwide
Categories: Anthropology; Ecology; Southeast Asia; Ecology, Evolution, Environment; Anthropology
"A clear, richly documented, and analytically innovative account of the interplay of state forestry policy and local forms of resistance in Java. . . . A superb way into the social and political history of rural Java."—Choice
"Both Peluso's ethnographic inquiry and her construction of a historical narrative are first-rate. . . . Peluso's ability to uncover the social structures of illegal forest activities is most impressive."— Annals of the American Geographical Society
"Rich Forests, Poor People combines the intimacy of field-based microstudies of central Javanese villages with a historical narrative that has much to tell us about the institutional roots of the modern Indonesian states."—Journal of Asian Studies
"Both Peluso's ethnographic inquiry and her construction of a historical narrative are first-rate. . . . Peluso's ability to uncover the social structures of illegal forest activities is most impressive."— Annals of the American Geographical Society
"Rich Forests, Poor People combines the intimacy of field-based microstudies of central Javanese villages with a historical narrative that has much to tell us about the institutional roots of the modern Indonesian states."—Journal of Asian Studies
Millions of Javanese peasants live alongside state-controlled forest lands in one of the world's most densely populated agricultural regions. Because their legal access and customary rights to the forest have been severely limited, these peasants have been pushed toward illegal use of forest resources. Rich Forests, Poor People untangles the complex of peasant and state politics that has developed in Java over three centuries.
Drawing on historical materials and intensive field research, including two contemporary case studies, Peluso presents the story of the forest and its people. Without major changes in forest policy, Peluso contends, the situation is portentous. Economic, social, and political costs to the government will increase. Development efforts will by stymied and forest destruction will continue. Mindful that a dramatic shift is unlikely, Peluso suggests how tension between foresters and villagers can be alleviated while giving peasants a greater stake in local forest management.
Drawing on historical materials and intensive field research, including two contemporary case studies, Peluso presents the story of the forest and its people. Without major changes in forest policy, Peluso contends, the situation is portentous. Economic, social, and political costs to the government will increase. Development efforts will by stymied and forest destruction will continue. Mindful that a dramatic shift is unlikely, Peluso suggests how tension between foresters and villagers can be alleviated while giving peasants a greater stake in local forest management.
Acknowledgments
Part I. INTRODUCTION
1. Structures of Access Control, Repetoires of Resistance
Part II. TRADITIONS OF FOREST CONTROL IN JAVA
2. Gaining Access to People and Trees
3. The Emergence of "Scientific" Forestry in Colonial Java
Part III. STATE FORESTS AND CHANGES IN STATE
4. Organized Forest Violence, Reorganized Forest Access, 1942-1966
5. State Power to Persist: Contemporary Forms of Forest Access Control
Part IV. PEASANT POWER TO RESIST
6. A Forest without Trees
7. Teak and Temptation on the Extreme Periphery: Cultural Perspectives on Forest Crime
Part V. CONCLUSION
8. Toward Integrated Social Forestry
Part I. INTRODUCTION
1. Structures of Access Control, Repetoires of Resistance
Part II. TRADITIONS OF FOREST CONTROL IN JAVA
2. Gaining Access to People and Trees
3. The Emergence of "Scientific" Forestry in Colonial Java
Part III. STATE FORESTS AND CHANGES IN STATE
4. Organized Forest Violence, Reorganized Forest Access, 1942-1966
5. State Power to Persist: Contemporary Forms of Forest Access Control
Part IV. PEASANT POWER TO RESIST
6. A Forest without Trees
7. Teak and Temptation on the Extreme Periphery: Cultural Perspectives on Forest Crime
Part V. CONCLUSION
8. Toward Integrated Social Forestry