Anthropology Seminar Series | In the Shadow of the Palms: More-than-Human Becomings on the West Papuan Plantation Frontier
Anthropology Seminar Series:
In the Shadow of the Palms: More-than-Human Becomings on the West Papuan Plantation Frontier
Speaker: Sophie Chao (University of Sydney)
Join via Zoom: https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/84573121784
In this talk, Sophie Chao will draw on her forthcoming book, In the Shadow of the Palms: More-Than-Human Becomings in West Papua (Duke University Press, 2022) to explore how Indigenous Marind communities in the Indonesian-controlled province of West Papua understand and navigate the social, political, and environmental demands of the oil palm plant. Situating the recent proliferation of oil palm plantations in West Papua within the context of the region’s volatile history of colonisation, ethnic domination, and capitalist incursion, Chao will trace how Marind attribute environmental destruction not just to humans, technologies, and capitalism, but also to the volition and actions of the oil palm plant itself. By approaching cash crops as both drivers of destruction and subjects of human exploitation, she will problematise violence as a more-than-human act, while centering how Marind fashion their own changing worlds and foreground Indigenous creativity and decolonial approaches to anthropology.
Sophie Chao is a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellow and Lecturer at the University of Sydney’s Department of Anthropology. Her research investigates the intersections of capitalism, ecology, Indigeneity, health, and justice in the Pacific region. Sophie Chao previously worked for Indigenous rights organization Forest Peoples Programme in Indonesia. Her current DECRA project explores the diverse perceptions, practices, and knowledges surrounding human-kangaroo relations in Australia. For more information, please visit www.morethanhumanworlds.com.
Hosted: Ryan Schram
3:00–5:00 PM (Sydney time, GMT+10)
Join via Zoom: https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/84573121784