Men, Women, and Environmental Change in Indonesia: the Gendered Face of Development Among the Dayak Benuaq

The increasing penetration of global capitalism, ambitious development efforts, and related environmental change have significantly transformed Kalimantan and its indigenous population, commonly referred to as Dayak, during the last decades. This article analyzes these processes from a gendered perspective and explores how gender relations among the Dayak, who generally are characterized by well-balanced gender relations, have been influenced by what is commonly referred to as ‘development’. A review of the existing literature shows that new asymmetries between men and women are emerging mainly due to different ways of inclusion in new economic systems. Based on research among the Dayak Benuaq, the article shows that far-reaching gender equality has been so far upheld within Benuaq society while gender gets interwoven with an increasing variety of inequalities. I argue that in order to capture this complexity, research on the gendered impacts of development should a) aim for a better understanding of the intertwinement of gender with other aspects, such as ethnicity, class, age, or education, b) pay more attention to how these aspects play out in different contexts, and c) differentiate more clearly between gender ideals, norms, and actual practice

In and out of the forest: decentralisation and recentralisation of forest governance in East Kalimantan, Indonesia

"The 'big bang' decentralisation reforms Indonesia embarked upon in 2001 went along with a decentralisation of the forestry sector. Hopes were high that this would improve local development and contribute to more sustainable forest management. However, undesired outcomes of decentralisation have been counteracted by an immediate effort to recentralise forest governance. In this paper, we address the question what actual impact both de- and recentralisation of forest governance had on the livelihoods of local communities in East Kalimantan. Our findings are based on field studies conducted in two villages using ethnographic methods. We show that under decentralised forest governance, unclear functional competences and overlapping authorities of the central and local governments triggered a logging boom that increased inter- and intra-village conflicts, exacerbating inequality, and leading to further deforestation. On the other hand, the recentralisation of the forestry sector and the increased central state control of illegal logging deprived villagers of lucrative income sources without offering adequate alternatives, while ending therewith associated conflicts. Our case studies thus show that de- and recentralisation had both positive and negative effects on a local level. However, we argue that continual decentralisation efforts would be more promising for the improvement of local communities in East Kalimantan." (author's abstract)"Die weitreichenden Dezentralisierungsprozesse, die Indonesien 2001 in die Wege geleitet hat, schlossen eine Dezentralisierung des Forstsektors ein. Die Hoffnungen waren groß, dass damit die lokale Entwicklung vorangetrieben und nachhaltiges Waldmanagement gefordert wurden. Den unerwünschten Folgen der Dezentralisierung wurde jedoch mit umgehenden Bemühungen entgegengewirkt, den Forstsektor zu rezentralisieren. In diesem Artikel befassen wir uns mit der Frage, welche tatsachlichen Folgen sowohl die De- als auch Rezentralisierung des Forstsektors auf die Lebensumstande lokaler Gemeinschaften in Ost-Kalimantan hatten. Unsere Ergebnisse beruhen auf Feldforschungen in zwei Dorfgemeinschaften unter Anwendung ethnographischer Methoden. Wir zeigen, dass die unklare Aufgabenverteilung und überlappenden Autoritäten von Zentral- und Lokalregierung während der Dezentralisierung einen logging boom hervorgerufen haben, der zu steigenden Konflikten innerhalb von und zwischen Dörfern sowie wachsender Ungleichheit und ansteigender Entwaldung geführt hat. Auf der anderen Seite haben die Rezentralisierung des Forstsektors und die zunehmende zentralstaatliche Kontrolle des illegalen Holzeinschlags den DorfbewohnerInnen lukrative Einnahmequellen entzogen, ohne adäquate Alternativen zu schaffen. Unsere Fallstudien zeigen somit, dass De- und Rezentralisierung sowohl positive als auch negative Auswirkungen hatten. Dennoch argumentieren wir für die Fortsetzung der Dezentralisierungsbestrebungen, da dies für die Verbesserung der Lebensumstande von lokalen Gemeinschaften vielversprechender ist." (Autorenreferat

In and out of the forest: decentralisation and recentralisation of forest governance in East Kalimantan, Indonesia

"The 'big bang' decentralisation reforms Indonesia embarked upon in 2001 went along with a decentralisation of the forestry sector. Hopes were high that this would improve local development and contribute to more sustainable forest management. However, undesired outcomes of decentralisation have been counteracted by an immediate effort to recentralise forest governance. In this paper, we address the question what actual impact both de- and recentralisation of forest governance had on the livelihoods of local communities in East Kalimantan. Our findings are based on field studies conducted in two villages using ethnographic methods. We show that under decentralised forest governance, unclear functional competences and overlapping authorities of the central and local governments triggered a logging boom that increased inter- and intra-village conflicts, exacerbating inequality, and leading to further deforestation. On the other hand, the recentralisation of the forestry sector and the increased central state control of illegal logging deprived villagers of lucrative income sources without offering adequate alternatives, while ending therewith associated conflicts. Our case studies thus show that de- and recentralisation had both positive and negative effects on a local level. However, we argue that continual decentralisation efforts would be more promising for the improvement of local communities in East Kalimantan." (author's abstract)"Die weitreichenden Dezentralisierungsprozesse, die Indonesien 2001 in die Wege geleitet hat, schlossen eine Dezentralisierung des Forstsektors ein. Die Hoffnungen waren groß, dass damit die lokale Entwicklung vorangetrieben und nachhaltiges Waldmanagement gefordert wurden. Den unerwünschten Folgen der Dezentralisierung wurde jedoch mit umgehenden Bemühungen entgegengewirkt, den Forstsektor zu rezentralisieren. In diesem Artikel befassen wir uns mit der Frage, welche tatsachlichen Folgen sowohl die De- als auch Rezentralisierung des Forstsektors auf die Lebensumstande lokaler Gemeinschaften in Ost-Kalimantan hatten. Unsere Ergebnisse beruhen auf Feldforschungen in zwei Dorfgemeinschaften unter Anwendung ethnographischer Methoden. Wir zeigen, dass die unklare Aufgabenverteilung und überlappenden Autoritäten von Zentral- und Lokalregierung während der Dezentralisierung einen logging boom hervorgerufen haben, der zu steigenden Konflikten innerhalb von und zwischen Dörfern sowie wachsender Ungleichheit und ansteigender Entwaldung geführt hat. Auf der anderen Seite haben die Rezentralisierung des Forstsektors und die zunehmende zentralstaatliche Kontrolle des illegalen Holzeinschlags den DorfbewohnerInnen lukrative Einnahmequellen entzogen, ohne adäquate Alternativen zu schaffen. Unsere Fallstudien zeigen somit, dass De- und Rezentralisierung sowohl positive als auch negative Auswirkungen hatten. Dennoch argumentieren wir für die Fortsetzung der Dezentralisierungsbestrebungen, da dies für die Verbesserung der Lebensumstande von lokalen Gemeinschaften vielversprechender ist." (Autorenreferat

Nest Predators and Breeding Birds: Do Initial Vocalizations Correlate with Predator Type and Future Defense Strategy?

The initial vocalizations of breeding catbirds in response to predator models positioned at their nests were analyzed to determine if they were correlated with the type of later defense employed (attack model vs. no attack), intensity of defense, and type of predator model (snake vs. blue jay). Statistical differences were found in the types and numbers of vocalizations used in relation to type of nest predator and form of future defense. The data suggest that the initial catbird vocalizations may indeed encode a variety of information

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements