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Kinship, population and social reproduction in the 'new Indonesia': A study of Nuaulu cultural resilience

Ellen, Roy F. (2018) Kinship, population and social reproduction in the 'new Indonesia': A study of Nuaulu cultural resilience. The modern anthropology of Southeast Asia . Routledge, Abingdon, UK; New York, USA, 220 pp. ISBN 978-1-138-49387-2. E-ISBN 978-1-351-02714-4. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:67188)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided. (Contact us about this Publication)
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Abstract

Nuaulu people on the Indonesian island of Seram have displayed remarkable linguistic and cultural resilience over a period of 50 years. In 1970 their language and traditional culture was widely considered ‘endangered.’ Despite this, Nuaulu have not only maintained their animist identity and shown a robust ability to reproduce 'traditional' ritual performances, but have exhibited both population growth and increasing assertiveness in the projection of their interests through the politics of the ‘New Indonesia’.

This book examines how kinship organization and marriage patterns have responded to some of these challenges, and suggests that the retention of core institutions of descent and exchange are the consequence of population growth, which in turn has enabled ritual reproduction, and thereby effectively maintained a distinct identity in relation to the surrounding majority culture. Low conversion rates to other religions, and the political consequences of Indonesian ‘reformasi’, have also contributed to a situation in which, despite changes in the material basis of their lives, Nuaulu have projected a strong independent identity and organisation. In terms of debates around kinship in eastern Indonesia, this book argues that older notions of prescriptive social structure are fundamentally flawed. Kinship institutions are real enough, but the distinction between genealogical and classificatory relations is often unimportant; all that matters in the end is that the arrangements entered into between clans and houses permit both biological and social reproduction, and that the latter ultimately serves the former.

Item Type: Book
Uncontrolled keywords: Nuaulu, Seram, Indonesia, kinship, marriage, resilience
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
H Social Sciences
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation
Depositing User: Roy Ellen
Date Deposited: 02 Jun 2018 10:12 UTC
Last Modified: 08 Mar 2021 11:54 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/67188 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Ellen, Roy F..

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