This paper is a call for recovering the past as possibility for the future of anthropology to be decolonized and decentered. Following James Clifford’s appeal to recuperating “ethnographic sensibilities” as strategies for living otherwise in the uncertain time, I also stress the importance of the idea of dialogue not only among the politically divided but also between the temporary separated: the past and the present. The recent demand for working off the past cannot be denied, for example, as evidenced in the global spread of numerous movements spurred by Black Lives Matter (hereafter, BLM). I narrate the history of anthropological responses to decolonization as continuous since the 1960s to the present by reinterpreting such texts as Writing Culture as significant part of it. The idea of dialogue as articulated by Mikhail Bakhtin offers a way to reconceptualize the decentered anthropological knowledge as a response to decolonization continuously reinvented.

View full abstract

This article explores how the Bajo people construct their ethnic identity and topogeny through maritime space. As an ethnic group living on the seas and coastlines of Southeast Asian islands, the Bajo have a lifestyle and genealogical complexity that make their identity both performative and geo-determined. Despite this, “origin” remains central to their ethno-theory, as in other Austronesian groups. Their deep connection to the sea is reflected in daily life, rituals, and myths, with identity revitalized through healing rituals, sea siblings, and myth of drifting princess. Even when a specific genealogy is absent from memory, sea-dwelling individuals can reconnect with Bajo ancestry through folklore. For the Bajo, a topogeny tied to the sea enables the retrieval of “Bajo-ness” and genealogy from seawater. This process of rediscovering “I was Bajo” unfolds in maritime space, which connects to any place or person belonging to the sea, forming their ethno-theory of translocal genealogy.

View full abstract

This study examines the deviations from Islamic norms by Muslim men from the masculinities perspective, particularly focusing on young men, known as preman in a coastal village in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Preman refers to young men who tend to oppose public norms and is the unofficial life stage in which young men learn how to earn for themselves. During this process, the preman becomes an adult and acquires various experiences with their homosocial preman friends. Although they commit acts considered sinful from Islamic perspective, many preman praise the truthfulness of Islam. This study attempts to understand this contradiction by describing the world of the preman and its relationship with other types of masculinity and Islamic norms.

View full abstract

The value of beads in Palauan society is understood to have been generated through logic distinct from that of the market economy. However, recent developments have complicated this understanding. The rise of “fake” beads—imitations purchased with foreign currency—and the increasing exchange of genuine beads for U.S. dollars, both within and beyond gift-giving rituals, highlight this shift. Since the 1970s, U.S. dollars have been incorporated alongside beads and other indigenous goods in gift-giving ceremonies, contributing to the growing scale of these rituals. This paper examines these changes with a focus on beads and explores how gift-giving and exchange practices have transformed over time. By revisiting Graeber’s theory of value, it analyzes the evolving interplay between beads and the market economy, shedding light on the process by which their value is generated and redefined.

View full abstract