Across many parts of Indonesia, investment in oil palm has brought accelerated forms of land acquisition and market engagement for communities, signalling far-reaching implications for equity and well-being of current and future generations. This paper uses a conjunctural feminist political ecology approach to explore gendered and generational engagements with oil palm in Indonesia. The paper compares four communities in East Kalimantan that form part of an ongoing study of the gendered impacts of large-scale and independent smallholder investments in oil palm in the context of corporate zero deforestation commitments in West and East Kalimantan. We show how different pathways of engagement with oil palm – adverse or otherwise – reflect the interplay between modes of incorporation into oil palm systems with landscape history, gender, life stage and ethnic identity. Whilst our findings complicate singular 'victim' narratives, they also challenge the 'cruel optimism' that is accompanying the current oil palm boom.
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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2017.1337002Altmetric score:
Dimensions Citation Count:
- The Economic Choices and Trade-Offs of REDD+ in the Asia Region
- Impacts of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions on Local Women’s Land and Forest Tenure Rights: Case Studies from Indonesia
- DFID Know-for 2: Gender Integration and Gender-Responsive Research
- FTA Flagship project 3 : Sustainable global value chains and investments for supporting forest conservation and equitable development
- United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
- Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI)
- Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
- Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR)
Source
Journal of Peasant Studies
Publication year
2017
ISSN
0306-6150
Authors
Elmhirst, R.; Siscawati, M.; Sijapati Basnett, B.; Ekowati, D.
Geographic
Indonesia
Topic
Research was conducted by project
Funded by
Geographic
Indonesia
Project Leader
Krystof Obidzinski
Consultant
Michael Allen Brady
Team Leader, Value Chains, Finance, & Investments