Slashed and burned: war, environment, and resource insecurity in West Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

European colonial efforts to pacify ‘rebellious’ Iban in western Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries produced chronic resource insecurity and may have contributed to the recorded destructiveness of Iban swidden cultivation. Negative European opinions towards swiddening ma...

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Main Author: Wadley, R.L.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: 2007
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/19619
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author Wadley, R.L.
author_browse Wadley, R.L.
author_facet Wadley, R.L.
author_sort Wadley, R.L.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description European colonial efforts to pacify ‘rebellious’ Iban in western Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries produced chronic resource insecurity and may have contributed to the recorded destructiveness of Iban swidden cultivation. Negative European opinions towards swiddening may have thus been reinforced by a context that the Europeans themselves created. Drawing on anthropological theories linking swidden cultivation and Iban warfare, this article presents a historical case for the relationship between pacification, resource insecurity, and swidden destructiveness. It also re-evaluates Derek Freeman’s original diagnosis of Iban as ‘prodigal’ farmers, suggesting that there may have been more to Iban pioneering destruction than the wide availability of ‘virgin’ forest.
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spelling CGSpace196192025-01-24T14:12:28Z Slashed and burned: war, environment, and resource insecurity in West Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Wadley, R.L. shifting cultivation natural resources forest resources ethnic groups war colonization history European colonial efforts to pacify ‘rebellious’ Iban in western Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries produced chronic resource insecurity and may have contributed to the recorded destructiveness of Iban swidden cultivation. Negative European opinions towards swiddening may have thus been reinforced by a context that the Europeans themselves created. Drawing on anthropological theories linking swidden cultivation and Iban warfare, this article presents a historical case for the relationship between pacification, resource insecurity, and swidden destructiveness. It also re-evaluates Derek Freeman’s original diagnosis of Iban as ‘prodigal’ farmers, suggesting that there may have been more to Iban pioneering destruction than the wide availability of ‘virgin’ forest. 2007 2012-06-04T09:12:34Z 2012-06-04T09:12:34Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/19619 en Wadley, R.L. 2007. Slashed and burned: war, environment, and resource insecurity in West Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries . Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 13 (1) :109-128. ISSN: 1359-0987.
spellingShingle shifting cultivation
natural resources
forest resources
ethnic groups
war
colonization
history
Wadley, R.L.
Slashed and burned: war, environment, and resource insecurity in West Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
title Slashed and burned: war, environment, and resource insecurity in West Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
title_full Slashed and burned: war, environment, and resource insecurity in West Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
title_fullStr Slashed and burned: war, environment, and resource insecurity in West Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
title_full_unstemmed Slashed and burned: war, environment, and resource insecurity in West Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
title_short Slashed and burned: war, environment, and resource insecurity in West Borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
title_sort slashed and burned war environment and resource insecurity in west borneo during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
topic shifting cultivation
natural resources
forest resources
ethnic groups
war
colonization
history
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/19619
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