The fall of the kings: Power relations and dynamics in Papua's indigenous community in forest resource management

Abstract

Tribal leaders in Papua had been positioned as both cultural symbols and real decision-making leaders, but they have lost their power over natural resource management and forests. Using the case of nutmeg management by the tribal Baham-Matta community, we present changes in the power constellations within the local social structures, in which the Kings (Patuans), the highest tribal leaders, have increasingly been unable to rule their people. In this research, we mainly employed the theoretical framework of Actor-centered Power, complemented by the Sequential Power Analysis approach, centered on historical timelines to better grasp the power contestation over time. We found that the Patuans have lost their key power sources/elements, a blend of dominant information, incentives/disincentives, and coercion stemming from the culturally entrenched beliefs held about their spiritual strengths, knowledge and skills in natural resource management and monopolistic contacts with traders. At the same time, community members have gained new power by accessing direct contacts with external traders, enabling them to act according to their own will. The change in the power configuration regarding nutmeg management has been driven by changes in the broader structural (external) context. Specifically, we argue that the introduction of new tenure and administration systems by the state created new social and power relations within the tribal community. The current tenure reform initiatives such as social forestry policies need to consider traditional systems such as nutmeg management, which constitute a key source of livelihood for the tribal community.