Drafts by Rhino Ariefiansyah
Farmer Rainfall Observers (Petani Pengukur Curah Hujan) from Indramayu and East Lombok regencies ... more Farmer Rainfall Observers (Petani Pengukur Curah Hujan) from Indramayu and East Lombok regencies have joined the agrometeorological learning in Science Field Shops organized collaboratively by anthropologists from Universitas Indonesia, an agrometeorologist from the Netherlands (Agromet Vision) and these farmers. , They have experienced significant changes in their minds and practices. Farmers themselves acknowledge that they have obtained knowledge useful for their understanding, and anticipation capability to timely respond to the consequences of climate change, and so did scientists. Some farmers modified their farming strategies based on their daily observations of season-to-season rainfall patterns and agro-ecosystems and their implications for crop growth and yields. Seasonal rainfall scenarios received monthly from the scientists also contributed much to their anticipation power. However, some argue that they could not alter their neighbours' strategies in cropping pattern though they themselves were able to anticipate that the risk of planting paddy was great under certain climatic condition. Within an " open environment " of planting paddy in a large area of rice fields, some farmers feel that they face both environmental and social risks if they do not comply with their neighbours' decisions. The paper examines how a significant shift has been going on among Indramayu Rainfall Observers' Club members in their anticipation capacity towards the forthcoming climate conditions that may affect their plants' growth and crop yields. Previously, farmers did not have any clue of the future seasonal conditions unless government officials sent an " early warning " which, unfortunately, did not happen timely if at all. From some time after they joined the Science Field Shops (SFSs, Warung Ilmiah Lapangan), they enriched their experience from SFS dialogues on yield consequences of variable weather conditions and particular rainfall patterns. Their documentation (a " novel habitus ") on daily measurements and seasonal observations provided very valuable knowledge and a guide of the not too distant past for the present and a not too distant future. Once they receive monthly seasonal scenarios of the probable rainfall in the coming three months, their capability to anticipate what is going to happen in the near future
Papers by Rhino Ariefiansyah
Jurnal Antropologi Indonesia, Dec 30, 2023
This paper centers on Indramayu's designation as the "national rice barn" (Daerah Lumbung Padi Na... more This paper centers on Indramayu's designation as the "national rice barn" (Daerah Lumbung Padi Nasional). Contrary to the believed narrative, our findings show that Indramayu's agricultural dreams have been subsidized by other income generating activities, particularly from migrant remittance. We argue that the extensive environmental degradation and ecological vulnerabilities experienced in Indramayu have compelled small-scale farmers to pursue opportunities as migrant workers to sustain and expand their agricultural endeavors. Considering the inherent risk of fraud, robbery, blackmailing, human trafficking, physical and mental torture experienced by migrant workers, we suggest this agrarian imagination as "cruel optimism" that Indramayu farmers endure while bearing the prestigious "national rice barn" title. This perspective then opens up room for counternarratives that challenge the neoliberal optimism surrounding migration and rural development in Indonesia and beyond.
Sustainability, Feb 28, 2024
Nature and Culture, Dec 1, 2019
Various studies reveal the paradox of farmers' local knowledge. Farmers are equipped with traditi... more Various studies reveal the paradox of farmers' local knowledge. Farmers are equipped with traditional cosmology and detailed empirical knowledge of their agricultural habitats. However, these same knowledge frameworks seem to contribute to entrapping farmers in a mind-set that prevents them from understanding the diverse unintended consequences of changes in their environment. To avoid this, we utilize the learning arena of science field shops (SFSs) to help farmers better understand the relationships at work from the "clouds to the roots and in between", and to address ongoing changes and vulnerabilities in the environment. This article seeks to explain the changes that occurred to farmers following the learning they acquired from SFSs and its impact on their anticipation and decision making.
The Journal of Peasant Studies, Apr 14, 2021
Buku ini merupakan serangkaian tulisan tentang pemahaman dan tahap-tahap yang penting diketahui o... more Buku ini merupakan serangkaian tulisan tentang pemahaman dan tahap-tahap yang penting diketahui oleh para pemula yang ingin memproduksi film dokumenter. Utamanya buku ini ditujukan bagi para peminat film dokumenter pemula. Buku ini berisi tentang film dokumenter, sebuah alat, membangun gagasan dan merumuskan fokus film, riset dalam tahapan-tahapan membuat film dokumenter, desain produksi, menyutradarai film dokumenter, editing, upaya merepresentasikan sejarah dan catatan
Penerbit Buku Kompas, 2019
Academy Professorhip Indonesia Bidang Ilmu Sosial-Humaniora, 2007
Indonesia and the Malay World, 2018
'Nurturance' and 'trust' are two important aspects that have not been considered seriously in Ind... more 'Nurturance' and 'trust' are two important aspects that have not been considered seriously in Indonesian state programmes that relate to transferring knowledge and technology to local people. As a result, their effectiveness in producing lifelong learning among farmers remains unknown. This article examines the inclusion of these two aspects in a climate-sensitive extension approach to interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary collaboration between scientists and farmers. The arena of this collaboration, 'Science Field Shops' (SFSs, Warung Ilmiah Lapangan), is based on a dialogical knowledge exchange between all parties involved in assisting farmers to improve their capacity to anticipate the consequences of increasing climate variability. Farmers are being engaged as researchers and active learners in developing their own agrometeorological learning. This article examines the extent to which 'nurturance' and 'trust' have been influential in establishing and institutionalising the SFSs in different farming communities in Indonesia. In contrast, nurturance and trust are barely to be found in any government agricultural programme. This article also discusses the challenges the scientists faced in their efforts to build collaboration with government agencies.
Antropologi Indonesia, 2019
This paper aims to situate the transformation Brown Plant-Hopper (BPH) in broader issues of wetla... more This paper aims to situate the transformation Brown Plant-Hopper (BPH) in broader issues of wetland rice socio-agroecosystem management in Java. By considering multispecies ethnography, this paper argues that the transformations of BPH from "unimportant insects" into "elite dangerous pests" is a consequence of the complexity of the interplay between biological processes and social processes in the context of managing biotic and abiotic elements in rice farming ecosystem. In this context, wetland rice ecosystems (sawah) is a unique social and biological space where multi-species actors interact with one another, directly or indirectly. Thus, the transformation of BPH insects is the result of aggregate of events on a different time and spatial scale. It is a continuation of everyday acts, and it is long term consequences, as well as of global and local processes. The data used for this paper obtained through interviews, field observations, and literature studies. During the data collection process, the author interacts with farmers, scientists, government officials, and activists.
The Migration Industry in Asia, 2019
This chapter offers a structural analysis that problematizes the role of informal brokers in Indo... more This chapter offers a structural analysis that problematizes the role of informal brokers in Indonesia’s labor outmigration. Drawing from ethnographic engagement in Indramayu, West Java, this chapter employs the concept of “precarity” in understanding the recruitment of Indonesia’s low-wage migrant workers. We push the collective understanding further through focusing on brokers, and how their precarity affects migration. For Indramayu’s informal brokers, brokerage is often just one among the many odd jobs they involve themselves in for their survival. Besides this, we direct attention to locals’ deep entanglement to argue that perpetuation of migration intermediation stems out of widespread acceptance of brokerage as a rural livelihood in the face of economic and ecological crises.
The Journal of Peasant Studies
Antropologi Indonesia
This article is an anthropological reflection on an on-campus collaborative music project between... more This article is an anthropological reflection on an on-campus collaborative music project between (Ethiopian) Oromo refugees and local Indonesian university teaching staff, students and professional musicians. It follows the way the project evolved from what was initially seen as a simple academic research opportunity and technical assistance for refugees to record their songs into a mutually transformative experience for those involved. It reflects on the process and the way art—as a collaborative practice and non-programmatic form of human engagement—provided new possibilities for the refugees living in transit in Indonesia to explore their talents and possible career opportunities for the future. From an anthropological point of view, the process challenged the various institutionalized binary modes of self-representation, such as ‘host’ and ‘migrant’, ‘researcher’ and ‘informant’, or ‘academic’ and ‘non-academic’, and opened up new possibilities for negotiating and framing relationships between the participants involved. Keywords: refugees, asylum seekers, self-representation, public anthropology, art, Indonesia, Oromo
This chapter offers a structural analysis that problematizes the role of informal brokers in Indo... more This chapter offers a structural analysis that problematizes the role of informal brokers in Indonesia’s labor outmigration. Drawing from ethnographic engagement in Indramayu, West Java, this chapter employs the concept of “precarity” in understanding the recruitment of Indonesia’s low-wage migrant workers. We push the collective understanding further through focusing on brokers, and how their precarity affects migration. For Indramayu’s informal brokers, brokerage is often just one among the many odd jobs they involve themselves in for their survival. Besides this, we direct attention to locals’ deep entanglement to argue that perpetuation of migration intermediation stems out of widespread acceptance of brokerage as a rural livelihood in the face of economic and ecological crises.
Climate Change Management
Nature and Culture
Various studies reveal the paradox of farmers’ local knowledge. Farmers are equipped with traditi... more Various studies reveal the paradox of farmers’ local knowledge. Farmers are equipped with traditional cosmology and detailed empirical knowledge of their agricultural habitats. However, these same knowledge frameworks seem to contribute to entrapping farmers in a mind-set that prevents them from understanding the diverse unintended consequences of changes in their environment. To avoid this, we utilize the learning arena of science field shops (SFSs) to help farmers better understand the relationships at work from the “clouds to the roots and in between”, and to address ongoing changes and vulnerabilities in the environment. This article seeks to explain the changes that occurred to farmers following the learning they acquired from SFSs and its impact on their anticipation and decision making.
Uploads
Drafts by Rhino Ariefiansyah
Papers by Rhino Ariefiansyah
actors interact with one another, directly or indirectly. Thus, the transformation of BPH insects is the result of the aggregate of events on a different time and spatial scale. It is a continuation of everyday acts, and it is long term consequences, as well as of global and local processes. The data used for this paper obtained through interviews, field observations, and literature studies. During the data collection process, the author interacts with farmers, scientists, government officials, and activists.