Social forestry: An analysis of Indonesian forestry policy

Abstract

The old native man is showing the white fellow, who looks to be a sallow and paunchy anthropologist, how to light a fire. They are squatting on the ground, around a pile of kindling, and the old man's ten-year-old grandson is squatting too, watching every move. The old man strikes the flint again and again but cannot get the shavings going. Finally, the white man grunts, as if enough film has been wasted, rummages in his pocket, pulls out a cigarette lighter and reaches over without a word. Flick, the flame shoots out, the shavings are lit. The boy looks up at the white man, then at his grandfather, then, eyes narrowed, back to the white man. Freeze. An entirely new, undreamed of, and dominant power has entered his life. And it comes from someone else's father or grandfather, not from his own

Bevis 1995, p. 58

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Herb Thompson

Research for this manuscript was made possible by a grant from the Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University.