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Abstract
This article takes issue with the uncritical way in which claims of ‘culture’, ‘tradition’ or ‘local knowledge’ are used in science and policymaking around the Balinese irrigators' association (subak). The growing problems of Balinese irrigated agriculture are increasingly framed in ‘cultural’ ways that are not neutral: such accounts of irrigated agriculture in relation to Balinese culture deeply influence the world of policymaking. In this article we discuss the emergence of Tri Hita Karana (THK; ‘the three causes of well-being’) as an ideology, scientific concept and policy concept in irrigated agriculture and the subak domain. We argue that this ideological concept is not simply ‘local wisdom’, ‘tradition’ or ‘culture’ but requires critical scientific scrutiny as part of wider processes of socio-political change. How is it mobilised? What does its growing popularity mean for our knowledge of Balinese irrigated agriculture, of policy processes directed at the subak and of the workings of policies in real-life contexts?
Acknowledgements
We thank Henk Schulte Nordholt, Rachel Lorenzen, members of the ‘Agriculture and Environment’ panel at the conference ‘Bali in Global Asia: Between Modernization and Heritage Formation’, Wageningen colleagues of the SDC research seminar and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.
Notes
[1] ‘Three causes of well-being’ (Ramstedt Citation2009, Citation2014; Sutawan Citation2008b).
[2] As per September 10, 2014.
[3] See http://kgdharmaputra.blogspot.nl/2009/12/tri-hita-karana-award-and-accreditation.html accessed 15 October 2014.
[4] Around 92 per cent of the population of Bali are Hindu (see Editorial Introduction).
[5] Since the 1970s the culture concept itself has been much criticised in social anthropology (see Gupta and Ferguson Citation2006).
[6] For instance, a growing scientific interest in water rights and how they are negotiated by social actors (Spiertz Citation1991, Citation2000; Sutawan Citation2000).
[7] Though not often mentioned in the subak literature, such tensions may be quite common. Parker's (Citation2003) research also puts into perspective images of the subak as egalitarian and democratic, pointing to the subordinate and marginalised position of small landowners and tenants.
[8] Translation by the authors.
[9] THK is not mentioned in a recent journal special on the subak (Human Ecology 39 (1), February 2011). Nor does Lansing (Citation1991) mention it. Mitchell (Citation1994) mentions it in a very general sense. In the project in which he was involved it was primarily propagated by academics and the Provincial Planning Board BAPPEDA (Bruce Mitchell, personal communication March 15, 2014).
[10] Interview with Freek Bakker, Utrecht, September 23, 2014.
[11] This required fulfilling a number of conditions derived from the ‘world religions’ including one god, a holy book, a prophet and international recognition (see Picard Citation2004).
[12] Balinese Hinduism was recognised as a ‘religion’ in 1963 (Picard Citation2011b).
[13] This section on policy is based on the extensive experiences of the second author with interventions in the subak domain. See also Lorenzen and Lorenzen Citation2008.
[14] Rp. 1 million equals around USD82 (November 2014).
[15] See http://www.bisnisbali.com/2012/07/02/news/badung/n.html accessed 5 July 2012.
[16] Note it being referred to as ‘property’ in the UNESCO documents, to be negotiated with a ‘state partner’ in ‘consultation’ with local stakeholders.
[17] See http://whc.unesco.org/archive/2008/whc08-32com-inf8B1e.pdf accessed 25 July 2012.
[18] The framing of the ‘property’ to be conserved seems to follow Lansing's (Citation1991) analysis of the subak as governed by a hierarchy of water temples. Lansing played an advisory role in the nomination; see http://uanews.org/story/ua-anthropologist-authors-world-heritage-site-in-bali accessed 10 August 2013.
[19] See http://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/1483 accessed 10 August 2013.
[20] Note that UNESCO's stress on uniqueness (unique culture, unique institutions, unique landscapes) reproduces and strengthens the self image of Balinese as members of a unique culture.
[21] After pressure by UNESCO, regional regulations (PERDA) for the subak were drafted on 30 November 2012 (see http://www.antaranews.com/berita/345353/unesco-desak-bupati-keluarkan-perda-subak accessed 22 February 2013).
[22] See note 21.