Ecotourism and Malaysia’s Orang Asli: the social construction of indigeneity in community boundary-drawing

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study conducted in Malaysia’s Belum-Temengor Forest Reserve applies the concept of indigeneity as a social construct to examine status ascription by two competing groups: the Orang Asli and the Malays. Through indigeneity, the Orang Asli assert themselves as the rightful inhabitants of Belum-Temengor and brand the Malays as outsiders. By contrast, the Malays downplay indigeneity and describe themselves as ‘the locals’ whose entrepreneurism should be lauded. Tourism in Belum-Temengor influences the discourse of indigeneity in two paradoxical ways – it reinforces the Orang Asli’s indigeneity by accentuating the indigenous culture in tourism products; but it also exerts the pressure of assimilation as a pre-condition of participation. The theoretical implication lies in demonstrating that the interplay of indigeneity influences the socio-psychological boundary of a community, such that a group that sees itself as part of a community is considered by the competing group to be the outsider.

KEYWORDS:

• Community conflict
• ecotourism
• indigenous people
• Malaysia
• social construction of indigeneity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Monash University Malaysia, School of Business seed grant no. B-5-19.