Seeing Southeast Asia through a sea-nomadic lens II

Panel Convenor(s)

• MB

  Maxime Boutry

  Centre Asie du Sud-Est (CASE) - French National Centre for Scientific Research, France

Panel Chair(s)

• CC

  Cynthia Chou

  Center for Asian and Pacific Studies - University of Iowa, United States

Presenter(s)

• SC

  Supang Chantavanich

  Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Co-Presenter(s)

• NA

  Narumon Arunotai

  Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Presenter(s)

• WA

  Wengki Ariando

  Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
• GB

  Geoffrey Benjamin

  Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

The distribution of Austronesian peoples over thousands of miles of coastline in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as the diversity of affiliated groups and their associated livelihoods – encompassing sea nomads, hunter-gatherers and farming societies – have drawn interest from archaeological, linguistics, genetic and anthropological studies over the last decades. As part of this population, Western Austronesian sea nomads – Moken, Moklen, Urak Lawoi, among others  – whose roles in history have long been overlooked, were more recently brought back to the academic forefront through archaeological and anthropological studies. While multidisciplinary perspectives have been encouraged, social science and anthropology in particular still seem disconnected from other fields such as archaeology, linguistics, and genetics. Besides, geography also interferes with research. This is the case with sea-nomadic groups who are traditionally divided into Eastern Austronesians (for our purpose, mainly the Bajau/Sama divided into a multitude of groups with various ethnonyms) located in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, and Western Austronesians (Moken, Moklen and Urak Lawoi) located on the Malay Peninsula. This arbitrary division does not allow us to situate the “Sea People” of the “Center” (such as the Orang Suku Laut and Seletar) who can be found in Singapore, Riau, or Lingga. This is due to the difference in scale and therefore in scientific production, the East Austronesians being much more numerous and spread over a larger maritime area, therefore dominating the scientific literature.

We hope in this panel to bridge this gap and explore the similarities and points of divergence between the marine nomads of these three large cultural groups. Can ideological strategies developed by the nomads such as “dissimilation”, “ethnic segmentation” or the “Pivot Strategy” still be observed nowadays? What are the present strategies developed by sea nomads to maintain their identity, and what is their capacity for resilience? Through a comparative analysis of nomadic groups’ linguistic and cultural strategies, the publication aims at shedding new light on the relationship between sedentary and nomadic populations by acknowledging the proactive role the latter took in shaping such relations. As of today, most of the literature dealing with relationships between nomadic and sedentary populations has endorsed quite a functionalist approach as to how nomadic populations interacted with larger trade networks. Focusing on cultural strategies of resistance, negotiation and ideological choices, this book aims at bringing forward a vision of maritime Southeast Asia through the nomads’ lens.

Presentations:

• 11:15 – 13:00 (GMT+7)

  Nationality, Social Space and integration: Challenges  for the Sea Nomads in Thailand
  

  Presenter: Supang Chantavanich – Chulalongkorn University

  Co-Presenter: Narumon Arunotai – Chulalongkorn University
• 11:15 – 13:00 (GMT+7)

  The Bajau communities in Indonesia: A false dichotomy in co-management for coastal conservation and tourism impetus
  

  Presenter: Wengki Ariando – Chulalongkorn University
• 11:15 – 13:00 (GMT+7)

  Moklenic, Chamic, Aslian: Ancient Connections
  

  Presenter: Geoffrey Benjamin – Nanyang Technological University