In the Shadow of the Palms: More-Than-Human Becomings in West Papua

by Sophie Chao

With In the Shadow of the Palms, Sophie Chao examines the multispecies entanglements of oil palm plantations in West Papua, Indonesia, showing how Indigenous Marind communities understand and navigate the social, political, and environmental demands of the oil palm plant. As Chao notes, it is no secret that the palm oil sector has destructive environmental impacts: it greatly contributes to tropical deforestation and is a major driver of global warming. Situating the plant and the transformations it has brought within the context of West Papua’s volatile history of colonization, ethnic domination, and capitalist incursion, Chao traces how Marind attribute environmental destruction not just to humans, technologies, and capitalism but also to the volition and actions of the oil palm plant itself. By approaching cash crops as both drivers of destruction and subjects of human exploitation, Chao rethinks capitalist violence as a multispecies act. In the process, Chao centers how Marind fashion their own changing worlds and foreground Indigenous creativity and decolonial approaches to anthropology.

Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award recipient

Genres: Anthropology, Ethnography, Environment, Nonfiction, Politics, History, Nature

336 pages, Paperback

Published June 24, 2022

Reviews

[Margaryta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chao's book is an example of how anthropology and posthumanist thinking can be grounded in Indigenous epistemologies, staying close and listening without overwriting key concepts - "wetness", "skin-ships", "being-in-the-grove", "being eaten by the palm" - using settler philosophical language. This book was also helpful in demonstrating how one can rethink how to discuss plants, as the oil palm is discussed as having agency while also being a victim to capitalist greed of agribusinesses. Chao's approach is admirable and worth noting. "In the Shadow of the Palms" feels more like a genuine engagement with the subject matter than an exploitative interjection, something I feel like more academic texts need to recognize and try to model. This book is one of the best examples of this that I have read so far.

[West Papua Women's Office · Rating 5 out of 5]

"They way Sophie writes ‘In the Shadow of the Palms’ allowed me to hear the voices of the Marind people of West Papua and learn of their relationship with their homeland, their sago kin and other kin, and their wisdom in dimensions of time and landscape / country-scape.

With honour and respect towards the Papuans, Sophie showed the complexities they face with the imposition of the Indonesian government and military control as well as the invasion of foreign investments, displacing them and their spiritual connection with their country and kin."

— Linda (West Papuan Rent Collective)

[Dillon Mahmoudi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots to learn about relationships to place, land, flora, and fauna, but challenging and hard to read in terms of method.

[Blake Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant, empathetic, insightful, and accessible work of ethnography. I'm in awe of the care and consideration that are so clearly woven into every passage. Essential reading.

[Rebecca Lester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book

This is one of the best ethnographies I’ve ever read. Truly excellent. Beautifully written and theoretically sophisticated, it’s a must read.

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

really exceptional to me, but would not recommend reading while concussed it is dense but in a good way

[Fitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favourite read this year. Chao and her informants description of living under the Indonesian occupation of West Papua is incredible. Thought provoking, beautifully written. I loved it.

[Winter Kuhaupt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The twink birth of Ruben the cassowary