In the Shadow of the Palms

Sustainable Futures Reading Group reads In the Shadow of the Palms: More-Than-Human Becomings in West Papua (2022) by Sophie Chao. With an opening lecturette by Sebastian Lundsteen Nielsen, University of Stavanger/Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen.

With In the Shadow of the Palms, Sophie Chao examines the multispecies entanglements of oil palm plantations in West Papua, Indonesia, showing how Indigenous Marine 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 attributes 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 centres on how Marind fashion their own changing worlds and foreground Indigenous creativity and decolonial approaches to anthropology.

To be included in our refreshments order, please notify Emma Bondo by 23 April. You are most welcome to join without pre-registration.

The book should be available for purchase in Academic Books on South Campus.