As part of their end-of-semester assignment, Cultural Anthropology students taking the Rural Anthropology course went directly to the field, conducting research to deepen their understanding of the dynamics that occur in rural communities. In particular, the major theme researched by the students was the inequality that occurs in the village. This research was conducted in peri-urban areas around the Special Region of Yogyakarta, with the existence of a ringroad as a barrier to the definition of which area is a village area and which area is an urban area.

Throughout the lecture period, the material presented by Dr. Agung Wicaksono, M.A. as the lecturer of the course discussed a lot about the development of rural dynamics in Java – starting from the colonial era, the new order, reformation, to the present. Since the center of Indonesia’s government has always been in Java, the government’s control over villages in Java has also become a broader reflection of the government within the country. One of the impacts of government policies in rural Java is the emergence of various inequalities. Village officials had more land ownership rights than ordinary people. People who own land then have more capital to reap profits, especially when the New Order government began implementing the Green Revolution program. The landowners who benefited from the increase in capital during the green revolution were people who were influential in the village political sphere. One of the goals of the new order regime in implementing the green revolution program was to pacify the villagers, so that they would not create anti-government movements.

The traces of this inequality can still be seen in rural areas today. With the increase in the number of the newly rich (OKB) following the rise in market prices of some agricultural products in the early 2000s, wealth inequality has become increasingly visible in rural areas. For this reason, the end-of-semester assignment for this Rural Anthropology class was to go directly to the villages, to see the real situation unfolding there. The 76 students who took this class were divided into groups, each with 4-5 members. The villages visited included Hargowilis, Kokap District, Kulon Progo Regency; Gadingsari, Sanden District, Bantul Regency; and Sumber, Dukun District, Magelang Regency.

The group that went to Sumber Village, Magelang, consisted of four Cultural Anthropology students from batch 2023 – Agustina Herawati, Muhammad Syukur, Aisha Nur Fadillah, and Amadeus Abhirama. In a two-day research (November 26-27, 2024), the Sumber group tried to see how inequality arises, especially those related to gender. Sumber is a village on the slopes of Mount Merapi, with the majority of the population working as farmers. There is also a sand mining industry that has developed in recent years. From here, the Sumber group tried to see how the distribution of work and the division of tasks between the people in the village were compartmentalized between women and men. The research was conducted through in-depth interviews with residents and direct observation of the conditions around the village.

The Ethnography of the Papua Region lecture in the last week was held on November 18, 2024 at 16.00 WIB. Prof. Dr. Setiadi, M.Si. and Dr. Muh.Zamzam Fauzanafi, M.A. as the lecturers of the class presented Dr. Simon Abdi K. Frank, M.Si. who is a lecturer in Social Anthropology from Cenderawasih University, Jayapura. The meeting was conducted through a zoom meeting. The lecture began with an introduction to ethnography by discussing universal things, one of which is through the evolution of biology and culture so that phenotypes / visible characteristics are found which are categorized by the characteristics of the negroid race.

Questions and answers also took place, Dr. Simon showed a map of Papua and students were asked to guess what the map looked like. Some students mentioned that the map looked like a cassowary bird, some also mentioned that it looked like a dinosaur, kiwi bird, this made students and lecturers in the class discuss with each other. In addition, he also emphasized that when studying Papuan ethnography, it is inseparable from its environment, mythology, origin and so on, including talking about Papua New Guinea which is included in the process of Papua’s historical journey. Dr. Simon also said that when it comes to Papua, it is divided into customary areas. Prof. Koentjaraningrat, the father of anthropology, has also conducted research on West Irian, the mention of which varies but is currently more often called Papuan land referring to phenotypic characteristics. Finally, Prof. Dr. Setiadi hoped that the students will get a new understanding and if there are questions, they can be discussed further.

[Humas FIB UGM, Writer: Dewi, Editor: Sandya]

Tim dosen Antropologi Udayana Denpasar Bali  dibawah pimpinan Ibu Aliffiati,MSi. selaku Kepala Program Studi Antropologi Budaya, pada Senin 18 November 2024 melakukan benchmarking ke Departemen Antropologi, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya, Universitas Gadjah Mada. Kunjungan tersebut dimaksudkan untuk mengetahui implementasi SDGs dalam pelaksanaan riset  yang dilakukan dosen maupun mahasiswa. Tim Udayana juga berkunjung  ke Laboratorium untuk Riset dan Aksi (LAURA) Departemen Antropologi untuk belajar dan berdiskusi terkait dengan manajemen riset yang telah dilakukan. Dari Departemen Antropologi, FIB, UGM mereka disambut oleh Dr. Atik Triratnawati, M.A. dan Dr. Muhammad Zamzam Fauzanafi, M.A.

Kaprodi Antropologi Budaya, Dr. Atik Triratnawati, M.A., menjelaskan berbagai skema penelitian kolaborasi yang dilakukan dosen serta kewajiban mengaitkan riset mereka dengan tujuan SDGs. Sementara itu, Dr. Muh. Zamzam Faunafi, M.A. selaku ketua LAURA menjelaskan mengenai aplikasi Titen sebagai manajemen data dan analisa riset yang telah dipakai oleh dosen maupun mahasiswa Antropologi sejak tahun 2023. Lewat aplikasi Titen ini diharapkan semua mahasiswa Antropologi mampu mengaplikasikan ke dalam manajemen  risetnya. Selain itu, aplikasi Titen juga sudah dimanfaatkan oleh  mitra-mitra riset LAURA. Ke depan diharapkan aplikasi Titen bisa diadopsi seluruh mahasiswa UGM dan berlanjut ke mahasiswa luar negeri yang memiliki kerjasama dengan Departemen Antropologi UGM.

Friday, November 8, 2024 The Cultural Anthropology Student Family (KEMANT) UGM held a discussion session in Rembukant#4 entitled “Navigating the Journey: Building Self-Awareness of Positioning in Ethnographic Fieldwork”. The event was hosted by Keisia Haneswari, a Cultural Anthropology student class of 2022 with Dr. Elan Lazuardi S.Ant., M.A. as the guest speaker. Located in Room 523 Soegondo Building, Faculty of Arts UGM, this event was attended by cultural anthropology students from various generations.

Reflecting on the fieldwork experience of anthropologists, this discussion explored the journey of anthropological researchers which is not always smooth. Awkwardness, fear, rejection, loneliness, and even failure often haunt ethnographers’ fieldwork. Therefore, Rembukant#4 is here to provide a space for anthropology learners to reflect on issues that have not been widely discussed in the classroom.

The discussion opened with a question from the moderator related to questioning the position of researchers when doing fieldwork. The question was then thoroughly discussed by Dr. Elan Lazuardi related to the multiple identities that each researcher brings when in the field greatly affects the relationship between researchers and researchers which will then also affect the ethnographic knowledge produced. In the event, Dr. Elan also shared his fieldwork experience when researching the use of HIV health services, how his identity as a researcher determines his positionality towards his research. By realizing his positionality, the researcher can not only successfully complete his research but also build a reciprocal relationship with his researcher, as stated by Dr. Elan Lazuardi.

In the question and answer session, a number of participants asked questions and shared their experiences when facing confusing circumstances regarding their positionality in the field. After that, the discussion was closed with a group photo which also marked the end of the KEMANT Rembukant series this period.

[Public Relation FIB UGM, Author: Keisia Haneswari, Photo: Hawa Muzayyinah Niswah & Kinanti Rahmi Khoiri, Editor: Sandya]

Illustration: Daiva Keefe Kalimasadha and Novilatul Ananda Ramadhan

Journal of Anthropology Gazette Vol.3 No.1 is published again! It begins with a speech by the Editor in Chief of Anthropology Gazette, Prof. Dr. Pujo Semedi Hargo Yuwono, M.A, who elaborates five articles and one inspirational speech under one big umbrella theme, knowledge. In the context of knowledge, readers will be presented with the first article by Umami (2024), which examines the behavior patterns of farmers in Sindukarto Village, Wonogiri, in reducing the population of walang sangit as an agricultural pest into local food ingredients. Nabila and Wirawan (2024), through an ethnoscience approach, then conducted research on the accuracy of the pranata mangsa system – a system to predict traditional rice planting and harvesting schedules – with data on seasonal changes in 2023. Indraswari (2024) poses a research question on the efforts of waste workers to survive through their understanding of processing waste into economically valuable goods.

The last two articles will present how humans utilize technology as a medium of expression, both in the political realm and in the context of religious life (Priambada, 2024; Fakhrani, 2024). Priambada (2024) will look at the phenomenon of online Eucharist conducted by Catholic youth in Banyumanik since the Covid-19 pandemic took place. The use of technology in the form of mass media is also felt by students in understanding political actions at the 212 Action (Fakhrani, 2024).

Five Shopee drivers utilize franchise stores as a place to wait for orders (Juwita and Lazuardi, 2024).

In addition to the five main articles, this edition includes several complementary articles such as inspirational speeches, photo essays, and book reviews. Prof. Dr. Pujo Semedi Hargo Yuwono, M.A in his speech compares the history of agricultural transformation that occurred between the 1850s and 2010s for people in Java and South Germany. No less interesting, Juwita and Lazuardi (2024) in their essay present a portrait of the phenomenon of the dim communal space (basecamps) of online ojek drivers caused by several factors, one of which is due to the changing algorithms of the company. Finally, readers will be presented with a book review entitled Making Kin: Ecofeminist from Singapore written by Pratiwi (2024). This book contains a collection of essays written by women about their bodily experiences, self, gender, family, home, and community.

Through this collection of main and supplementary articles, we hope that readers can actively participate in developing knowledge and being critical of environmental, social and political phenomena in everyday life.

To read the full article content, visit our Anthropology Gazette OJS website: https://journal.ugm.ac.id/v3/LA/

[Public Relation FIB UGM, Writer: Irene Saphira P.Y, Editor: Sandya]