This ISG will present findings from a collaborative research project that examines the livelihoods and future-making practices of rural youth in South Sulawesi.&
Event details
Time: 9:30-11:00am WIB // 12:30-2:00pm AEST
Join in-person: McDonald Room, Menzies Library, ANU
Join online: bit.ly/ISG_indonesiaproject
Abstract
Despite increasing livelihood precarity and the impacts of unequal processes of agrarian change, many of Indonesia’s rural youth continue to hope for a better future. This presentation will discuss findings from a collaborative research project between Australian and Indonesian research institutions, which examined the livelihoods and future-making practices of rural youth in South Sulawesi. While previous research describes the livelihood constraints facing rural youth throughout Indonesia, fewer studies have centered hope in their analyses of how young people rework uneven trajectories of change. Our study found that feelings of hope are embodied in the varied ways youth face, renegotiate, and plan their futures in rural places, at different times, and across different life stages. Rural youth hope for a better future and actively embark on activities – from migration, education and local entrepreneurialism – to realise these futures. However, feelings of hopefulness are shaped and constrained by underlying class and gender dimensions (including prospects for land ownership), as well as societal expectations. The study foregrounds the importance of young people’s hopes and subjective emotions in shaping the pursuit of livelihood trajectories and processes of ‘future-making’ in rural spaces.
Closed captioning will be available for all online Zoom presentations. If you are attending in person and require accessibility accommodations or a visitor Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP), please contact the ANU Indonesia Project at Indonesia.Project@anu.edu.au
Event Speakers
Christina Griffin
Christina is a Senior Lecturer with the Department of Resources, Environment and Development at the Crawford School of Public Policy. She is an interdisciplinary human geographer with a keen interest in the study of natural hazards, climate change adaptation, and rural livelihoods.