Merdeka in West Papua: Peace, Justice and Political Independence

Authors

  • Camellia Webb-Gannon University of Western Sydney

Keywords:

West Papua, peace, justice, independence, merdeka, unity

Abstract

The vision for "Papua merdekaor a "peaceful, just and necessarily politically independent Papua" is perhaps the most powerful force of unity among West Papua's indigenous peoples. This article explores the origins of this supra-uniting vision and provides examples of how merdeka is envisaged by West Papuans as the best outcome of their struggle for peace with justice. It critiques the contested meanings of the term but demonstrates that there is considerable unity among West Papuan leaders regarding its components, and in the belief that merdeka cannot prevail in Papua without political inde pendence from Indonesia.

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Published

2014-11-30

How to Cite

Webb-Gannon, C. (2014). Merdeka in West Papua: Peace, Justice and Political Independence. Anthropologica, 56(2), 353–367. Retrieved from https://cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/anthropologica/article/view/550

Issue

Vol. 56 No. 2 (2014): Ending War and Sustaining Peace in Pacific Societies

Section

Thematic Section:

License

Copyright (c) 2014 Camellia Webb-Gannon

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