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List of contents
I: Starting points, theoretical and factual -- The ecological approach in anthropology -- The limitation of traditional approaches -- Cultural ecology -- Two types of ecosystem -- Inner vs. outer Indonesia -- Swidden -- Sawah -- II: The crystallization of the pattern -- The classical period -- The colonial period: foundations -- The company -- The culture system -- The colonial period: Florescence -- The corporate plantation system -- The development of outer Indonesia -- III: The outcome -- Comparisons and prospects -- The present situation -- Java and Japan -- The outline of the future
About the author
Clifford James Geertz (August 23, 1926 – October 30, 2006) was an American anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology, and who was considered "for three decades...the single most influential cultural anthropologist in the United States." He served until his death as professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.
Summary
Offers an account of Indonesian agricultural history, covering the period of Dutch control, from 1619 to 1942. Drawing on ecology, sociology, and economics, this book provides a description of the most crucial dilemma in contemporary Indonesia.
Additional text
"Although Geertz composed Agricultural Involution some fifty years ago, it remains relevant to this day. . . . it is difficult not to draw parallels to current political ecology issues across the globe. How the land is used, and at what social and environmental costs, is material to the whole of humanity and the ramifications are at a tipping point. In that sense, Agricultural Involution was ahead of its time."
