Freedom in Entangled Worlds

“[A]n interesting hybrid of an anthropological study crossed with an accessible history of the separatist movement in West Papua, Indonesia. . . . The book provides an engrossing history of the past two decades of this region, as well as a pointed narrative that implicates the Indonesian government and the multinational corporations seeking West Papua's natural resources in grave human rights abuses and promotion of state terror. . . . [A] useful addition to undergraduate collections on human rights and politics, and on contemporary Southeast Asia. Recommended. All academic levels/libraries.” — S. Maxim, Choice

“Kirksey's highly-analytical, richly-detailed account of the international, Indonesian and local power realities that underly the current Papuan People's struggle is groundbreaking. No sound understanding of that struggle is possible without this analysis.” — Ed McWilliams, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network

“[A]n extraordinary and also risk laden piece of fieldwork. . . . [Kirksey’s] banyan is both domination and subversion, growing down toward the dirty but nourishing soil of history and up toward the light of future possibilities,” — Celia Lowe, Kroeber Anthropological Society Journal

“Readers cannot help ask themselves at what point does the consumer of these resources also take responsibility for their first world lifestyle? Eben Kirksey answers that questioning by finishing the book with a call for an ethical and political transformation through the imaging of open-ended possibilities, a powerful lesson he learnt from imbuing the spirit of the merdeka and so the spirit of the land of West Papua.” — C. F. Black, Leonardo Reviews

“The struggle in West Papua is as extraordinary as it is complex. But Kirksey is a gifted narrator and patient guide. Combining metaphor, mysticism and allegory with the hard positivist data of the most rigorous investigator, Kirksey delivers a brilliant read wrapped up with enormous insight. He does the struggle for freedom in West Papua a great service.” — Jason MacLeod, Inside Indonesia

“With its highly creative, mid-range theoretical innovations Freedom in Entangled Worlds will be of special interest to theoretical anthropologists studying social movements. Its brevity and adventurous tone will make the book an excellent fit in a theory class for talented undergraduates or junior grad students. Although I enjoy dabbling in French post-structural literary theory and psychoanalysis it has never been clear to me until now just how we are to connect that to the ethnographic. I felt that I came away from this book with a clearer understanding of some difficult primary authors and an appreciation for how anthropology can be relevant on a global stage.” — Matt Thompson, Savage Minds

“[O]ne of the delights of Kirksey’s book is his determination to see events from multiple angles and to bring together a wide range of well researched materials to tell the political story of Papua from a resolutely human perspective. We are treated to wonderful descriptions of vibrant political characters and detailed descriptions of infamous encounters.”  — Leslie Butts, American Ethnologist

“As an ethnographic account, Kirksey’s analysis is beneficial for an understanding of the complexity of Papuan aspirations...” — Budi Hernawan, Contemporary South Asia

“This very rich combination of personal reportage, history, interviews, and blow-by-blow narration of conflicts will draw its readers closely into the entanglements it describes.” — Andrew J. Strathern and Pamela J. Stewart (Strathern), Journal of Anthropological Research

“[E]xtensively researched…. [I]t will be welcomed by scholars and historians seeking to understand the many entanglements of this part of New Guinea.  It raises important questions about the collusions between corporations and governments, and can help us read between the lines of news articles and annual reports.” — Larry M. Lake, Pacific Affairs

“I would recommend this book to those who are interested in reading about indigenous independence movements, people who are curious about how even remote areas of the world often play an important part in the world system, and to sociologists and anthropologists who are interested in conducting an ethnography that is very informative, scholarly and enjoyable to read.” — Michael A. Long, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics

“The persuasive insight and analysis applied to what he learns usefully moves beyond anthropology and draws from debates in political science, cultural studies and human rights discourses to explain events both in their localised context, and in their relationship to wider international phenomena.” — Marcus Campbell, Anthropological Forum

“Freedom in Entangled Worlds would be useful not only to students and researchers interested in West Papua itself, but also to those looking at how social movements arise and are sustained, the nature of current, ongoing independence struggles and, above all, the entangled nature of power in the twenty-first century.” — Morgan Harrington, The Australian Journal of Anthropology

“Much of the interest of the book lies in Eben Kirksey’s beautifully rendered accounts of his encounters with Papuan activists and leaders, and in his analysis of key events.” — Edward Aspinall, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies

“Freedom in Entangled Worlds is an impressive and poignant study of the fight for self-determination, the interplay of collaboration and imagination, and what it means to inhabit a world of hope... Freedom in Entangled Worlds is essential reading for anyone interested in the political history of West Papua.”  — Judith Bovensiepen, PoLAR

“Freedom in Entangled Worlds is an excellent ethnographic investigation of the independence movement in West Papua and of its finding "freedom in entangled worlds" after the fall of Soeharto in 1998. It is courageously and rigorously researched, elegantly written, and — with its photographs of West Papua — visually rich.” — Jacqueline A. Siapno, Sojourn

“Freedom in Entangled Worlds offers fresh insights into political, cultural, and colonial conditions in West Papua; it is much more than an explication of indigenous activism and Indonesian rebuttals. Kirksey does much to improve our understanding of the entangled worlds at war in West Papua as political activists encounter the Indonesian reform movement, government security forces, and global capitalists.”   — Jenny Munro, Contemporary Pacific

"A clear understanding of the international diplomatic history that brought West Papuans under Indonesian rule, and of a widespread desire to escape that rule through performing sovereignty claims for outsiders."  — David Webster, Comparative Studies in Society and History