Chaos in Sarawak's Rainforest

The following perspective originated as an oral presentation in a seminar celebrating the 25 year anniversary of the journal CHAOS in Copenhagen, Denmark, spring 2007. A revised version in Danish will appear in a subsequent issue of CHAOS. The theme of the seminar was, of course, “chaos”, and I chose to present some of my findings from an ongoing fieldwork among the Penan in Borneo. At the time of writing this brief introduction I am preparing two more trips into the forest of Sarawak, and hopefully much more data will appear. At this point I have published two articles and a chapter for a book pertaining to this project. The reader is encouraged to read these texts, and the other titles in the bibliography noted here, in order to reach a more comprehensive understanding of the topic before us. A culture goes down The Penan inhabits the western and northern parts of Borneo, primarily the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Until quite recently they were able to sustain themselves in the same way as their forefathers, as nomads living in the vast rain forests. There are three reasons why their traditional way of life is coming to an end: Firstly, the forest is simply disappearing due to ruthless exploitation. Tropical hardwood makes a tremendous profit on the Chinese and Japanese markets, which has lead to an immense ecological disaster. Secondly, but linked to the problem of deforestation, the Malaysian government wants the Penan out of the forest in order to reach the national goal of becoming a modern, industrialised nation in the nearer future. In the “modern world ” people cannot live in the jungle! Thirdly, the Penan are subjected to Christian missionaries that systematically aim at deconstructing their religious and intellectual heritage. Malaysia is predominantly Islamic, but the Christians are allowed to roam freely among the Penan, as long as their efforts help th