In the recent international campaigns against child marriage, there is a puzzle of agency: while international human rights institutions celebrate when girls exercise their agency not to marry,... Show moreIn the recent international campaigns against child marriage, there is a puzzle of agency: while international human rights institutions celebrate when girls exercise their agency not to marry, they do not recognize their agency to marry. ‘Child marriage’, defined as “any formal marriage or informal union where one or both of the parties are under 18 years of age”, is considered always forced, assuming that children are not capable of consenting to marriages. In order to re-examine, reflect, and discuss this approach to agency, this dissertation offers empirical evidence of child marriage, based on findings from the author’s fieldwork in Indonesia. Why children marry and how this practice both informs, and is treated within, multiple competing normative frameworks in place? The dissertation starts from analysing child marriage discourse at the international level, moves to discuss the political contestation over child marriage at the national level (Indonesia), and then investigates child marriage as a social practice on the Indonesian island of Bali.This is a socio-legal study of international human rights, which contributes to the scholarly field of human rights and children’s rights by using ideas from the other disciplines in social science. Show less
A lamak is a long narrow hanging that is an essential requirement at most rituals in Bali. Made usually of palm leaves, it is by nature ephemeral. Although permanent forms of lamak, made of... Show more A lamak is a long narrow hanging that is an essential requirement at most rituals in Bali. Made usually of palm leaves, it is by nature ephemeral. Although permanent forms of lamak, made of cloth or coins, exist, the ephemeral palm leaf form must be present. Hung from altars and shrines, a lamak serves as base for offerings and attracts deities and deified ancestors to them. Decorative motifs representing sources of life are ordered according to Balinese concepts of the vertical structure of the cosmos. Through offerings and the active role of the lamak, worshippers offer thanks to their deities and request prosperity and protection. Despite decades of change and modernization in Bali, the role of the lamak has survived intact. This is the first study to examine in detail this unique form of ephemeral material culture which is a prominent aspect of Balinese creativity. The study answers the question: why do Balinese make lamak and why do they continue to make them time and again? It examines the use and function of the lamak in ritual, the motifs that decorate them, the materials and techniques to make them, regional and individual styles, and processes of change and commercialization. Show less
The general aim of this ethno-botanical study is to document, describe and analyse the Balinese community members__ knowledge, belief and practices with regard to medicinal, aromatic and cosmetic ... Show moreThe general aim of this ethno-botanical study is to document, describe and analyse the Balinese community members__ knowledge, belief and practices with regard to medicinal, aromatic and cosmetic (MAC) plants in relation to community health and bio-cultural diversity conservation of MAC plants. This study has been conducted in four sample villages in the central-south-eastern part of Bali, Indonesia. The Ethnosystems Approach used in this study places the emic point of view central in studying the human-plant relations in Bali and focuses on the Knowledge-Belief-Practice complex of the health and healing practices. This study acknowledges the __inextricable link__ between nature, society, language and culture, conceptualised in the term bio-cultural diversity, expressing the relationship between biological and cultural diversity. The data collection and analyses using complementary qualitative and quantitative research techniques focuses on the community members__ reported use of fresh MAC plants as home remedies in the wider context of the Balinese pluralistic medical configuration. In addition, it seeks to explain whether their behaviour exhibits a sustainable character towards both the conservation of the diversity of MAC plants in terms of genes, species and ecosystems and to the conservation of the local knowledge, beliefs and practical applications of the MAC plants. Show less
