Circular Commoning: Sustaining Dayak Bahau Agency Amid Political and Ecological Change

Swidden practices create distinctive agricultural systems deeply situated in local culture, but many of these systems are experiencing transformation and demise around the tropical world. Through varied types of commoning, however, Indigenous groups continue swidden practices as part of their identity and livelihoods. In this article, we explore how the Bahau communities in Indonesia negotiate with the state and private institutions, enabling them to maintain their agricultural traditions as fundamental to their standing as Indigenous People. We apply a commoning framework that prioritizes historical context, adaptation, and collective decision-making in managing the commons. We focus on the Bahau communities residing in the regencies of Mahakam Ulu, West Kutai, and Samarinda City in the Province of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. We conducted field observations and in-depth interviews. We found that despite fading collective labor mobilization systems and lepo pare (public granary) in Bahau communities, various practices persist that shape and sustain community identity, whose inherent value has influenced local state governance. The Bahau prioritize maintaining their livelihoods and exerting a sizable bargaining power over local rules and policies. This creates a circular commoning dynamic and produces a continuous cycle of commons. Such commoning stems from a commitment to traditional values, community-focused local governance, democratic and flexible decision-making, and conflict resolution aligned with customary law. The Bahau’s commoning-driven adaptability in the contexts of political and ecological dynamics provides a constructive analytical framework to examine other communities that share similar principles despite the global pessimism about the resilience of Indigenous People.