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Cultural Resilience in the Face of globalization: Lessons from the Penan of Borneo

Human Ecology volume 50, pages 447–462 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

We examine the concept of cultural resilience among the eastern Penan community of Long Lamai in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. Long Lamai is in the Heart of Borneo, a global conservation priority region that contains some of the planet’s most biologically diverse equatorial rainforest habitats. The Penan have undergone significant and rapid evolutions in their lifestyle, including transitioning from being a nomadic tribe living and subsisting wholly in the rainforest to a settled community in the village of Long Lamai over the past 60 years. We utilize participatory research methods to examine how the Penan indigenous community defines resilience and how this relates to aspects of their cultural identity that they want to maintain in the face of globalization. Results identify which dimensions of culture are relevant to Penan resilience and provide insights into enhancing indigenous communities’ cultural resilience.

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Fig. 1

Data availability statement

The qualitative data generated during the current study are not publicly available due to the cultural protocol with the community of Long Lamai and are only available with the expressed free, prior, and informed consent of the Penan community of Long Lamai, Sarawak, Malaysia.

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Acknowledgements and ethical statement

We would like to express our thanks to the Penan community of Long Lamai, under the leadership of Village Headman Wilson Bian Belare’, for collaborating with us in this research endeavor to document their stories of resilience. We are also grateful to the Long Lamai community for welcoming us into their homes. We are also appreciative of Franklin George for his skilled Penan to English translations. Thanks also goes to the Global Citizenship and Sustainability program students for their assistance in organizing and facilitating the community meetings and to Treijon Johnson for his assistance with the annotated bibliography. Each co-author has read and approved the manuscript and has no conflicts of interest.

Funding

Funding was provided by the Cornell University Office of Engagement Initiatives and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (University of Malaysia).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Conservation Social Sciences, Dept. of Natural Resources and the Environment, Department of Global Development, Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 14850, Ithaca, NY, United States

    Shorna Allred Ph.D.

  2. Century Industrial Centre, 33-35 Au Pui Wan Street Fo Tan Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong

    Roger Harris Ph.D.

  3. School of Computing and Creative Media Advanced Centre for Sustainable Socio-Economic and Technological Development (ASSET), University of Technology Sarawak (UTS), Jalan Universiti, 96000, Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia

    Tariq Zaman Ph.D.

  4. Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Institute of Social Informatics and Technological Innovations, Universiti of Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia

    Narayanan Kulathuramaiyer Ph.D.

  5. Long Lamai Community, Research Liaison, Long Lamai, Sarawak, Malaysia

    Garen Jengan

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  1. Shorna Allred Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Shorna Allred Ph.D..

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Compliance with ethical standards

The research was carried out under Human Subjects protocol #1008001625 and the cultural protocol of the Penan community of Long Lamai with free and prior informed consent for all participants. This research was carried out under the village of Long Lamai’s cultural protocol, which includes transparent communication with village Headman and leaders, community engagement in research activities, clear communication and understanding of expectations, sharing and protection of indigenous knowledge, and opportunity to review publications and other research outputs before submission.

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Allred, S., Harris, R., Zaman, T. et al. Cultural Resilience in the Face of globalization: Lessons from the Penan of Borneo. Hum Ecol 50, 447–462 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-022-00319-3

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Keywords

  • Indigenous community
  • Visual charting
  • Nomadic lifestyle
  • Global citizenship
  • Cultural resilience
  • Penan
  • Long Lamai
  • Sarawak
  • Borneo
  • Malaysia