Writing for, versus about, the ethnographic other: Issues of engagement and reflexivity in working with a tribal NGO in Indonesia

This article examines current thinking about the divide between the ethnogr aphic subject and object, based on my recent work with a Dayak NGO in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. I suggest that the increasing complexity of relation s between ethnographer and subject, as in my involvement with this NGO, nec essitates some rethinking of our concept of the ethnographic project. I arg ue, first, that this new ethnographic order of things challenges us to thin k strategically about the need to counter rather than critique monolithic r epresentations. There may be a need for us to contribute to the constructio n of representation, rather than to avoid representation. Second, I argue t hat we need to worry less about the unintended consequences of our study of local organizations and movements, and to worry more about the intended co nsequences of our relative lack of study of central institutions of power. The proliferation of local organizations challenges us to rethink key ethno graphic boundaries, not just between subject and object, but also between t he center and periphery of the discipline, between North and South, and bet ween modern and post-modern paradigms.