Of Negotiable Boundaries and Fixed Lines in Borneo: Practices and Views of the Border in the Apo Kayan Region of East Kalimantan

The paper focuses on borders and boundaries as practiced, perceived, changed, and enforced by different actors in the Apo Kayan region, an isolated plateau in the interior of Indonesian Borneo at the border with Sarawak (Malaysia). The paper proposes a longitudinal and multi-faceted description of “border” that takes into account the complexity of its historical, political, economic, and cognitive connotations in the context of practices and interactions across the border. The combined ethnohistorical and cognitive approach of this study makes it possible to unravel the contradictions that are inherent in the concept of “border.” On the one hand, the representation of a border is a fixed and rigid line that restricts and prevents. On the other hand, the border can be experienced and construed as an open and variable boundary, a division that can be negotiated, on the basis of prevalent economic, social, and cultural considerations.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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