LA EDUCACIÓN Y EL TRABAJO

Sociologist Johan Galtung describes such inequalities through the term “structural violence” (requoted in Parker 2012: Galtung 1969). John Galtung introduced the term structural violence to refer to a form of violence perpetrated by social and institutional structures. Such structures constrain human agency, making basic human needs

unattainable (Ho 2007, 3). In this paper, I investigate structural violence through socio- economic and cultural20 inequities that exist between in-migrant Indonesians and marginalized indigenous Papuans. Johan Galtung discusses “structural violence” as:

An avoidable impairment of fundamental human needs or, to put it in more general terms, the impairment of human life, which lowers the actual degree to which someone is able to meet their needs below that which would otherwise be possible (requoted in Parker 2012, 167: Galtung 1993). The violence is built into the structure and shows up as unequal power and consequently as unequal life chances (requoted in Parker 2012,167: Galtung 1969).

Jenny Munro explains the experience of inequity in education in Tanah Papua

with the concept of ‘Diminishment,’ using the Dani ethnic group as a case study.

Illiteracy in the Papua province is at a high 34.83% in the age group of 15 to 44 years vis- à-vis the national average of 2.30% (J. Elmslie 2013). Indonesians and Papuans’ see education as an equalizing tool that leads to upward social mobility and authority.

According to Munro, “Diminishment is a practice of Indonesian rule that shapes Dani experiences of literacy and educational achievement” (Munro 2013, 28). The                                                                                                                

20 _{Culture includes ethnic, religious and racial disparities. While, economic inequalities can occur due to}

Indonesian government is an active participant in creating the inequity in education that decreases the chances for Dani Papuans to prosper. The Indonesian bureaucracy

systematically lowers educational opportunities for indigenous people by delivering low quality schooling and poor access to schools from rural areas. This further contributes to their marginalization while empowering in-migrant Indonesians with better education. “In Papua, promises about the power of education to create modernity, development, equality, and inclusion take shape in relation to potent forms of diminishment that identify inadequacies allegedly possessed by the indigenous inhabitants” (Munro 2013, 29). In deeper regions of Papua, such as Jayawijaya, the illiteracy levels are about 60% (Munro 2013, 36). Munro argues that Indonesians often patronize Papuans, adding to their experience of diminishment. For example, Indonesian scholar Roosmalawati Rusman, states that Papuan students have “limited cognitive learning capacity and creativity” (requoted in Munro 2013, 30: Rusman 1998).

In addition, Richard Parker argues that structures place people in situations that increase their vulnerability (Parker 2012, 167). Medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer has further developed the theory of structural violence in relation to health and illness, suggesting that structural violence is “not the result of accident or a force majeure; it is the direct or indirect consequence of human agency” (requoted in Parker 2012, 167: Farmer 2005). Parker elaborates Farmer’s view:

…unequal distribution of power in society is the root cause of structural violence, and that it creates disproportionate life chances because of disease or poverty. This unequal distribution of power systematically disadvantages – and therefore discriminates against those who hold little or no power in society (Parker 2012, 167).

Bank and International Monetary Fund, have played a role in creating wider disparities between what he calls the “oppression and power” through “regulations imposed by the wealthy societies and cherished authoritarian rulers and corrupt elites in the poorer countries, contribute substantially to the persistence of severe poverty” (Pogge 2002, 115). In Farmer’s view, institutions have contributed to structural violence against the poor and marginalized. This is supported by Allen’s argument that HIV/AIDS polices have been mostly effective where they have been implemented among the elite or people living in wealthy countries (Allen 2004, 1123). Sandy Restrepo Jerez uses Burma as an example of ‘institutional violence,’ where the Junta (the state’s law and order restoration council) forced a majority of medical professionals to leave Burma, leading to scarcity of HIV/AIDS health professionals (requoted in Jerez 2014, 33: Beyer 1998, 89-90).

Research shows that structural violence is one of the reasons for the poor delivery of health services for indigenous groups in Tanah Papua, at provincial and district levels. Carole Reckinger and Antoine Lemaire’s research indicates that the government has not succeeded in setting up health care services and infrastructure in rural areas. Their research also points toward the absence of trust on behalf of indigenous Papuans who consider the health staff to be inefficient and lacking interest in the well being of indigenous people (Reckinger and Lemaire 2013). A case study done in the northern highlands in Thailand tells a similar story, where poverty and isolation have resulted in the Hmong people rejecting the condom promotion campaigns. They view the campaigns as a strategy to shrink the Hmong population (requoted in Jerez 2014, 33: Symonds 2004, 355; Kammerer et al. 1995, 68).

obstacles for indigenous Papuans to access health care services. In addition to the lack of access, the built in stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS further

handicaps people to seek help or prevention information.