Abstract
The egalitarian character of traditional irrigation (subak) systems in Bali has been widely documented and discussed by anthropologists, historians, and archaeologists. In a recent study, Stephen Lansing and Karyn Fox have considered how the principles of niche construction theory might help to understand the genesis of these systems, as well as certain of their institutional characteristics. Here I discuss how this approach might be extended, to include the relationship between subak systems and the hierarchical organization of the Balinese state, within which they exist. Just as the logistics of subak irrigation work to maintain a symbiosis between rice farmers and the non-human parasites (e.g. crop-pests) who surround them, so the ritual elaboration of the agrarian calendar works as a kind of cultural camouflage against the parasitical interests of the state. While in theory, these ecological and institutional dimensions of subak may seem to pertain to quite separate spheres of Balinese life, in practice they are intertwined aspects of a single system, which has allowed the subak to survive from their origins in the 11th century AD, down to their recent inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Highlights
In this short discussion, I want to look at some recent uses of Darwinian principles in the study of culture
As a way into this topic, I will consider an application by Stephen Lansing and Karyn Fox of ‘niche construction theory’ – an increasingly influential stream
Wengrow: Avoiding the Pestilence of the State southward from the island’s mountainous core, and on which the bulk of its rice crop is grown. In this part of the world irrigation canals, tunnels and weirs form part of a highly complex and unusual ecosystem that has taken form over the past thousand years, and which includes the enclosing forests, villages and hamlets, and a network of water temples located at springs or other key nodes along the watershed
Summary
I want to look at some recent uses of Darwinian principles in the study of culture. The actual extent of state involvement in the development of the subak system is historically controversial, and in applying the principles of niche construction theory – discussed below – Lansing and Fox are concerned to resolve a scholarly debate concerning its origins.
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