POLITIK IDENTITAS MASYARAKAT PERBATASAN INDONESIA-MALAYSIA: KASUS BADAU DI KAPUAS HULU, KALIMANTAN BARAT

Abstract

Border area studies has become extremely important since the state border creates tensions of sovereignty
and identity in relations between Indonesia and ten other neighboring countries. Border area cannot
perceive as only a neutral area without any meanings as it becomes a mirror of the nation since it is the
entrance for the coming of people and goods from other countries. The border area therefore is not only
a statement of the administrative line of the country that is influential for the sovereignty, but also of
the cultural line to stress identity. This article shows that administrative-political border which divides
Dayak Iban become two parts has also created the tension between state-society in the border area, as the
nationalism has to face the distressed ethnic identities. Dual existence of the ethnic group is influential on
the maintenance of identity and nationalism of the border community, which shows a challenge to the
role of the state. Moreover, the living condition of Dayak Iban in Badau is in contrast to the Dayak Iban
in Lubok Antu, which is more prosperous. The fact that the people in the border area live in scarcity,
adversity, and inadequate has delegitimated the state existence that challenges the national identity. The
situation has produced the fact that people of Badau perform three identities: as a border society (politics),
as part of the Iban community (cultural), and as part of global society (economy). The findings sharpen
Foote and Burke’s theory by presenting that identity is not only determined by the structural relations, but
also developed through contested process where the actors also produce meanings to state their existence.