Negotiating Empowerment within Indigenous Structures: Socio-Cultural Pathways of Dani Women’s Economic Agency in Jayawijaya, Papua
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66168/69wcqz52Keywords:
Indigenous women empowerment, Dani women, Socio-cultural entrepreneurship, Papua, Gendered development governanceAbstract
This study examines how empowerment among Dani indigenous women in Jayawijaya, Papua emerges through socio-cultural negotiation rather than purely economic intervention. While indigenous women play central roles in subsistence agriculture, cultural preservation, and household economies, structural barriers related to gender norms, education access, and institutional recognition continue to limit their agency. Using a qualitative interpretive design, the research integrates indigenous entrepreneurship theory, gender and development perspectives, and social capital frameworks to analyze empowerment pathways grounded in local cultural systems. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, observations, and document analysis involving indigenous women, community leaders, and local governance actors. Findings indicate that empowerment is shaped by five interconnected domains: education access, local-resource-based entrepreneurship, health resilience, leadership participation, and cultural preservation. Rather than replacing traditional roles, effective empowerment strategies emerge when economic initiatives align with indigenous values and collective identities. Conceptually, the study reframes indigenous women’s empowerment as a structurally embedded relational process rather than a linear development outcome. By positioning empowerment within cultural governance and community networks, the research contributes to debates on contextualized gender development and indigenous entrepreneurship in peripheral regions.
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