Foreword / Maya Soetoro-Ng  ix

Editors’ Preface / Alice Dewey and Nancy Cooper  xi

Acknowledgments  xxvii

Supplementary Materials (a sampling of S. Ann Dunham’s field notes, a letter, and maps)  xxxi

Introduction  1

The Socioeconomic Organization of Metalworking Industries  40

Kajar, a Blacksmithing Village in Yogyakarta  82

Relevant Macrodata  155

Government Interventions  196

Conclusions and Development Implications  249

Appendix  283

Notes  287

Glossary of Metalworking Terms  299

Afterword: Ann Dunham, Indonesia, and Anthropology—A Generation On / Robert W. Hefner  317

Bibliography  331

Index  345

Maya Soetoro-Ng

Alice G. Dewey

Nancy I. Cooper

Robert W. Hefner

“Indicating there is a great deal to be learned about Javanese life, Dunham’s substantial contribution offers an understanding of economic activity from the perspective of village-level metalworkers subject to government-sponsored development policies and programs. This intense, detailed description of economic and social village life is thick description culminating from 14 years of fieldwork. . . . [A] superior close-up ethnography. A must read for general audiences interested in a mother’s influence on her famous son’s life, and for specialists with a yearning for micro-studies of economic process in small-scale societies.”—S. Ferzacca, Choice

“[T]he editors and Duke University Press did a wonderful job with this book. It is lovingly put together, and it will become the definitive source for anyone wanting to understand the ethical and intellectual make-up of Dunham, as well as blacksmithing and more generally village crafts in Indonesia. . . . This book—an estimable ethnography in its own right—is of unique interest precisely for . . . for the light it sheds on how Dr. Dunham’s work may have shaped her son and, thereby, his presidency.”—Michael Dove, Anthropological Quarterly

“[Dunham’s] dissertation reveals, in its study of a single village, the dense textures of culture inherent in any one place. To read it is to learn the history, beliefs, and skill of nearly every inhabitant of the village; its intricate and evolving social, religious, and class structures; its cultural formation through centuries of foreign and indigenous influence. . . . [O]ne cannot help admiring both the complexity of Kajar and the industry of Ann Dunham.” (page 86 of The Bridge)—David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker and author of The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama

“Surviving against the Odds is a testament to [Dunham’s] lifelong passion for working for the development of rural populations around the world.” —Dinesh Sharma, Asia Times

“[T]his book is a fascinating and important scholarly piece of work. It’s a good reminder that Ann not only had a sharp intellect, but was a perfectionist as well, and a hard-working one at that. Her work is extremely well-documented, with hard statistical data making her book extremely detailed and well informed. At the same time, Ann’s book—like her—is deeply empathetic. Full of evocative descriptions of the lives of the villagers she worked with, the book is a testament of her commitment to the development of the lives of rural and marginalized peoples all around the world. Ann was an internationalist with a global outlook, but it was Indonesia and its people that became the love of her life, and her passion also comes through in her book, something all too rare in academic writing.”—Julia Suryakusuma, Jakarta Post

“Surviving against the Odds . . . tells us a lot about Ann Dunham as an anthropologist who combined moral commitment to help the powerless
with pragmatic policy solutions. . . . Ann Dunham used her anthropological knowledge as a practical weapon and a spiritual talisman, hoping that through it, and by imparting its values to her children, she could bring into being the changes she deeply wished to see in Indonesia and the world.”—Janet Hoskins, Anthropology Now

“Indicating there is a great deal to be learned about Javanese life, Dunham’s substantial contribution offers an understanding of economic activity from the perspective of village-level metalworkers subject to government-sponsored development policies and programs. This intense, detailed description of economic and social village life is thick description culminating from 14 years of fieldwork. . . . [A] superior close-up ethnography. A must read for general audiences interested in a mother’s influence on her famous son’s life, and for specialists with a yearning for micro-studies of economic process in small-scale societies.”—S. Ferzacca, Choice

“[T]he editors and Duke University Press did a wonderful job with this book. It is lovingly put together, and it will become the definitive source for anyone wanting to understand the ethical and intellectual make-up of Dunham, as well as blacksmithing and more generally village crafts in Indonesia. . . . This book—an estimable ethnography in its own right—is of unique interest precisely for . . . for the light it sheds on how Dr. Dunham’s work may have shaped her son and, thereby, his presidency.”—Michael Dove, Anthropological Quarterly

“[Dunham’s] dissertation reveals, in its study of a single village, the dense textures of culture inherent in any one place. To read it is to learn the history, beliefs, and skill of nearly every inhabitant of the village; its intricate and evolving social, religious, and class structures; its cultural formation through centuries of foreign and indigenous influence. . . . [O]ne cannot help admiring both the complexity of Kajar and the industry of Ann Dunham.” (page 86 of The Bridge)—David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker and author of The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama

“Surviving against the Odds is a testament to [Dunham’s] lifelong passion for working for the development of rural populations around the world.” —Dinesh Sharma, Asia Times

“[T]his book is a fascinating and important scholarly piece of work. It’s a good reminder that Ann not only had a sharp intellect, but was a perfectionist as well, and a hard-working one at that. Her work is extremely well-documented, with hard statistical data making her book extremely detailed and well informed. At the same time, Ann’s book—like her—is deeply empathetic. Full of evocative descriptions of the lives of the villagers she worked with, the book is a testament of her commitment to the development of the lives of rural and marginalized peoples all around the world. Ann was an internationalist with a global outlook, but it was Indonesia and its people that became the love of her life, and her passion also comes through in her book, something all too rare in academic writing.”—Julia Suryakusuma, Jakarta Post

“Surviving against the Odds . . . tells us a lot about Ann Dunham as an anthropologist who combined moral commitment to help the powerless
with pragmatic policy solutions. . . . Ann Dunham used her anthropological knowledge as a practical weapon and a spiritual talisman, hoping that through it, and by imparting its values to her children, she could bring into being the changes she deeply wished to see in Indonesia and the world.”—Janet Hoskins, Anthropology Now

“Surviving against the Odds is a work of very fine scholarship grounded in a deep understanding of Indonesia. Reading it, I learned a great deal about economic anthropology, blacksmithing (across a range of dimensions, from the supernatural to metallurgy), local life and labor in the Javanese village of Kajar, and the remarkable welter of development schemes and projects in play during the long period of S. Ann Dunham’s research. Dunham knew the arcane world of development very well and her account of it is fascinating and important.”—Donald Brenneis, University of California, Santa Cruz, past president of the American Anthropological Association

“S. Ann Dunham’s Surviving against the Odds bears witness to her knowledge of and affection for the Southeast Asian nation of Indonesia. The book also speaks legions about Dunham’s integrity as a cultural anthropologist. . . . By the mid-1980s Dunham had begun to see the audience for her work as made up of not just academics but Indonesians, aid workers, and foreign analysts whose findings affect the lives of ordinary Indonesians. Rather than go with the academic flow, Dunham stayed true to a research program requiring varied and rigorous methodologies, all in an effort to speak truth to power and policy making.”—Robert W. Hefner, Boston University, president of the Association for Asian Studies, from the afterword

“The greetings that the village women exchanged with Mom conveyed an intimacy that made clear they had fully taken each other’s measure. Their connection had been established to a sufficient degree for laughter to be easy. Mom had come to a real understanding with them, it seemed, and not just the women; she was welcomed and trusted by all. This made me proud, I remember, for many of the same reasons my pride swells at the sight of my brother, our president; Mom too moved with such ease through every world, and people opened up at the sight of her smile.”—Maya Soetoro-Ng, daughter of S. Ann Dunham and sister of President Barack Obama, from the foreword

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