Local identity, counter-conduct, and the cultural politics of labor recruitment in the asahan III hydropower project: A multi-actor ethnographic approach

Abstract

This study examines the power relations surrounding labor recruitment in the Asahan III Hydropower Project through the lens of local identity, counter-conduct, and the cultural politics of development. The recruitment of local workers became one of the main arenas of social contestation as multiple actors sought to obtain, control, and maintain access to the benefits generated by the project. Development actors attempted to regulate these dynamics through a series of institutional arrangements, techniques, and strategies aimed at directing community behavior and creating a conducive social order. Referring to Michel Foucault’s concept of governmentality, these efforts represent attempts to shape and govern subjects through regulatory mechanisms. However, the target community of regulation was not an empty social space that could be directed uniformly. Various actors mobilized local identity, social networks, and collective actions as forms of counter-conduct to negotiate access and challenge regulatory arrangements.
Using a multi-actor ethnographic approach, this study employed participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation studies involving development actors, village authorities, community organizations, and other stakeholders connected to the project. The findings show that labor recruitment was not merely an administrative process but a culturally and politically contested arena in which competing claims of belonging and legitimacy shaped access to project opportunities. Power relations between development actors and local groups continuously transformed recruitment mechanisms through negotiation, resistance, compromise, and adjustment. This study argues that infrastructure development operates not only as a technical or economic project but also as a cultural and political arena in which governance, local identity, and access are constantly contested and reconfigured.