Questioning local wisdom in Indonesian Indigenous research

Abstract

This article explores the shifting dynamics of local wisdom (kearifan lokal) as a research category within Indonesian academic discourse, particularly as reflected in journal publications that prominently feature the term in their titles. Although local wisdom is frequently equated with Indigenous knowledge, such conflation remains only partially accurate. While there are points of intersection, notable conceptual divergences persist underscoring the need to examine how local wisdom is understood, invoked, and positioned within the epistemological landscape of Indonesian scholarship. Drawing on a brief survey conducted through Publish or Perish software, the article outlines a provisional typology that captures how local wisdom is articulated across academic contexts. These findings suggest that local wisdom functions less as a stable or singular body of knowledge, and more as a discursive space shaped by a range of intellectual idealisms, situated commitments, and methodological compromises. Researchers engaging with this theme appear to navigate a delicate tension: between preserving the emic, often orally transmitted dimensions of local knowledge, and responding to disciplinary expectations rooted in scientific rationalism. At the same time, there is evidence of a latent ethnonationalist sentiment that further complicates the positioning of local wisdom within broader efforts to decolonize knowledge production in Indonesia.