Dreams Made Small

For the last 53 years, the Dani of the central highlands of West Papua, along with other Papuans, have struggled under the oppressive and violent conditions of Indonesian rule. Formal education holds the promise of escape from this stigmatization. Dreams Made Small offers an in-depth, ethnographic look at journeys of education among young Dani men and women, asking us to think differently about education as a trajectory for national belonging, and ultimately revealing how dreams of transformation, equality, and belonging are shaped and reshaped in the face of multiple constraints.