Historical reflections on customary land rights in Indonesia

A common theme that emerges in the history of modern Indonesia is the perpetuation of a political tension between centralist projects of national unity, and devolutionist tendencies expressed as regionalism and assertive cultural identity politics among local (adat) communities across the archipelago. The state territorial imperative combined with a sustained impetus, indeed obsession, with economic development is characteristic of both colonial and ‘post’-colonial governments in Indonesia. Although typically promulgated ‘for and on behalf of the people’ these ideological strategies have often worked to deny the legitimacy of customary or adat land law in contemporary Indonesian society. The present climate of reform and decentralisation has fostered widespread local aspirations for the recognition and acknowledgement of customary land rights and the assertion of indigenous claims to local resources and land; this paper offers some historical reflections on these processes.