II-2. “Land Conflicts in Contemporary Indonesia and Their Meaning in the Historical Context” (H29 FY2017)


  • Project Leader : Kano Hiroyoshi (Kyoto University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies)
  • Collaborators : Dianto Bachriadi (Agraria Resoure Cener)
  • : Mizuno Kosuke (Kyoto University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies)
  • : Matsuno Akihisa (Osaka University, Osaka School of Internatioanal Public Policy)
  • : Okamoto Masaaki (Kyoto University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies)

Outline of Research

Dr. Dianto Bachriadi is one the most productive and prominent scholars in the field of land conflicts in contemporary Indonesia. He has served as the vice chairperson of Nasional Human Rights Committee (KOMNASHAM) for last 5 years, and has been active in protecting peoples’ land rights, and in settling land conflicts. We invite him as a visiting fellow at CSEAS in order that he may publish a book and papers based on his experience at the Nasional Human Rights Committee. In this occasion, he attempts to locate the issue of contemporary land conflicts in the Indonesian historical context in collaboration with historians in this field in Japan and other countries.

Description

Land conflicts are on the rise in Indonesia. For example in Jakarta, the Jakarta Metropolitan Government has demolished many residences along the rivers, roads, lakes, and canals after declaring them illegal housing, causing countless land conflicts to emerge. We invite Dr. Dianto Bachriadi, one the most productive and prominent scholars in the field of land conflicts in contemporary Indonesia, as a visiting fellow at CSEAS in order that he may publish a book and papers based on his experience at Indonesia’s Nasional Human Rights Committee. In this occasion, he attempts to locate the issue of contemporary land conflicts in the Indonesian historical context in collaboration with historians in this field in Japan and other countries.

Dr. Dianto Bachriadi will primarily examine the trajectory and contradictions of land rights settlement in Indonesia from land rights based on customary law (upon which the Basic Agrarian Act of 1960 is based) to the establishment of modern absolute and exclusive land rights. He will also analyze how political economy and social movements determine the orientation of land rights settlement. His study will explore new ideas around this complex issue based on his field studies, his experience at the Nasional Human Rights Committee, and historical study.

 


Farmer’s meeting before the land occupation action at Benkele in 2007

Action of the farmer’s union relating to the state land in front of the Gedung Sate Provincial Office of West Java in 2002.