II-1. “Land Conflicts in Contemporary Indonesia and Their Meaning in Historical Context” (H29-30 FY2017-2018)


  • Project Leader : Kano Hiroyoshi (Kyoto University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies)
  • Collaborators : Dianto Bachriadi (Agraria Resources Center)
  • : 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 the Nasional Human Rights Committee (KOMNASHAM) for last five years, and has been active in protecting people’s rights to land, and in settling land conflicts. This project will invite him as a visiting fellow at CSEAS so that he may work on publishing a book and papers based on his knowledge of the issues and 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 Japanese historians and scholars from other countries.

Description

Land conflicts have been increasing in Indonesia in recent years. For example, in Jakarta, the Jakarta Metropolitan Government promotes the demolition of residences as illegal housing along the rivers, roads, and lakes or canals, leading to countless land conflicts. This project will 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 so that he may work on publishing a book and papers based on his knowledge of the issues and 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 Japanese historians and scholars from other countries.

The main issues that will be researched include the trajectory of land rights settlement in Indonesia and the contradiction between the establishment of modern absolute and exclusive land rights on the one hand, and land rights based on customary law (on which the present Basic Agrarian Act of 1960 is based) on the other hand. How the political economy and social movements determined these orientations will be studied in depth. Dr. Bachriadi will explore 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.