Trajectory of Indigeneity Politics against Land Dispossession in Indonesia

Noer Fauzi Rachman and Hasriadi Masalam (2017) “The Trajectory of Indigeneity Politics against Land Dispossession in Indonesia”. Sriwijaya Law Review 1(1):98-113.

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https://www.neliti.com/publications/181723/the-trajectory-of-indigeneity-politics-against-land-dispossession-in-indonesia (last accessed Dec 12, 2018)

Abstract

    Under the New Order authoritarian regime, the state endorsed terra-nullification of the customary territories had been the basis for the stipulation of the so-called state forest (hutan negara).After the fall of the General Suharto led regime in 1998 generated a new phase for the struggles of masyarakat hukum adat (customary laws governed communities, or customary communities, for short) in different parts of the archipelago. 

        This article examines the rise of indigeneity and counter-hegemonic legal maneuvering spearheaded by Aliansi MasyarakatAdat Nusantara (AMAN) against ongoing land dispossession in Indonesia since the fall of New Order authoritarian regime which includestheindigenous mobilizations (strategy, organization and tactics) in the post-authoritarian state, including the avenue of new types of legal activism when it comes to the creative destruction of global capitalism today. 

        It focuses on two modes of policy advocacy and campaign against land dispossession: (a) the production of the Constitutional Court Ruling No. 35/PUU-X/2012, a new legal landmark that establishes the constitutional norm of the citizenship status of masyarakat hukum adat as rights bearing subjects, and the owners of their customary territory; and (b) the National Inquiry into Indigenous Rights Commission (Komnas HAM). Refering to the problem of state-izing people's territory, the article analyses the efficacy of the judicial review article analyses the efficacy of the judicial review against the Law No. 41/1999 on Forestry, and the  Zone. It is concluded that the efficacy of this legal maneuvering is very much depend on the capacity of the movement to connect with the grassroots mobilization by continuously promulgating the resurgence of indigeneity politics. 

Keywords: indigeneity politics;land dispossession; legal change, forestry law.

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