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(Un)Making Mulu: Contested Territories, Frontier Dynamics and Legalization in Sarawak, Malaysia

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(Un)Making Mulu: Contested Territories, Frontier Dynamics and Legalization in Sarawak, Malaysia Wageningen University - Social Sciences Sociology of Development and Change Group - WUR (Un)making Mulu: Contested territories, frontier dynamics and legalization in Sarawak, Malaysia December 2019 MSc. Organic Agriculture (MOA) Jonas Kramp Sustainable Food Systems Robert Fletcher Thesis code: SDC-80436 Abstract Privileging the role of statutory institutions in transformations of land control patterns gets in the way of understanding the complexities of such changes. This thesis therefore unpacks the interplay of land control ‘mechanisms’ (i.e. territorialization, frontier dynamics and legalization) in a grounded case study and demonstrates that a variety of other actors are involved in ‘making territory’. I trace in this regard the historical formation of land control patterns in Mulu, located in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo, by looking at the emergence of new state spaces, resource frontiers and legislation. Customary land tenure of the local population is positioned centrally to show how land control mechanisms in Mulu have co-produced a certain spatial-territorial configuration over a period of roughly 40 years. By doing so I aim to illustrate how such processes materialized through accounts of the lived experiences of my interlocutors in the field. This thesis argues in this respect that territorialization is negotiated between state and non-state actors and complicates this further by highlighting that different territorial projects overlap and interact. Secondly, I show that the neoliberalization of the ecotourism and palm oil sectors intertwine with a neo-patrimonial rationality in Mulu to form a hybrid, neoliberal-influenced mode of governance of natural resources. Lastly, I contend that an understanding of legalization as a straightforward process obscures the variety of actors, interests and processes that shape the final product of legalization. By developing these three related arguments this thesis aims to contribute to scholarly debates about state formation and resource governance in Sarawak and beyond. i Acknowledgements I remain greatly indebted to Mr. Andrea Fadani and the organization Fiat Panis which have provided generous funding to support my field work in Sarawak, Malaysia. Initially I set out to study the link between land control and food sovereignty but during my field work found that ‘land sovereignty’ was the central concern of the local population rather than sovereignty in the food system. I hope that insights generated by this thesis, about agrarian change in Mulu, can benefit other analyses that engage with topics such as food security or the so far unexplored political project of food sovereignty in Sarawak. I want to express my gratitude as well to my supervisor Robert Fletcher who has guided me through the entire second year of my Masters programme, always offering help and advice and beyond that he has been a source of enthusiasm that has inspired me. Ida Theilade has made possible this field work as she was the link to connect me to the Bruno Manser Fonds who took me in warmly and which generously supported my thesis by making me familiar with the research site before going into the field, which included me in internal discussions and allowed me to get insights in their work on the ground with different communities in Sarawak, and which supported me in every way imaginable. In particular, I thank one person that best remains anonymous which has been my gatekeeper in Mulu and which has left a lasting impression on me through his/her dedication. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to the whole team of SAVE Rivers for taking me in as part of their family and for passing on their positive energy that has been one of the biggest pleasures of my field work. I thank Abraham as well for his witty cheerfulness, hospitality and support to connect me to Jayl Langub through whose help this thesis has benefited greatly. During my stay in Kuching conversations with Poline Bala and Kelvin Egay have beyond that allowed me to see my data with new eyes. I also thank Miro Born for his friendship as well as for his enthusiasm for Sociology and ethnographic methods. Lastly and most deeply I want to express my gratitude to all the activists and people from Mulu I encountered during my field work. I cannot sufficiently thank those who have allowed me to stay in their homes and express my gratitude to those who have shared their stories with me. Without Dayang this thesis would have been impossible. ii Abbreviations BMF Bruno Manser Fonds EU European Union FELDA Federal Land Development Authority ITTO International Tropical Timber Organization IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature NCR Native Customary Rights NGO Non-Governmental Organization RGS Royal Geographical Society RM Malaysian Ringgit SALCRA Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority SDN. BHD. Sendirian Berhad (Incorporated) SFC Sarawak Forestry Corporation SLDB Sarawak Land Development Board TPA Totally Protected Area UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNIMAS Universiti Malaysia Sarawak USD United States Dollar WHC World Heritage Comittee WWF World Wide Fund For Nature iii Table of contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................ii Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................................... iii List of figures and tables.......................................................................................................................... vi 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1 2 Theoretical framework ......................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Putting land control into context: state-society relations, rights and legal pluralism .................. 3 2.1.1 State-society relations – ‘public authority from below’ ......................................................... 4 2.1.2 Linking authority to rights ...................................................................................................... 4 2.1.3 Legal pluralism ........................................................................................................................ 5 2.2 (Un)making land control through territorialization, frontier dynamics and legalization .............. 6 2.2.1 Territorialization ..................................................................................................................... 6 2.2.2 Frontier dynamics ................................................................................................................... 7 2.2.3 Legalization ............................................................................................................................. 9 2.3 Main research question ............................................................................................................... 10 3 Approach ............................................................................................................................................ 10 3.1 The field – a controversial object of study and limited access.................................................... 10 3.2 Ethnography and Borneo ............................................................................................................ 11 3.3 Research methods ....................................................................................................................... 12 4 Results ................................................................................................................................................ 13 4.1 Charting state territorialization in Sarawak ................................................................................ 13 4.1.1 The ‘early days’ and the Brooke period (1841-1946) ........................................................... 13 4.1.2 British rule (1946-1963) ........................................................................................................ 15 4.1.3 After Sarawak’s independence (1963-today) ....................................................................... 16 4.2 The discovery and transformation of Mulu ................................................................................. 17 4.2.1 Life and landscape before the park ...................................................................................... 17 4.2.2 The expedition to discover the park ..................................................................................... 21 4.2.3 Rupture and transformation ................................................................................................ 23 4.3 Making sense of Mulu’s emerging frontier and its repercussions .............................................. 26 4.3.1 The ancestral land of Berawan and Tering ........................................................................... 27 4.3.2 Frontier dynamics – the local scramble for land and ecotourism in Mulu .......................... 28 4.4 A troubled political project – localizing the oil palm frontier and its corresponding territorialization
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