The Revival of Tradition in Indonesian Politics The Indonesian term adat means ‘custom’ or ‘tradition’, and carries connotations of sedate order and harmony. Yet in recent years it has suddenly become associated with activism, protest and violence. Since the resignation of President Suharto in 1998, diverse indigenous communities and ethnic groups across Indonesia have publicly, vocally, and sometimes violently, demanded the right to implement elements of adat in their home territories. This book investigates the revival of adat in Indonesian politics, identifying its origins, the historical factors that have conditioned it and the reasons for its recent blossoming. The book considers whether the adat revival is a constructive contribution to Indonesia’s new political pluralism or a divisive, dangerous and reactionary force, and examines the implications for the development of democracy, human rights, civility and political stability. It is argued that the current interest in adat is not simply a national offshoot of international discourses on indigenous rights, but also reflects a specifically Indonesian ideological tradition in which land, community and custom provide the normative reference points for political struggles. Whilst campaigns in the name of adat may succeed in redressing injustices with regard to land tenure and helping to preserve local order in troubled times, attempts to create enduring forms of political order based on adat are fraught with dangers. These dangers include the exacerbation of ethnic conflict, the legitimation of social inequality, the denial of individual rights and the diversion of attention away from issues of citizenship, democracy and the rule of law at national level. Overall, this book is a full appraisal of the growing significance of adat in Indonesian politics, and is an important resource for anyone seeking to understand the contemporary Indonesian political landscape. Jamie S. Davidson is Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore. He has written on ethnic violence and politics in Indonesia, and now works on the politics of legal reform in the same country. David Henley is a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) in Leiden. He has written on diverse aspects of the history and historical geography of Indonesia, and now works on the comparative economic histories of Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. 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Farhadian The Revival of Tradition in Violent Conflicts in Indonesia Indonesian Politics Analysis, representation, resolution The deployment of adat from Edited by Charles A. Coppel colonialism to indigenism Edited by Jamie S. Davidson and Revolution, Reform and Regionalism in David Henley Southeast Asia Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam Ronald Bruce St John The Revival of Tradition in Indonesian Politics The deployment of adat from colonialism to indigenism Edited by Jamie S. Davidson and David Henley First published 2007 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2007 Editorial selection and matter, Jamie S. Davidson and David Henley; Individual chapters, the contributors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data The revival of tradition in Indonesian politics : the deployment of adat from colonialism to indigenism / edited by Jamie S. Davidson and David Henley. p. cm. — (Routledge contemporary Southeast Asia series ; 14) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-415-41597-7 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Political culture—Indonesia. 2. Adat law—Indonesia. 3. Indonesia—Politics and government—1998– I. Davidson, Jamie Seth, 1971– II. Henley, David, 1963– JQ776.R48 2007 306.209598—dc22 2006023115 ISBN 0-203-96549-3 Master e-book ISBN ISBN10: 0-415-41597-7 (hbk) ISBN10: 0-203-96549-3 (ebk) ISBN13: 978-0-415-41597-2 (hbk) ISBN13: 978-0-203-96549-8 (ebk) To Portia and to Agustina Contents List of illustrations ix List of contributors xi Preface and acknowledgements xiii Abbreviations and glossary xvi 1 Introduction: radical conservatism – the protean politics of adat 1 DAVID HENLEY AND JAMIE S. DAVIDSON 2 Colonial dilemma: Van Vollenhoven and the struggle between adat law and Western law in Indonesia 50 C. FASSEUR 3 Custom, that is before all law 68 PETER BURNS 4 Custom and koperasi: the co-operative ideal in Indonesia 87 DAVID HENLEY 5 The romance of adat in the Indonesian political imagination and the current revival 113 DAVID BOURCHIER 6 Land, custom, and the state in post-Suharto Indonesia: a foreign lawyer’s perspective 130 DANIEL FITZPATRICK 7 Return of the sultans: the communitarian turn in local politics 149 GERRY VAN KLINKEN 8 Adat in Balinese discourse and practice: locating citizenship and the commonweal 170 CAROL WARREN viii Contents 9 The many roles of adat in West Sumatra 203 RENSKE BIEZEVELD 10 Culture and rights in ethnic violence 224 JAMIE S. DAVIDSON 11 Adat revivalism in western Flores: culture, religion, and land 247 MARIBETH ERB 12 From bumiputera to masyarakat adat: a long and confusing journey 275 SANDRA MONIAGA 13 From customary law to indigenous sovereignty: reconceptualizing masyarakat adat in contemporary Indonesia 295 GREG ACCIAIOLI 14 The masyarakat adat movement in Indonesia: a critical insider’s view 319 ARIANTO SANGAJI 15 Adat in Central Sulawesi: contemporary deployments 337 TANIA M. LI Index 371 Illustrations Figures 4.1 Title pages of a 1931 handbook by J.H. Boeke, in Malay (left) and Javanese (right), on the establishment and management of credit co-operatives 88 8.1 Lembaga Perkreditan Desa (Village Credit Society), Peliatan 180 8.2 Home destroyed in an adat conflict 188 10.1 Page of IDRD’s rebuttal in the Kalimantan Review, 2 (1999) 227 11.1 Playing caci for tourists, Ruteng, Flores, 2004 253 11.2 Cultural studio head receiving tourists in an adat ceremony, 2002 (photograph by Anita Verhoeven) 254 11.3 Talking through a chicken during Penti, Tukeq hamlet, 2000 262 13.1 Opening parade at the Second Congress of Archipelagic Indigenous Peoples (KMAN II), Tanjung, Lombok, 19–25 September 2003 296 13.2 Concluding demonstration at the AMASUTA provincial congress (Palu, 17–19 June 2003) in lead-up to KMAN II 297 13.3 West Kalimantan delegate (Nazarius, a founding member of the masyarakat adat movement) addresses the audience during KMAN II 306 14.1 Masyarakat adat groups protest in Palu, Central Sulawesi 320 Maps 1.1 Indonesia xx 11.1 Flores, with the original Manggarai district shaded 250 Tables 7.1 Recently revived principalities in Indonesia 152 x Illustrations 13.1 Communities of indigenous people (komunitas masyarakat adat) that have applied for recognition and have been verified, and their distribution across districts 302 14.1 Allocation of natural resources in Central Sulawesi, 2004 326 Contributors Greg Acciaioli lectures in Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Western Australia. His research interests include development and underdevelopment, environmental anthropology, ethnicity and migration, and the history of anthropological thought. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in Sulawesi and Kalimantan. Renske Biezeveld is an Anthropologist and Sociologist. She obtained her Ph.D. from the Erasmus University (Rotterdam) with a dissertation pub- lished as Between Individualism and Mutual Help: social security and natural resources in a Minangkabau village (Delft: Eburon, 2002). She currently works as a policy adviser for the Dutch Association of Industry-wide Pension Funds (Vereniging van Bedrijfstakpensioenfondsen). David Bourchier lectures in Asian Studies and Indonesian at the University of Western Australia. He has written widely on politics, law, human rights and the military in Indonesia. His latest book (with Vedi Hadiz) is