Project
Rights recognition of indigenous (adat) communities in Indonesia (PhD project - Andi Rahmat Hidayat)
The study investigates struggle for indigenous rights recognition in the context of democratic decentralisation in Indonesia. It particularly seeks to understand how rural communities and indigenous people in Indonesia secure their customary land rights and why local governments behave differently toward such demand. Hence, formal recognition as ‘indigenous communities’ by the local government is determinant in the realisation of indigenous rights. Hopefully, the study will shed light on conditions in which claiming customary rights is likely to succeed or fail.
Background
The rights of indigenous people (adat communities) in Indonesia have long been violated and denied, especially under Suharto’s military dictatorship. After the demise of this regime in 1998, processes of democratisation and decentralisation started, leading to greater acknowledgement of these rights. A milestone in this process was the adoption of the ruling by the constitutional court strengthening the legitimacy of customary rights, particularly over customary forest. However, despite significant efforts to promote democratisation and decentralisation since then, the process of recognition is slow and has only in a very few cases taken place. Hence, my research aims to understand why some rural adat communities in Sulawesi have managed to obtain state recognition while others seem to lag behind.
Description
The study seeks to answer why some rural adat communities in Sulawesi have succeeded in obtaining government recognition while others are not. In doing so, two main questions will be addressed. First, I will try to understand how adat communities in Sulawesi have tried to secure their rights over customary forest? The second question will be focused on the role of local governments as they hold discretionary authority to formally recognise the existence of an adat community, usually via regional regulation. Therefore, what are the types of accountability being used by local governments to justify their recognition or lack of recognition of adat communities’ rights will be investigated. By focusing on the struggle of local communities for state recognition and accountability politics of local governments to respond to such demand, I hope this research can contribute to enhance our understanding of the dynamics of this formal recognition process that has been the main focus for Indonesia adat movement and provide recommendations to better implement government policies regarding adat communities in Indonesia.