Indigenous People’s Land Rights in Post-Soeharto Indonesia

Abstract

One of the challenges during the democratic transition from the New Order regime to the Reformasi era was advancing the idea of an agrarian transition to reconcile structural inequalities regarding land ownership. However, this transition was unfortunately not accompanied by a rearrangement of land ownership to allow the practice of land-grabbing inherited from the New Order regime to persist in contemporary Indonesia. This article examines the reasons behind the failure of the agrarian transition in Indonesia, by focusing on case studies in Tegalrejo Village, Malang Regency and the Pamona indigenous peoples, Poso Regency. We argue that the modus operandi of land-grabbing practices is highly dependent on state power and weak protection of communal land rights. By explaining these two factors, this article provides recommendations to strengthen the community’s position in dealing with land-grabbing practices by limiting the power of the state and encouraging land reform aimed at securing community land rights.