Susi Versus the rest: the political economy of the fisheries industry in Indonesia during Jokowi’s first term

ABSTRACT

Indonesian Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister, Susi Pudjiastuti, has become a political superstar on the back of the media attention gained with her tough stance in fighting illegal fishing since 2014. But, beyond the headlines, little is known of the political struggles unleashed by her approach, on how her policies have affected the political economy of the industry, and on whether her reforms are sustainable. Drawing on over 30 in-depth interviews, this article fills the gap. The picture that emerges is complex and fluid: the minister has made progress in limiting the reach of the foreign-led fisheries mafia, but achieved limited success in convincing Indonesians to invest in the industry or in building a constituency to support her drive. Through the lens of the political economy of the fisheries, this article also offers a window into how politics is contested in increasingly ‘populist’ Indonesia.     

试析中国与印尼经贸关系存在的问题

近年来,中国与印尼经贸合作关系发展很快,两国双边贸易和中国对印尼基础设施建设的投资顺利发展,但也存在一些问题和障碍,尤其是中国一些商品对印尼的冲击引起印尼部分企业界的不满。本文拟对两国经贸关系存在问题,尤其是印尼纺织服装业受中国产品的冲击进行分析,提出解决问题的意见,以利于促进两国经贸关系的进一步发展。     

印尼、马来西亚大选后的政治与经济情况述评

印尼与马来西亚是同文同种并具有共同宗教信仰的国家,国情也有许多相似之处.2004年是两国的大选年,大选后马来西亚巴达维政权稳固发展,印尼苏西洛新政府加大反贪反恐和重建经济的力度,两国将步入稳定发展时期.     

Indonesia,the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community,and the contingent profile of regional ‘great-power management’

Why does Indonesia, whose regional leadership would seem to flow so obviously from its material and normative footprint, and whose role as primus inter pares is readily, if sometimes grudgingly, acknowledged by its peers, struggle to translate that position into an unambiguous, consistent, and effective regional presence? While there are many possible answers to this question, this article focuses on societal interpretations, arguing that such a role is exercised not in a vacuum, susceptible to measurement against a set of fixed criteria, but in the context of its respective region's unique and constantly evolving profile. Drawing on the English School's concept of institutions, and focusing on three areas within the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (migration, disaster preparedness, and the environment), the article argues that the paradox of Indonesia's powerful-but-not-powerful position reflects the kind of ‘great-power management’ that is to be expected in the restrictive context of regional international society, and is profoundly influenced by the uneven interplay of institutions embedded at different levels in the regional experience.     

Regime resilience and presidential politics in Indonesia

ABSTRACT

This article builds on insights from the coalitional presidentialism literature and a more ideational regime-based approach to examine the reasons behind Indonesia's ongoing democratic stagnation. It argues that this stagnation is not, as institutionalists might posit, an ultimately inevitable result of the institutional setup of multiparty presidentialism. Nor is it merely a manifestation of unchallenged oligarchic domination or the cartelization of party politics as other influential approaches to Indonesian politics have argued. Instead, this article argues that presidential politics in Indonesia is above all a reflection of a complex regime configuration in which presidents need to navigate between popular demands from the electorate, the interests of powerful veto actors who use democratic procedures only as an instrument to defend their predominantly material interests, and a constantly evolving but still inefficient set of political institutions that has largely failed to ensure accountability and transparency.     

State transformation and cross-border regionalism in Indonesia’s periphery: contesting the centre

Abstract

This article examines how the decentralisation and fragmentation of the Indonesian state and resultant central–local dynamics affect cross-border regionalism in Indonesia’s periphery. It argues that cross-border regionalism projects are best understood as sites for scalar contestation over regulatory control between central and local government. Moreover, scalar contestation around cross-border regional projects is characterised by the struggles to control relationships with transnational capital between elites operating at different tiers of the state. When elites at different scales have conflicting interests and strategies, this can cause policy incoherence, inhibiting the development of cross-border regionalism. Conversely, when they align, and intersect with the interests of transnational business, cross-border regionalism can succeed. To illustrate the argument, this article utilises the comparative case studies of the Batam free trade zone and West Kalimantan–Sarawak cross-border cooperation.     

Why do Indonesian politicians promote shari’a laws? An analytic framework for Muslim-majority democracies

Taking the discussion in the existing literature on the adoption of shari’a laws in democratising Muslim-majority countries as a starting point, we posit that there are two broad motivations for democratically-elected politicians to adopt shari’a laws and regulations: ideological conviction on the one hand and response to the expressed or perceived preference of constituents on the other hand. The ‘demand side’ can be further divided into the preferences of individual voters, and the interests of groups which act as power brokers, influencing the voting choices of individual citizens. These groups may be economic, religious, or other actors. These motivations are not mutually exclusive; the passage of a given shari’a regulation may fulfil two or all three of them simultaneously. However, we posit that the interaction between the place, timing, and content of shari’a laws passed in a nation as a whole will vary in various predictable ways, according to the dominant motivations. The dominant motivation may also affect the vigour with which the law is implemented.     

New frontiers: an enriched perspective on extraction frontiers in Indonesia

Changes in the nature, scale, and speed of natural resource extraction, especially in the last two decades, have resulted in many new resource extraction areas emerging across the world. By zooming in on Indonesia, this article shows that the underlying causes and consequences of current trends are more complex than portrayed by the rancher-squatter model of frontiers that is still frequently used to explain these developments. We argue that a broadened frontier notion is necessary to address the multifaceted nature of the processes underway in contemporary Indonesian extraction areas, as well as beyond. We propose a perspective that pays explicit attention to four new developments that can be described by using the hybridization of space, time, actors, and rules, and are characterized by the fact that these processes create new perimeters in all four mentioned areas. In so doing, we challenge, broaden, and renew the meaning of frontiers.     

印尼华人家庭媒体使用现状分析——基于对雅加达500余名新生代华裔青少年的调查

调查发现，就印尼华人家庭而言，代际不同，对媒体的使用倾向也不相同。祖辈常用媒体依次为报纸、广播、影视、杂志和网络；父辈最常用的媒体依次为报纸、影视、杂志、广播和网络。新生代华裔青少年常用媒体依次为网络、影视、广播、杂志和报纸。要提高中国传统文化的传播效度，必须注意传播策略，重视网络与影视的作用。     

Indigenous land claims or green grabs? Inclusions and exclusions within forest carbon politics in Indonesia

In this paper we outline the new political conjuncture in forest governance emerging in Indonesia and trace how it is influencing the land claim strategies of an Indigenous community in Central Kalimantan. The new political conjuncture is comprised on three inter-related elements: a Constitutional Court decision to recognise Indigenous land claims; the development of the Reducing Emissions from Forest Degradation and Deforestation Plus (REDD+) forest carbon programme; and a national initiative known as One-map. Drawing on concepts of governmentality, assemblage and territoriality we trace how the Indigenous People’s Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) are using this moment to assemble a land claim in Bahanei. We find that the conjuncture is providing opportunities for Indigenous communities to engage with a new assemblage of interests normally associated with green grabs to claim land back from state and private interests. However, the romantic green Indigenous subjectivities the new political conjuncture requires to attract carbon investment rarely fit the heterogeneous make up of village life. This is leading to intimate exclusions based on ethnicity and class, raising troubling questions about the extent of overlap between land claims and green grabs.