Citizenship and local practices of rule in Indonesia

Abstract

Citizenship develops in relation to the specific way in which the colonial state and local societies reshaped each other. This article traces the history of that relationship in Indonesia over the last two hundred years. At first, a central colonial state with insufficient resources to enforce its will negotiated halfway accords with a host of local rulers. Villagers 'belonged' to their patrimonial ruler, with the choice to submit or run away. By the early twentieth century, the state began to develop its technical means to bring about major economic and social changes, but only in densely populated areas with agrarian potential. Capitalism there began to disrupt village life and loosen clientelistic bonds. An indigenous constituency emerged for relatively autonomous citizenship. After independence in 1945, state politics there were (left-)populist rather than liberal. Where the state had fewer interests, however, the central state presence remained thin. The nineteenth century halfway house was reinvented and stabilized. Local leaders more easily gained monopolistic control over economic resources, allowing them to enforce clientelistic forms of citizenship. Central state elites were happy to grant local autonomy there, since it also relieved them from direct citizen pressure on their own prerogatives.

Informality and citizenship: the everyday state in Indonesia

“…Rather than challenging such practices, the Dutch decided to build on them. As Van Klinken (2018) argues in his contribution to this issue, in many areas of particularly eastern Indonesia the Dutch opted to govern their colony through local aristocrats, whose despotic and particularistic rule was tolerated as long as they maintained order and supported the Dutch. And even in areas where the Dutch ruled directly -such as Javastate institutions remained relatively alien institutions, not infrequently associated with the oppressive, exploitative practices of colonial rulers.…”

Indonesia's Inability in Removing Self from Colonial Law (Study of Employment Laws)

“…The period before independence could be said to be part of the dark Indonesian period, because the Indonesian people lived during colonial times and slavery [13], [14]. To overcome this, the Netherlands issued [15] Staatblad 1817 No.…”

“…Even if it is understood to be studied further, the Employment Law in Indonesia is currently undergoing 2 revisions and 2 changes, namely: 1) Law No. 13 The repeal of the existing provisions of the Civil Code, coupled with the transitional provisions of Article 191 which read "All implementing rules governing employment shall prevail to the contrary and / or have not been replaced by the new regulations under this Act" matters relating to the working conditions of the Civil Code are still in use. Why is that?…”

Health Citizenship and Healthcare Access in Indonesia, 1945-2020

“…Meanwhile, citizenship studies related to health still focus on limited periods (van Klinken, 2018) and explain the individual perspective in gaining health citizenship (Berenschot, Hanani, & Sambodho, 2018). Compared to Berenschot's study about brokered citizenship in accessing…”