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The Changing Regime: Forest Property and Reformasi in Indonesia
Author(s) -
McCarthy John
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
development and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-7660
pISSN - 0012-155X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-7660.00148
Subject(s) - legitimacy , legislature , property rights , politics , state (computer science) , order (exchange) , political science , property (philosophy) , power (physics) , political economy , period (music) , forest management , sociology , economics , law , geography , forestry , philosophy , physics , finance , algorithm , epistemology , quantum mechanics , computer science , acoustics
This article explores the dominant explanations of the failure of forest management in Indonesia within the public discourse of the late New Order period. Drawing on a review of salient literature and relevant case studies, the major part of the article discusses the underlying historical, institutional and political causes of the failure of the state property regime. By taking a narrow view of the issues, public discourse during the New Order (1966–98) avoided discussion of the structure of property relations and the power relations that supported them. However, the forest fires of 1997–8 and the ensuing ecological crisis have revealed that the forest policy that allocated property rights over vast areas of the nation’s forests to well‐connected conglomerates and politico‐business families was inequitable and lacked legitimacy. While new legislative initiatives open up possibilities for co‐management, the reforms so far barely engage with the underlying structure of property rights. These issues will need to be more thoroughly addressed if Indonesia is to tackle the bitter legacy of the Suharto period.