Premium
Property and Authority in a Migrant Society: Balinese Irrigators in Sulawesi, Indonesia
Author(s) -
Roth Dik
Publication year - 2009
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/j.1467-7660.2009.01511.x
Subject(s) - legitimacy , property rights , state (computer science) , competition (biology) , institution , power (physics) , business , public administration , economics , political science , law , politics , physics , algorithm , quantum mechanics , computer science , biology , ecology
ABSTRACT Multiple definitions of resources as property lead to competition over legitimate authority between state and non‐state organizational and institutional arrangements. This article focuses on the overlapping and competing domains of the water users’ association, WUA, and the ‘traditional’ Balinese irrigators’ institution, subak . While the former is backed up by the power of state regulation and administration, the latter derives legitimacy from Balinese irrigators. The author presents a case study of the establishment and transformation of property rights in an irrigation‐based Balinese migrant society in Indonesia; he concludes that, in the ongoing process of competition for authority and mutual adjustment, both institutions undergo important transformations.