Economy

The life and death of Indonesia’s mineral export ban

President Joko Widodo speaks at a podium, with a red banner as a backdrop.

The Jokowi government’s policy shift contributes to pervasive regulatory ambiguity in Indonesia’s mining sector

Stories from Sulawesi

An elderly woman stands in a grass field in a rural dwelling, looking to the side.

The 2009 mining law and the community benefit in Sulawesi

Resource nationalism as imperialism

A worker at a mining site points to the low-hanging clouds.

Foreign investment in large-scale mining has encountered serious obstacles

Has resource extraction reduced poverty?

A child worker pushes a wheelbarrow of harvest along in an oil palm plantation.

The benefits of more concentrated natural resources are less likely to be spread

Mining and equitable development

A car drives along a concrete road among tall crop fields.

Mining dominates East Luwu GDP but development of agriculture underpins equitable development

Small-scale mining in Central Kalimantan

A car zooms by on a road in a barren landscape.

After reformasi, Kereng Pangi, Kalimantan became the site of a gold rush

Mining the land, mining people

A mining base, with a pipe running across the foreground and some wooden structures.

Irrespective of location or commodity, peasants now compete with multinational mining companies on the mineral-rich tracts of Indonesia

Multiplier effects on the Bombana goldfields

A photo of the front of a Toyota dealership.

Benefits ripple outwards but local government struggles to regulate the process

Mining mercury in an Indonesian periphery

A child worker in a squatting position, burning mercury amalgam while smoking a cigarette.

Improved market chain monitoring and recognition of sociocultural dynamics are important for central mercury control

Community mining in West Timor

A group of miners stand near a community manganese mine, South Central Timor.

Small-scale manganese mining supports livelihood diversity

From mother to citizen

A woman measures the height of a toddler under a tree, surrounded by other women and children. (Vita Febriany)

The New Order actively promoted citizenship of a particular kind for women

Review: Beyond decent work

A new book examines Indonesian labour struggles through the lens of international political economy theory

Old and poor

Indonesia’s welfare schemes are failing to support older citizens

Book extract: Sarongge

Lontar Modern Indonesia: ‘But that is, after all, the relationship between land and power... Whoever holds power will impose their view.’

Petikan buku: Sarongge

Lontar Modern Indonesia: ‘Siapa yang pegang kuasa, akan paksakan pandangannya tentang bagaimana cara mengatur aset alam itu.’

Safe water at a premium

The UN’s claim that 87 per cent of Indonesians have access to safe drinking water seems exaggerated

In the name of food security

The army’s over-immersion in civilian affairs is being encouraged by its role in food security projects

The Go-Jek effect

Has this phenomenally successful app-based transport service improved the lives of the motorcycle workers it employs?

Food sovereignty and peasant activism

Farmers and would-be farmers in Lombok are fighting a land-rights battle against the tourism industry

Good intentions, mixed realities

Bali’s World Heritage listing has put its rice-farming culture under stress

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Lontar Modern Indonesia

A selection of stories from the Indonesian classics and modern writers, periodically published free for Inside Indonesia readers, courtesy of Lontar.