The people of Indonesia & their culture, politics, economy and environment - Inside Indonesia: The peoples and cultures of Indonesia

Indigenous Rights

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

‘We are natural-born children, you are adopted’

A small wooden boat is docked on the shore, with two others in the background, in Malifut, North Halmahera. (Yefta Christiono)

Locals contest national citizenship rights in North Maluku

Comes with the territory

A sign next to a dirt road reads in Indonesian, ‘Welcome to the territory of the Kiyu customary forest under Constitutional Court Decree No. 35/PUU-X/2012. THIS IS OUR CUSTOMARY FOREST, NOT STATE FOREST.’

Compromises must be made in the quest for indigeneity among the Dayak Meratus

Public works and ethnic conflict

Tarakan’s riots illustrate the risks of collusive public contracting and the continued weakness of local security responses

Fighting to survive

A small community in Southeast Sulawesi is engaged in an ongoing quest for recognition of its right to live on its ancestral land

Fighting over the land and forest

Century-old conflicts persist in the vast tracts of Indonesia that are designated as state forest

The trouble with oil palm

Conflicts between villagers and plantation companies in Sumatra are still unresolved

Too precious to mine

Central Java farmers refuse to get stuck in cement

Land, ethnicity and politics

Direct local elections have led to new developments in the struggle for land rights in East Kalimantan

Tangguh goes onstream

BP’s massive LNG project is due to begin operations in late 2008, despite social and environmental costs

Jungle Schools

Volunteers bring alternative education to marginalised communities

Land, church and state

Forestry business packaged in ecological concerns in Flores

The disappearing forest

Orang Rimba assert their rights

The occupation of Dongi-Dongi

Do resettlement failures justify deforestation?

Trees or people?

The interests of local people aren’t served by keeping them out of national parks

Who benefits?

For the Forest Tobelo people, regional autonomy is a mixed blessing

Missing the boat?

What happens when wandering sea nomads have to settle?

A cultural carnival?

Observing social change in Papua

Latest Articles

Feminists and LGBT

Nov 24, 2023 - JULIA SURYAKUSUMA

Can they work together? Religious objections make it hard

Concerts for cash

Oct 27, 2023 - MICHAEL H. B. RADITYA

Indonesia has a plan to boost the economy through large-scale arts, cultural and sporting events, but are they ready?

Healing the nation? Part 2

Sep 13, 2023 - SASKIA E. WIERINGA

Recent attempts to address the Indonesian genocide after 1 October 1966

Healing the nation? Part 1

Sep 13, 2023 - SASKIA E. WIERINGA

Recent attempts to address the Indonesian genocide after 1 October 1966

Review: Historical parallelism: Batavia-Ommelanden and Jakarta-Bodetabek

Sep 11, 2023 - VIRDIKA RIZKY UTAMA

Lontar Modern Indonesia

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

Subscribe to Inside Indonesia

Receive Inside Indonesia's latest articles and quarterly editions in your inbox.