Dec 06, 2019 Last Updated 11:46 PM, Dec 3, 2019

Inside Indonesia

Land Rights

Distance matters: social housing for the poor

For Jakarta’s most vulnerable, vertical social housing creates more problems than it solves

Social exclusion in a state urban mega-development

Multi-generational villagers’ land and homes are being expropriated for the new capital Credit: Alyssa Shamsa Wilbur

Indonesia’s first 'new city' may not be addressing the urban problems it was supposed to

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

Book extract: Sarongge

(Agus Andrianto for CIFOR, via Flickr)

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

Petikan buku: Sarongge

(Agus Andrianto for CIFOR, via Flickr)

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

Samarinda’s deadly mining pits

A GSM plaintiff and a farmer stand on the edge of her mined land in Samarinda - Armin Hari

The end of the boom has not meant an end to the perilous impact of coal mining in East Kalimantan

The Sultan of development?

Return to the rules of the Palace” on a busy street in Yogyakarta - Cally Colbron

Succession within the Sultanate of Yogyakarta decides who will own vast tracts of land

An agrarian reform agenda for Jokowi

Community members in Central Kalimantan attempt to prevent the planting of palm oil on land they claim as their own - Save Our Borneo

Jokowi must accommodate customary rights lest his development agenda spur land conflicts

Balancing business

Ford 1 FSPMI protest resize

Indonesia’s unions are engaging in electoral politics in unprecedented ways in an attempt to balance the influence of business

Dealing with social exclusion

Dealing with social exclusion

Illegal squatters in Jakarta struggle for recognition of their homes and livelihoods

Art for the people

Art for the people

Taring Padi takes stock of a more than a decade fighting the political establishment – with art as its weapon

Resistance through memory

Resistance through memory

The victims of the Lapindo mudflow disaster continue to assert their rights to compensation

Prosperity denied

Prosperity denied

Mining is booming in East Nusa Tenggara, but where is the wealth going?

Social justice by design

Social justice by design

Architect Antonio Ismael Risianto promotes planning for the urban poor

Development for the rich

Development for the rich

Gated communities are built with little concern for their social and environmental impacts

When money rules over voice

When money rules over voice

Regional autonomy and spatial planning in Bandung benefits the elite

Land, ethnicity and politics

Land, ethnicity and politics

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

Too precious to mine

Too precious to mine

Central Java farmers refuse to get stuck in cement

Latest Articles

Fiction: Pasung

Nov 22, 2019 - MAYESTICA DE JONG

/ Andrea Star Reese for Human Rights Watch

His gaze is fixated on an indeterminate spot behind me, his arms hang loosely by his sides. Wearing nothing but a pair of faded black shorts, his ribs and collar...

Contraception at a crossroads

Nov 11, 2019 - LOUISA-ANNE BUWALDA

Adam Cohn @Flickr

Indonesia’s 50-year-old family planning program has been a great success but is struggling to adapt with women’s needs

Hunger and culture in West Papua

Oct 30, 2019 - SOPHIE CHAO

Indigenous Marind in rural Merauke have traditionally depended on the forest for their subsistence / Sophie Chao

Oil palm projects are causing hunger in Merauke, both literal and symbolic

Book reviews: Telling the Dutch colonial wars in Aceh and South Sulawesi

Oct 08, 2019 - JOOST COTE

Essay: Letter from Jakarta

Sep 29, 2019 - ABDUL SAMAD HAIDARI

Refugees protest in Makassar, February 2018 / Ali Froghi

Living in the midst of uncertainty

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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