The Game of Patronage in Palm Oil Land Deals: Kalimantan's Corruption Cases

The versatility of palm oil makes it a demanded global commodity. Almost every product that we use in daily life contains palm oil. However, as palm oil plantations are mostly located in Southeast Asia’s biodiversity-rich forests, their contribution to massive deforestation has resulted in protests from the international community. As the palm oil industry is also dominated by big corporations, the global demand for palm oil incentivizes the needs for plantation expansions. Despite its adverse environmental impact, the land for plantations incrementally expands every year. Although regulations and policies to control land use for plantations have been enforced, there has been little evidence showing the decrease of land use for palm oil plantations. The patronage democracy, as a key feature of Indonesian politics, enhances incentive favouring the economic interest of business actors. With Indonesia’s democratisation, a pervasive patron-client relationship bolsters the ties between...Show moreThe versatility of palm oil makes it a demanded global commodity. Almost every product that we use in daily life contains palm oil. However, as palm oil plantations are mostly located in Southeast Asia’s biodiversity-rich forests, their contribution to massive deforestation has resulted in protests from the international community. As the palm oil industry is also dominated by big corporations, the global demand for palm oil incentivizes the needs for plantation expansions. Despite its adverse environmental impact, the land for plantations incrementally expands every year. Although regulations and policies to control land use for plantations have been enforced, there has been little evidence showing the decrease of land use for palm oil plantations. The patronage democracy, as a key feature of Indonesian politics, enhances incentive favouring the economic interest of business actors. With Indonesia’s democratisation, a pervasive patron-client relationship bolsters the ties between district governors (politicians) and palm oil companies (business), especially since decentralisation in which local governments are responsible for a large part of their own budget. Subsequently, it poses the question: how does patronage democracy halt the effort to combat corruption of palm oil land deals in Kalimantan? From 2 corruption cases of district head’s corruption in Gunung Mas and Seruyan district in Central Kalimantan, this research examines the creation of a system deriving from patronage democracy that halts the effort to combat corruption of palm oil land deals.Show less

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The Game of Patronage in Palm Oil Land Deals: Kalimantan's Corruption Cases