The world’s biggest nickel producer and owner of the largest nickel reserve, Indonesia, has banned the export of its nickel ore two years ahead of schedule in 2020. This action prompted the...Show moreThe world’s biggest nickel producer and owner of the largest nickel reserve, Indonesia, has banned the export of its nickel ore two years ahead of schedule in 2020. This action prompted the European Union to file a complaint at the World Trade Organization in November 2019. Two years later, the Panel has ruled in favor of the European Union. Specifically, Indonesia’s export prohibition and domestic processing requirement on nickel ore were deemed inconsistent with the prohibition of export prohibitions and restrictions under the purview of Article XI:1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Instead of backing down, Indonesia has now appealed the Panel Report to the Appellate Body. This thesis draws from International Compliance Theory and combines the management approach and enforcement approach. Through descriptive qualitative analysis utilizing primary and secondary resources, it aims to investigate the reasons behind Indonesia's non-compliance. Indonesia’s appeal and persistent downstreaming efforts are deeply rooted in its ambition to reach high-income status by 2045, thus shedding light on the political-economic significance of the nickel sector. Lack of clarity on exemptions regarding export restrictions and inactive Appellate Body further provides an opportunity to prolong non-compliance with WTO Ruling.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
This research focuses on the analysis of the forms of human-environment relationship that characterize different communities in the coastal area of North Jakarta, and on how these might be...Show moreThis research focuses on the analysis of the forms of human-environment relationship that characterize different communities in the coastal area of North Jakarta, and on how these might be connected to inequalities between local communities. In North Jakarta, relationship with the environment is strongly affected by the presence of environmental issues, namely sea level rise, land subsidence, and chronic floods, which force local communities to come to terms with the surrounding waters on a daily basis, developing different experiences and perceptions of the environment. Moreover, such different experiences and perceptions are connected to political struggles related to the protection of the Jakarta bay ecosystem, the livelihood of fishing communities, and mitigation projects such as the construction of a giant seawall and of reclaimed islands off the coast of the city. The research population includes residents of four different neighbouring districts located along the coast of the Indonesian capital. Despite being so close to each other, these are very different areas, home to fish markets, fishing settlements and industries, luxurious residential areas, shining malls and exclusive leisure spaces. These districts are inhabited by very different communities in terms of social class, income, lifestyle, occupation, and ethnicity. Therefore, they are an ideal field to observe diverse forms of human-environment relationship, and to test to what extent could these be related to the above-mentioned inequalities and to different ontologies of the environment.Show less
Debates about the ownership of cultural heritage have been ongoing between colonizer and colonized countries. It has only been recently that the Netherlands has been reflective of its colonial...Show moreDebates about the ownership of cultural heritage have been ongoing between colonizer and colonized countries. It has only been recently that the Netherlands has been reflective of its colonial history and has returned 472 looted art objects back to Indonesia that came into Dutch hands during the colonial period. However, Indonesia has been requesting the return of cultural heritage objects since the 1960s, with its aim to support a new national narrative of the Indonesian state. The Netherlands has been unwilling to return objects due to a loss of power in the colonies and a loss of cultural control. This thesis explores the colonial thought and power structures that underlie the discourse on the restitution of colonial artifacts, such as in the case study of the Java Man remains. By performing an adaptation of a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and employing concepts such as heritage, universal value, looted, and restitution, this thesis argues that the Dutch state and institutions, such as Naturalis, claiming ownership of the looted artifacts proves to reflect the presence of a lingering colonial way of thinking, where the West is thought of as superior in terms of scientific research and architecture. The exhibition Early Humans where the Java Man remains are stored and presented, lacks information regarding the excavation of the artifacts and the colonial context they were found in. The lack of information regarding the colonial history reaffirms the power structures of the museum, linked to their colonial past of collecting. By analyzing the discourse surrounding the remains, this thesis aims to add how such colonial thinking and power structures have been reinforced through the debate of cultural heritage ownership.Show less
After Suharto stepped down in 1998, buried grievances between natives and migrants, and Christians and Muslims, came to light. During this post-Suharto period, large-scale communal and separatist...Show moreAfter Suharto stepped down in 1998, buried grievances between natives and migrants, and Christians and Muslims, came to light. During this post-Suharto period, large-scale communal and separatist conflicts broke out across the archipelago. This thesis analyses three of these conflicts and questions why the indigenous populations of West Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, and Papua resorted to collective violence against internal labour migrants in post- Suharto Indonesia, and asks under what historical and socio-economic conditions group boundaries were made, maintained and defended. By answering these questions, this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of what drives collective violence against labour migrants, and looks to identify general mechanisms of collective violence by analysing the erosion of intergroup boundaries.Show less
Comparison between four case studies about Dutch colonial violent conflicts in Indonesia, also questioning the need for a separation in the colonial historiography of the Netherlands between the...Show moreComparison between four case studies about Dutch colonial violent conflicts in Indonesia, also questioning the need for a separation in the colonial historiography of the Netherlands between the VOC and the post-VOC colonial period.Show less
Indonesia is experiencing a phenomenon that is called the moral turn. Increasingly, people are aiming to regulate the moralities of others and their private lives. This trend is happening at the...Show moreIndonesia is experiencing a phenomenon that is called the moral turn. Increasingly, people are aiming to regulate the moralities of others and their private lives. This trend is happening at the same time as others, like polarization. By analysing three pieces of recent (proposed) legislation that are examples of the moral turn (the Family Resilience Bill, the Sexual Violence Bill and the Criminal Code), I look at whether and to what extent the moral turn is polarizing Indonesian society. In the end, I argue that the moral turn in Indonesia has highlighted the divisions between pluralists, nationalists and liberalist on the one hand and moralists and Islamists on the other, but that it has most importantly brought these groups together as they came to several agreements around the legislative debates.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
Indonesia is one of the countries vulnerable to the impact of climate change due to its geography. Climate change has threatened the agriculture industry and the country’s ability for food security...Show moreIndonesia is one of the countries vulnerable to the impact of climate change due to its geography. Climate change has threatened the agriculture industry and the country’s ability for food security which can be a severe problem in the future. However, there are problems with how the government of Indonesia is trying to manage the impact of climate change on agriculture, especially on rice paddy farming, due to the impacts of the past neo-liberal policy (the green revolution) and challenges within the political reformation after the downfall of the Soeharto regime. In this thesis, I am trying to explore the implications and the causes of agricultural and climate issues management problems in Indramayu, Indonesia, by utilizing Aryo Danusiri’s (2018) visual methods of menjaring (trawling) and berburu (hunting). In understanding the implications, I was using the trawling method where I argue that climate change and agricultural management problems in Indonesia are creating a precarious situation for the rice paddy farmers, in line with Anna Tsing’s (2015: 20) statement of precarity being the condition of our time. Lastly, I was using the hunting method where I found out that ‘sectoral ego’ problems within the government and aggressive neo-liberal politics as one of the major causes.Show less
This thesis investigates the following research question: ''How has the development of the economic interdependence between China and Indonesia affected their behavior in the Natuna territorial...Show moreThis thesis investigates the following research question: ''How has the development of the economic interdependence between China and Indonesia affected their behavior in the Natuna territorial dispute.'' The conclusion is that in the last twenty years Indonesia has developed an economic dependence on China. As a result, China has increasingly used bluffing in the Natuna dispute. As a response, Indonesia has been caught in a balancing act between the economic interests of the Natuna territory and its relationship with China. On the one hand, Indonesia has been constrained by China’s behavior. On het other hand, Indonesia has also been more determined to resist China’s bluffing. This has led to more incidents and incidents with a higher level of hostility over time.Show less
History education has often been a topic of discussion and debate in the Netherlands. Many have argued that the dark pages of Dutch history are not sufficiently brought to attention in history...Show moreHistory education has often been a topic of discussion and debate in the Netherlands. Many have argued that the dark pages of Dutch history are not sufficiently brought to attention in history education and learning materials. This thesis aims to find out how Dutch colonial history is represented in Dutch secondary education learning materials. Through an analysis of several high school history textbooks, it became clear that there are quite a few issues when it comes to the representations of Dutch colonial history. In short, the books pay too little attention to the topic, contain Eurocentric and one-sided narratives, biased language use and they rarely engage in current public debates around colonial history. A questionnaire was also conducted among high school students to discover how extensive their knowledge on Dutch colonialism is, and to get an insight on their opinions and perspectives regarding that history. The questionairre revealed that there are significant gaps in the students’ knowledge about Dutch colonialism. While the newer editions of the textbooks showed some improvements, the learning materials still have a long way to go.Show less
This thesis studies a series concerning the portrayal of Indonesian cuisine: the photo series ‘Indonesian Culinary Photography’ by The Goethe-Institut in Jakarta. It looks at food identity, the...Show moreThis thesis studies a series concerning the portrayal of Indonesian cuisine: the photo series ‘Indonesian Culinary Photography’ by The Goethe-Institut in Jakarta. It looks at food identity, the visualization of taste and smell by word and image, and food identity's place within Indonesia's national narrative.Show less
Looking at diplomatic gifts as not merely precious objects that are transported across the globe, but also as objects that were exchanged purposefully as part of the formation of early modern...Show moreLooking at diplomatic gifts as not merely precious objects that are transported across the globe, but also as objects that were exchanged purposefully as part of the formation of early modern connections, this thesis focuses on the study of gift-giving between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. An analysis of the political relationship between the first ruler of Yogyakarta, Sultan Hamengkubuwono I (1717-92) and the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) reveals how material objects can be appropriated to create an agency for negotiation of greater political hegemony. In particular, the Sultan was able to create new symbolic meanings that legitimised his authority and power as a ruler in the eyes of his subjects through the gift, Kanjeng Nyai Jimat (royal coach), that was gifted by the Dutch after the Treaty of Giyanti in 1755. Despite its apparent foreign origin, the use of traditional concepts of power that are derived from the Javanese philosophy and cosmology had allowed the Sultan not only to carve an agency for himself but also to maintain the political hegemony of the royal family within Java up to this day.Show less
Smallholders are far from dead. In many cases around the world, smallholder farmers represent the backbone of rural and national economic development and are considered as both “beneficiaries and...Show moreSmallholders are far from dead. In many cases around the world, smallholder farmers represent the backbone of rural and national economic development and are considered as both “beneficiaries and agents of sustainable development”. The expansion of commodity crops has positively impacted rural livelihoods, providing employment and boosting general well-being among rural communities. This, however, changed the way farmers interact with nature, leading to negative externalities such as deforestation practices, wildlife endangerment and unsustainable working environments. Palm oil (PO) has attracted global attention for its ambiguous and often problematic nature. On the one hand, palm oil’s market rapid growth in Indonesia raised dramatic environmental concerns, as its development has come at the expense of fundamental human rights and biodiverse, carbon-rich tropical forests. On the other hand, it brought rural development and increased the national economy, placing smallholder farmers on a leading position. To investigate this trade-off of growth, the thesis was guided by the research question “how does the inclusion of smallholder farmers in the PO GVC contribute to sustainable inclusive development?” and was supported by the following three sub-questions: 1. What are the socio-economic implications of PO expansion on smallholder farmers in Riau and Jambi provinces? 2. What are the environmental implications of PO expansion in Riau and Jambi and how are these linked to smallholder farming? 3. To what extent has smallholders’ participation in the PO GVC contributed to the shift to the sustainable production of the crop and what facilitates this transition? The thesis was built on the sustainable and inclusive development theoretical framework and shed light on the role of smallholder farmers in enhancing rural livelihoods and boosting national economic growth. The analysis concludes that PO production has played a relevant role in poverty reduction and economic growth in Riau and Jambi, Indonesia. More specifically, its expansion manifested into increased income, access to land and capital, rural development through infrastructure and services and improved household dietary quality and food security. However, because of the strong influence of the Indonesian government's transmigration programme, inequality among farmers arised, as transmigrant smallholder families were given financial and technical support, while autochthonous ones generally were left forgotten. At the same time, palm oil expansion has replaced substantial amounts of tropical forests and led to numerous land conflicts across Indonesia.Show less
China is a rising power, something that has become increasingly evident in the South China Sea dispute in the past decade. In 2009, China for the first time officially and unilaterally declared...Show moreChina is a rising power, something that has become increasingly evident in the South China Sea dispute in the past decade. In 2009, China for the first time officially and unilaterally declared sovereignty over a large part of the South China Sea (SCS). At that time, both the biggest and smallest states of the region, Indonesia and Singapore, did not belong to the so-called ‘claimant states’. However, the increased tension in the SCS as a consequence of China’s maritime expansion leads to both states being affected by this dispute. Therefore, this thesis aims to examine the question ‘’How and why have Indonesia and Singapore responded to the increased Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea, despite both initially not being claimant states?’’ Outlining the developments in the South China Sea and looking at the dimensions of economic relations and domestic political factors, this thesis will try to explain the responses of Indonesia and Singapore to an increasingly assertive China in the South China Sea in the past decade. What could be concluded is that while Singapore and, to a greater extent, Indonesia are economically increasingly dependent on China, which could lead to turning a blind eye to China’s behaviour in the SCS, the two Southeast Asian states have instead increasingly criticized China in the past decade in order to go against its growing assertive behaviour. This response comes out of dynamics in domestic politics that does not allow the two states to behave submissively.Show less
This thesis attempts to write about the history of the Federal Consultative Assembly, also known in Dutch as the 'Bijeenkomst Federaal Overleg' (BFO), an assembly of Indonesians striving for a...Show moreThis thesis attempts to write about the history of the Federal Consultative Assembly, also known in Dutch as the 'Bijeenkomst Federaal Overleg' (BFO), an assembly of Indonesians striving for a federal Indonesia. Their agency became important to Dutch and Republican powerbrokers during the Dutch-Indonesian war of 1945-1949. Historians, like George McT. Kahin, argue that these federal Indonesians were either Dutch puppets or political 'opportunists' and part of a Dutch divide and rule strategy to regain their former colony. The author of the thesis refutes such arguments. By analysing the BFO's agency during the conflict, it becomes apparent that they were not merely puppets or opportunists, but that their decisions to either coöperate with the Dutch or the Republic were largely based on the way the war developed. This meaning the violence used during the conflict, the exercission of control of powerbrokers over Indonesian territory and the expectations this created about who would remain in power in Indonesia in the future. It will be emphasized that their cooperation with either the Dutch or the Republic was mostly involuntary and depended on which powerbroker could keep them save from violent harm and could safeguard a future for them in the future indepedent Indonesian state.Show less
Through the Shared Cultural Heritage Programmes of the last few decades, the Dutch government uses international cultural exchange for diplomatic ends. To build diplomatic relations despite...Show moreThrough the Shared Cultural Heritage Programmes of the last few decades, the Dutch government uses international cultural exchange for diplomatic ends. To build diplomatic relations despite difficult history and heritage, the Netherlands stress that the history and heritage they share with Indonesia and Suriname is shared and therefore important to preserve. Although this policy is quite successful in Indonesia and partly in Suriname, the heritage diplomacy does not really engage with postcolonial views on 'shared' history.Show less
