Over the last two decades, scholarship on Indonesian politics has examined the new political dynamics of actors, power and its resources after the democratic transition. Proponents of the ‘oligarchy thesis’ have claimed the entrenchment of oligarchy that derives from the former authoritarian regime. Meanwhile, pluralist scholars highlight various actors in democratic Indonesia, as well as patterns of coalition politics in which oligarchs are a part of it.
Climate change and the following clean energy transition have, however, brought new dynamics of resource and wealth distribution in Indonesia. Indeed, the clean energy transition has led to commodity booms both in agricultural and mining resources in Indonesia. The new economic dynamics have raised critical questions on issues of resource and wealth distribution in various sectors and localities in Indonesia. We have seen different patterns – vis-à-vis continuous trends from the previous authoritarian period – of oligarchic entrenchment, corruption and political contestation over the last two decades.
Our panel will multi-disciplinarily examine the political economy of land, wealth and resources in various localities in Indonesia. With the expertise of our panelists in law/criminology, sociology, and political science, the panel will unpack the new dynamics of resource and wealth distribution in post-authoritarian Indonesia. The broader scope of our panel will reveal the geographical and sectoral variance, as well as the historical trajectory, in studying wealth and resources in contemporary Indonesian politics.