ARI Working Paper Series

The implementation of new national laws on decentralisation and self-determination in Eastern Indonesia provides the case study to examine the various dilemmas resulting from the human right to culture such as integration versus exclusion, cultural flexibility versus codification, and re-empowerment of local cultures versus the re-emergence of feudal structures. The contribution first discusses the challenges coming along with the declaration of collective (cultural) rights as basic human rights and an overly static notion of culture. This provides the context to reflect on the new laws on decentralisation in post-Suharto Indonesia, the accompanying revival of tradition movements all over the country, and Indonesia’s changing human rights situation. The Central Moluccas are taken as a case study, since the revival process there was not only part of the common trend in Indonesia, but also a means to cope with the aftermath of the religious violence that had recently taken place in that region. The article analyses the implementation, translation and negotiation processes in the Central Moluccas triggered by the new decentralisation laws. Focusing on the re-establishment of traditional villages and leadership enabled by the new legislation, it will explore government regulations on the national, provincial and district level, deal with questions of authenticity and representativeness, and uncover power struggles involved. Who defines ‘tradition’ is highly problematic when it comes to codification or the resulting declaration of villages as adat villages (negeri adat) and leaders as traditional leaders (raja). In the final part of the article the author discusses the implications of these developments for issues and challenges that need urgent attention by policy makers and researchers: the ongoing peace process in the Moluccas, the dilemma between flexible cultural concepts and their codification, the democratisation process in the area, and the translation of human rights into local contexts.