A heuristic typology of mediator-centered power in land use conflicts: An actor centered analysis for developing countries

Abstract

This study advances a heuristic typology to analyze mediator-centered power in land-use conflicts, offering an actor-centered framework tailored to the socio-political complexities of developing countries. Moving beyond linear knowledge-transfer models, we reconceptualize mediators as power integrators who strategically convert between epistemic, structural, and agential power to shape conflict outcomes by bridging technical knowledge with political negotiation, mediators strategically position themselves within formal and informal governance arenas, negotiating between bureaucratic mandates, elite networks, and grassroots mobilization to reconfigure power dynamics. Through empirical analysis of Indonesian cases, we identify four mediator types: patronage mediators leverage elite networks to broker resolutions through informal politics; activism mediators mobilize grassroots resistance to counterbalance elite dominance; bridging mediators facilitate multi-stakeholder consensus while camouflaging partisan interests; and bureaucratic mediators instrumentalize formal mandates amid competing state priorities. Our findings reveal that sustainable resolutions require mediators to actively manage recursive power-knowledge exchanges, particularly in contexts where conflicts intersect legal systems, patronage networks, and competing knowledge claims. The typology provides practitioners with diagnostic tools to assess power imbalances and offers scholars a systematic approach to analyze mediation as a dynamic process of interest negotiation and structural adaptation.