How do ethnic groups compete for a new province in a decentralised Indonesia?

Abstract

ABSTRACT How do ethnic groups compete in a decentralized Indonesia? How do their political competitions to claim a new province lead to open conflict? The Indonesian government devised its massive territorial autonomy (TA) strategy—regional proliferation or pemekaran—as part of expansive decentralization reform in 1999. While scholarship is generally ambiguous regarding the relationship between regional proliferation and conflict, many districts still experience small-scale episodic conflict some of which may be fuelled by ethnic-group competition after pemekaran. This study aims to investigate ethnic groups’ political competition during the initiation stage of non-successful new province campaigns. Using four cases—two new province aspirations, one no-province claim and a null case—I argue that ethnic groups’ political competition can develop to the level of a localized small-scale episodic conflict. The evidence suggests that political competition among ethnic groups may temporarily escalate due issues of the location of the new province’s capital location and the future bid for a new gubernatorial position. This study fills a scholarly gap in the discussion of ethnic groups’ politics and conflict (e.g. Cederman, L.-E., Hug, S., Schädel, A., & Wucherpfennig, J. [2015]. Territorial autonomy in the shadow of conflict: Too little, too late? American Political Science Review, 109(2), 354–370. doi:10.1017/S0003055415000118; Cunningham, K. G. [2014]. Inside the politics of self-determination. Oxford University Press). Furthermore, this study finds support for the effectiveness of a moratorium policy, such as buying-time tactics to reduce the conflict.