Indonesian Job Creation Law: Neoliberal Legality, Authoritarianism and Executive Aggrandizement Under Joko Widodo

IF 0.4 Q3 LAW

Law and Development Review Pub Date : 2023-06-26 DOI:10.1515/ldr-2023-0022

Tunggul Anshari Setia Negara, Syahriza Alkohir Anggoro, I. Koeswahyono

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract On October 5, 2020, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) passed Law no. 11/2020 on Job Creation (Job Creation Law/JCL) designed to improve Indonesia’s private investment climate. The law changed various legal landscapes that were identified as obstacles to accelerated development and economic growth. However, the Law has sparked widespread protests because it can potentially encourage environmental damage, exacerbate workers’ vulnerability and increase socioeconomic inequality. Describing JCL as a neoliberal legality project, this paper explores the elected executive’s role in mobilizing authoritarian state practices through disciplinary measures that undermine democratic accountabilities. It is argued that the configuration between the pre-existing illiberal democracy and Jokowi’s autocratic tendencies offers predatory business alliances an adequate legal and institutional platform to formulate a neoliberal legal breakthrough while eliminating resistance to them. Through a socio-legal analysis of the three areas targeted by the JCL amendments, we further argue that Jokowi’s success in advocating for his preferred neoliberal agenda hinges on what is called an executive aggrandizement strategy. This is characterized by interventions designed to safeguard the neoliberal legality preferences promoted by the elected executive from the disruption of meaningful checks and balances in the future, thereby deepening the features of authoritarian statecraft. This paper contributes to an advanced understanding of the bleak picture of Indonesian democracy over the past few years by proposing neoliberal legality as one of the ingrained legal characteristics of Jokowi’s authoritarian regime.

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印尼就业创造法:新自由主义合法性、威权主义和佐科·维多多领导下的行政扩张

2020年10月5日，印尼总统佐科·维多多(Jokowi)通过了第11号法律。11/2020创造就业(创造就业法/JCL)，旨在改善印尼的私人投资环境。该法改变了被认为阻碍加速发展和经济增长的各种法律格局。然而，该法引发了广泛的抗议，因为它可能会鼓励环境破坏，加剧工人的脆弱性，并增加社会经济不平等。本文将JCL描述为一个新自由主义的合法性项目，探讨了民选行政人员在通过破坏民主问责制的纪律措施动员威权国家实践中的作用。有人认为，既有的非自由民主与佐科威的独裁倾向之间的配置，为掠夺性商业联盟提供了一个充分的法律和制度平台，以制定新自由主义的法律突破，同时消除对它们的抵制。通过对JCL修正案所针对的三个领域的社会法律分析，我们进一步认为，佐科维在倡导其首选的新自由主义议程方面的成功取决于所谓的行政强化战略。其特点是干预旨在保护新自由主义的合法性偏好，这些偏好是由当选的行政机构在未来推动的，不受有意义的制衡的破坏，从而加深了威权治国的特征。本文通过提出新自由主义合法性是佐科威独裁政权根深蒂固的法律特征之一，有助于深入了解过去几年印尼民主的黯淡图景。

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来源期刊

Law and Development Review LAW-

CiteScore

0.90

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Law and Development Review (LDR) is a top peer-reviewed journal in the field of law and development which explores the impact of law, legal frameworks, and institutions (LFIs) on development. LDR is distinguished from other law and economics journals in that its primary focus is the development aspects of international and domestic legal orders. The journal promotes global exchanges of views on law and development issues. LDR facilitates future global negotiations concerning the economic development of developing countries and sets out future directions for law and development studies. Many of the top scholars and practitioners in the field, including Professors David Trubek, Bhupinder Chimni, Michael Trebilcock, and Mitsuo Matsushita, have edited LDR issues and published articles in LDR. The journal seeks top-quality articles on law and development issues broadly, from the developing world as well as from the developed world. The changing economic conditions in recent decades render the law and development approach applicable to economic issues in developed countries as well as developing ones, and LDR accepts manuscripts on law and economic development issues concerning both categories of countries. LDR’s editorial board includes top scholars and professionals with diverse regional and academic backgrounds.