Traditional view on customary law and traditional authority often portrays adat as a self-contained, community-based system operating beyond the reach of the state and market economy. This assumption, however, does not hold in contemporary Bali. Adat law, institutions, and practices now play a central role in local governance and politics, shaped in part by state policy and political proximity with state actors. 

This talk explores how the recognition and intervention of Bali’s regional government have transformed adat institutions and authorities into hybrid entities that perform multiple functions, including exercising customary authority, delivering public services, and engaging in the market economy. On one hand, these developments may be viewed as forms of state co-optation. On the other hand, they demonstrate adat’s adaptive capacity to navigate contemporary political and economic change.

Speaker

Tody Utama is a PhD researcher at the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society, Leiden University, and a lecturer in adat (customary) Law at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Indonesia. He is interested in law and society issues, particularly in the areas of customary law, vulnerable groups, and legal pluralism. His current research explores the instrumentalization of customary law and institutions by the Indonesian government, focusing on the socio-political context and the strategies used by national and regional institutions to recognize, incorporate, and utilize adat. Previously, he was involved in research projects on the recognition of Indigenous communities, the legalization of customary tenure, and the intersections of adat with gender and disability. Some of his work is available here.

Discussant

Diana Suhardiman is the director of KITLV and professor of Natural Resource Governance, Climate and Equity (by special appointment) at Leiden University. Her research looks at natural resource governance and development with particular focus on equity and inclusion. Placing her research at the intersection of land, water, and environmental governance, she studies power struggles and grassroots alliances shaping within the broader context of state transformation processes in various countries in Southeast Asia, including Laos, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. 

Moderator

Wengki Ariando is an activist-researcher who primarily conducts research in participatory action research settings. His main research interests include coastal and small island development, political ecology, marine conservation, climate change adaptation, and indigenous resource governance, with a particular focus on Sea Nomadic Communities in Insular Southeast Asia. He is a post doc researcher at KITLV.

Format, date, time & venue

This seminar is a hybrid event and will be held in the conference room of KITLV, Herta Mohr building, room 1.30, Witte Singel 27 A, Leiden and online via Zoom, on Thursday 20 November from 15.30–17.00 PM (CET). 

UUKS

This seminar is part of the monthly Unraveling Unconventional Knowledge Systems (UUKS) seminar series.

Image

Ceremonial launch of a shared internet pole (tiang internet bersama) in Intaran Adat Village, Denpasar, Bali, symbolized by cutting a bundle of mock tangled cables. To address the cluttered of internet cables in the area, the village required providers to consolidate wiring onto shared poles, challenging the assumption that urban infrastructure is solely the responsibility of the state. Photo by Tody Utama, 14 November 2024.

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