The Grondkaart is a map indicating land ownership and control boundaries, created by the Dutch East Indies government. It is currently used in Indonesia to demonstrate land control by the state-owned railway company (PT KAI). The Grondkaart is a piece of paper that should serve only as an archive and artefact of the past, having no legal power in post-colonial Indonesia. 

In the neoliberal era, this unclear piece of paper has transformed into a powerful 'thing' capable of displacing thousands of citizens from their lands. At the same time, it has become a vital source in the process of capital formation. How could that happen?

Speaker

Dianto Bachriadi is a researcher at the Agrarian Resource Center (ARC), a non-governmental and independent research institute, based in Bandung, Indonesia. He is interested in topics related to agrarian and environmental justice and movement. His current research is about land occupation and agroecology. Beside his activities in research, advocacy, and community organizing, he also teaches political science and international relations in a graduate program at two universities in Indonesia – Padjadjaran University and Paramadina University. He is currently a visiting fellow at KITLV.

Moderator

Ward Berenschot is a professor of comparative political anthropology at the University of Amsterdam and a senior researcher at KITLV. He has been involved in efforts to promote legal aid in Indonesia, particularly in relation to land conflicts sparked by palm oil expansion.

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 Tuesday 27 May from 16.00 – 17.30 PM (CET).

Image

Spoorwegstations op Java. Photo: Michiel van Ballegoijen de Jong, 1993.

Flyer