Part 1

• The Political Economy of Flood Management in Indonesian Cities Yogi Setya Permana KITLV Leiden

  While geophysical disasters like earthquakes have caused more deaths in Indonesia, flooding is the most significant among these risks because it occurs most often, affects most people, and causes the most damage, especially in urban areas. However, some cities relatively succeed while others fail to manage floods, as shown by the statistics of flood cases and the number of impacted people. How is it possible that cities operating within the same national context and confronted with a similar problem of flooding and circumstances perform very differently regarding the outcome of flood management? It becomes even more puzzling when we observe that cities investing less heavily in massive technical interventions do equally or even better than cities that depend on such interventions. I argue that two contextual factors influence the outcomes of flood management. The first factor is the varying enforcement capacity of local governments to set up and implement effective regulation of flood defence infrastructure. Local governments whose policies are regularly undermined by collusive relationships among state actors and economic elites are much less effective in building the regulatory enforcement capacity to establish effective flood defence. The second factor relates to the existing power dynamics and political processes related to spatial planning in defending water catchment areas and green zones. The success and failure of flood prevention are shaped by the capacity of civil society activism to defend the water catchment areas and the green zones amidst powerful political and economic actors such as real estate companies, factory owners, and agricultural bosses.

• Politico-business collusion networks in Banten province : generalisation of a political accumulation model and diversification of economic activities Gabriel Facal Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia

  This presentation examines the somewhat anachronistic resilience of ancient networks of power in the province of Banten, western Java. These networks, which emerged in the late 1960s as regional extensions of President Suharto’s regime, are deeply rooted in religious social structures and a network of martial arts schools. These schools produce “strong men” (and more recently “strongwomen”) (jawara/i), whose strength is conceived as arising from their ability to resist mundane concerns and find practical solutions despite political and economic adversity. The jawara thrive on a symbiotic relationship with the state, acquiring decision-making functions through this penetration, while also securing protection within the apparatus of government, public administration and justice.
  Since the decentralization of Reformasi in 1998 and provincial autonomy in 2000, the jawara leaders have renewed their economic activities, alliances and narratives while maintaining longstanding, territorialized clientelistic methods. In contrast to the liberalism of new elected officials from Jakarta entering the regional political arena via the eastern legislatures of Tangerang, the political clans of Serang (the provincial capital) denounce contemporary and foreign forms of impersonal, individualistic and consumerist politics. This moral stance benefits from a very favorable political climate, given Banten’s results in recent general elections revealed it as a province with high support for conservative parties. This ongoing trend, illustrated by the successful establishment of the Pemuda Pancasila nationalist militia headquarters next to the central police station, demonstrates the resilience and generalisation of a political and cultural model based on the concentration of social, political and economic resources.
  This presentation will map out the different politico-business (infrastructure, transport, tourism, resource extraction) collusion networks in Banten’s two cities and four districts, highlighting their strategies over the past two decades and agonistic perspectives for the years to come.

• Caring or Corrupting? Socio-Legal Obligations in Indonesia Santy Kouwagam Leiden University

  Drawing insights from extensive research on law, lawyers and business-people, this presentation challenges conventional assumptions that often associate relationships between business-people and officials as illicit. By examining the nuanced interplay between legality and ethical considerations, the research seeks to redefine the narrative surrounding the intersection of money and power within the Indonesian socio-legal landscape. The central goal of the presentation is to highlight the varying degrees of ‘collusion’ that exist, demonstrating that monetary transactions can transcend potential stigma and, depending on the context, serve as conduits for care or authentic expressions of concern.

Part 2

• Business-politics collusion and campaign finance: evidence from Indonesia’s 2024 parliamentary elections Ward Berenschot KITLV

  Expensive election campaigns are considered a major driver of business-politics collusion. When politicians need extensive funds to finance campaign activities, they can hardly forego making deals with economic elites. Or can they? While there are plenty of anecdotes, there is little systematic evidence concerning the character and extend of campaign funding from business actors. This paper addresses this challenge by using material from an ongoing research project on campaign finance in Indonesia and India. In the run-up to Indonesia’s 2024 parliamentary elections eight researchers have engaged in candidate shadowing in eight economically diverse constituencies. They immersed themselves in election campaigns of candidates for district- and provincial parliaments, in order to explore the sources of campaign funds, and the deals candidates make to obtain these funds. This paper presents preliminary findings of this research project, with particular attention for impact of the character of local economies on such campaign finance practices.

• Politico-Business Collusion and the Rise of Transnational Organized Crime in Southeast Asia: Insights from Cambodia Neil Loughlin City, university of London

  Over the past few years Cambodia has emerged as a global hotspot for transnational organized crime and a thriving online scamming industry. Alongside fraud, online scamming operations have fuelled human trafficking on a vast scale, with estimates of tens of thousands of people held against their will in scam compounds in the coutry. Alleged criminal actors from mainland China have formed personal and cozy relations with leading Cambodian politicians, forming networks and business empires linked to corruption and cyber scamming. This paper argues that the scamming epidemic unfolding in Cambodia should be seen as another dimension supporting the country’s pre-existing and highly corrupt political settlement. The state provides protection for illicit activities carried out by regime-linked Cambodian tycoons and Chinese gangsters who have become close to key figures withing the state-party and reflects how deeply illicit money is embedded withing the CPP’s patronage system, permeating all the country’s institutions of government. The paper also considers region-wide dynamics and push factors from China that have spurred the spread of transnational organized crime and its implications for governance, development, and rights.

Abstract