The confession of a timber baron: Patterns of patronage on the Indonesian-Malaysian border

TY - JOUR

T1 - The confession of a timber baron: Patterns of patronage on the Indonesian-Malaysian border

AU - Assistant Professor, Michael Eilenberg,

PY - 2012/5/8

Y1 - 2012/5/8

N2 - This article explores the socio-economic significance of patronage at the edge of the Indonesian state. It argues that marginal borders and adjacent borderlands where state institutions are often weak, and state power continuously waxes and wanes, encourage the growth of non-state forms of authority based on long-standing patron-client relationships. These complex interdependencies become especially potent because of traditionally rooted patterns of respect, charismatic leadership, and a heightened sense of autonomy among borderland populations. The article contends that an examination of these informal arrangements is imperative for understanding the rationale behind border people’s often fluid loyalties and illicit cross-border practices, strained relationships with their nation-states, and divergent views of legality and illegality. The article contributes to recent anthropological studies of borders and believes that these studies could gain important insight by re-examining the concept of patronage as an analytical tool in uncovering circuits of licit and illicit exchange in borderlands.

AB - This article explores the socio-economic significance of patronage at the edge of the Indonesian state. It argues that marginal borders and adjacent borderlands where state institutions are often weak, and state power continuously waxes and wanes, encourage the growth of non-state forms of authority based on long-standing patron-client relationships. These complex interdependencies become especially potent because of traditionally rooted patterns of respect, charismatic leadership, and a heightened sense of autonomy among borderland populations. The article contends that an examination of these informal arrangements is imperative for understanding the rationale behind border people’s often fluid loyalties and illicit cross-border practices, strained relationships with their nation-states, and divergent views of legality and illegality. The article contributes to recent anthropological studies of borders and believes that these studies could gain important insight by re-examining the concept of patronage as an analytical tool in uncovering circuits of licit and illicit exchange in borderlands.

U2 - 10.1080/1070289X.2012.672841

DO - 10.1080/1070289X.2012.672841

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1070-289X

VL - 19

SP - 149

EP - 167

JO - Identities - Global Studies in Culture and Power

JF - Identities - Global Studies in Culture and Power

IS - 2

ER -