Contesting boundaries in the Riau Archipelago

Abstract

The fall of the New Order and the implementation of the regional autonomy laws have provided fresh opportunities for the local elite to promote and consolidate their own sphere of influence. As has already been the case in a number of provinces and districts, instances of conflict have spread, often in the context of power struggles and highly complex social and political restructurings (H. Schulte Nordholt 2002). In many cases, these conflicts are popularly articulated through the language of ethnic and religious identity politics. Similarly, ethnic and religious sensitivities which were consciously repressed during the period of the New Order,