Ambivalent identities: Decentralization and Minangkabau political communities

Abstract

This chapter explores two separate but closely related consequences of the decentralization policies characteristic for West Sumatra that have important implications for the drawing of social boundaries. The first concerns the reorganization of village government. The second consequence concerns the reconsideration of Minangkabau identity in the larger Indonesian polity. The chapter focuses on the negotiations of the boundaries and political organization of villages. It suggests that control over natural resources is crucial for understanding the tensions and contradictions between adat and adat structures and the new village administration. Then, the chapter turns to the issue of Minangkabau identity and the tensions between adat, Islam and the state involved, and discusses the various arenas in which debates about these issues are carried out and how the various arenas of negotiation are interconnected. It ends by drawing some conclusions about the extent to which Minangkabau villages are embedded in larger political structures. Keywords: adat structures; decentralization policies; Indonesian polity; Islamic organizations; Minangkabau identity; natural resources; social boundaries; village government; West Sumatra