Territorial Change and Conflict in Indonesia

Ratri Istania is an Assistant Professor at NIPA Polytechnic School of Administration (Politeknik STIA-LAN Jakarta) and Senior Researcher at Populi Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research, Jakarta, Indonesia. The preparation for this book was conducted while she was a Postgraduate Research Fellow and Part-time Faculty Member in the Political Science Department at Loyola University Chicago, USA.

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Abbreviations1 Introduction 2 The Arguments Behind Territorial Autonomy and Conflict 3 Methodology 4 The Quantitative Study: New Province Claim and Conflict 5 Bima: Messy Beginning, Yet a Promising End 6 Cirebon: Too Many Interests, Too Little Consensus 7 Tana Toraja: Myth and Culture that Keep Toraja’s People Together 8 Purwakarta: The Null Case 9 Connecting the Puzzle Index

'Territorial Change and Conflict in Indonesia provides a compelling and carefully researched answer to a pressing question in Indonesian politics: how to balance Indonesia’s territorial structure with the interests of its ethnically and religiously diverse population? This book shows how groups press their demands for new provinces, revealing the dynamics of political competition among national, provincial, and local interests over the shape of the local state, and using a comparative approach to explore both successful and unsuccessful cases of territorial change.'Thomas B. Pepinsky, Cornell University, USA'This is a thoughtful and well-researched study for those interested in identity politics and territoriality in Indonesia and more generally.'Ehito Kimura, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Hawaii'This is an excellent book that studies the relationships between the development of new provinces and conflict in Indonesia. Combining both quantitative research and in-depth case studies, the author elucidates the mechanism by which variables combine to produce various conflicts outcomes. This book is highly recommended for anyone who is interested in territorial integrity and conflicts.'Eunsook Jung, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA