Anachronism, Agency, and the Contextualisation of Adat

Van Vollenhoven's Analyses in Light of Struggles Over Resources

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2175012
AutoresKeebet Von Benda-Beckmann (0000-0002-9807-570X, autor correspondente)
Ano2019
Volume20
Fascículo5
Páginas397-415
Data de publicação2019-10-20
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCanberra Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0314-9099 • E-ISSN: 1740-9314
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14442213.2019.1670242
OpenAlexW2980043144
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas10
Referências citadas32

This article discusses the conceptual and analytical contributions of the Dutch scholar Cornelis van Vollenhoven to the study of Indonesian adat law. He argued from a politically inspired concern about gross colonial exploitation in the Dutch East Indies that this was based on flawed understandings of local legal orders. This stimulated him to design a conceptual framework to capture the characteristics of these legal orders, called adat law. His perceptiveness to the distortions caused by using Western legal concepts to describe customary laws was unique for the time, and so was his attention to the various contexts other than in disputes in which adat law was used. This renders his work of importance not only for lawyers but also for social scientists. The article discusses the criticism against his academic work and suggests that despite some major weaknesses, some criticisms are anachronistic as they concerned earlier or later scholars rather than the work of van Vollenhoven himself. The article shows how debates about indigenous rights and the decentralisation policies after the fall of the Soeharto regime have stimulated a renewed interest in adat and adat law. It is argued that van Vollenhoven's conceptual framework is still of use, but only if it is expanded and set into a broader analysis of migration, exploitation, and power relations

Agency (philosophy · Anachronism · Conceptual framework · Criticism · Decentralization · Indigenous · Indonesian · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Social science · Sociology · Asian Studies and History · Indigenous Peoples' Rights and Law · Law · Legal Studies and Policies · Philosophy