The demonstration effect

Natural resources, ethnonationalism and the Aceh conflict

Bibliographic Data

ID20153364
AuthorsJohn F Mccarthy (0000-0002-2560-5917, Australian National University, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume28
Issue3
Pages314-333
Publication date2007-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSingapore Journal of Tropical Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0129-7619 • E-ISSN: 1467-9493
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-9493.2007.00304.x
OpenAlexW1978162982
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited25

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami brought Aceh's long‐drawn separatist conflict back to international attention. Yet, the precise way in which the different aspects of the conflict entangled with resource‐related grievances have remained poorly understood. Taking a political ecology approach, this paper sets out to understand the role of natural resource grievances within the complex and shifting set of mutually implicated factors leading to and sustaining the conflict from the early days of Indonesia's independence. The paper argues that the management of Aceh's natural resources – especially the rich gas and oil reserves – was not the sole or primary causal factor. Rather, state managed exploitation of natural resources had a demonstration effect, exemplifying other grievances and supporting the articulation of a separatist discourse naturalizing ‘Acehnese’ conceptualizations of resource entitlement. Comparing Aceh with other separatist conflicts, the paper suggests that, as conflict unfolds at the intersection of a shifting set of concerns, it is increasingly difficult to separate the underlying issues of identity, resource entitlements and human rights

Articulation (sociology) · Economics · Entitlement (fair division) · Environmental ethics · Geography · Identity (music) · Independence (probability theory) · Natural (archaeology) · Natural resource · Political ecology · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Resource (disambiguation) · Sociology · Asian Studies and History · Law · Mining and Resource Management · Natural Resources and Economic Development

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub