| ID | 113868 |
| Title Proper | Confession of a timber baron |
| Other Title Information | patterns of patronage on the Indonesian-Malaysian border |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Eilenberg, Michael |
| Publication | 2012. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | This article explores the socio-economic significance of patronage at the edge of the Indonesian state. It argues that marginal borders and adjacent borderlands where state institutions are often weak, and state power continuously waxes and wanes, encourage the growth of non-state forms of authority based on long-standing patron-client relationships. These complex interdependencies become especially potent because of traditionally rooted patterns of respect, charismatic leadership and a heightened sense of autonomy among borderland populations. The article contends that an examination of these informal arrangements is imperative for understanding the rationale behind border people's often fluid loyalties and illicit cross-border practices, strained relationships with their nation states and divergent views of legality and illegality. The article contributes to recent anthropological studies of borders and believes that these studies could gain important insight by re-examining the concept of patronage as an analytical tool in uncovering circuits of licit and illicit exchange in borderlands. |
| `In' analytical Note | Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power Vol. 19, No.2; Mar 2012: p.149-167 |
| Journal Source | Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power Vol. 19, No.2; Mar 2012: p.149-167 |
| Key Words | Patronage ; Illegality ; Borders ; Borderlands ; Indonesia ; South East Asia |