Genealogies of the Political Forest and Customary Rights in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand | Land Portal

Resource information

Date of publication: 
December 2001
Resource Language: 
ISBN / Resource ID: 
MLRF:1899
Pages: 
761-812

ABSTRACTED FROM INTRODUCTION: How have national and state governments the world over come to “own” huge expanses of territory under the rubric of “national forest,” “national parks”, or “wastelands”? The two contradictory statements in the above epigraph illustrate that not all colonial administrators agreed that forests should be taken away from local people and “protected” by the state. The assumption of state authority over forests is based on a relatively recent convergence of historical circumstances. These circumstances have enabled certain state authorities to supersede the rights, claims, and practices of people resident in what the world now calls “forests”.

Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s): 

Peluso, Nancy Lee
Vandergeest, Peter

Data provider

The purpose of the Mekong Land Research Forum online site is to provide structured access to published and unpublished research on land issues in the Mekong Region. It is based on the premise that debates and decisions around land governance can be enhanced by drawing on the considerable volume of research, documented experience and action-based reflection that is available.

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