Federal Bargains and Decentralised Competition: Ethnic Politics in Sarawak and West Kalimantan

Taufiq Tanasaldy, Sing Pei Tan

Abstract


This paper compares regional ethnic politics in Sarawak, Malaysia and Kalimantan, Indonesia, two historically and culturally linked border regions that have progressed under different state structures. It examines how colonial legacies, nation-building strategies and centre-periphery relations shaped divergent patterns of ethnic mobilisation and accommodation. The study argues that Sarawak’s politics act within a constrained consociational framework under Malaysia’s federal system, where elite bargaining and coalition politics enable representation while limiting autonomy. On the other hand, West Kalimantan reflects Indonesia’s shifting diversity management, from early post-war representation to New Order centralisation, and later decentralised, competitive ethnic politics after Reformasi. By comparing these courses, the paper shows how similar social compositions create different outcomes under federal versus unitary arrangements.  Empirically, it contributes to the subnational studies in Southeast Asia, and theoretically emphasises the role of institutional pathways in structuring ethnic accommodation beyond the national level.


Full Text:

PDF

References


Chin, J. (1996). PBDS and ethnic politics in Sarawak. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 26(4), 512–526.

Chin, J. (2018). Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia: The issue of autonomy. Asian Journal of Political Science, 26(1), 78–96.

Chong, T. (2021). Sarawak’s quest for autonomy: Revisiting the Dayak political struggle. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 52(2), 297–312.

Cramb, R. A. (2019). The politics of land in Sarawak: Native customary rights and development. NUS Press.

Davidson, J. (2003). “Primitive” politics: The rise and fall of the Dayak Unity Party in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Asia Research Institute Working Paper No. 9.

Dijk, C. van. (2002). Colonial fears, 1890–1918: Pan-Islamism and the Germano-Indian plot. In H. de Jonge & N. J. G. Kaptein (Eds.), Transcending borders: Arabs, politics, trade and Islam in Southeast Asia. KITLV Press.

Economic Planning Unit, Sarawak. (2022). Sarawak facts and figures 2021. Chief Minister’s Department, Sarawak.

Esman, M. J. (1994). Ethnic politics. Cornell University Press.

Furnivall, J. S. (1939). Europeans in Burma of the fifteenth century.

Gomez, E. T., & Saravanamuttu, J. (Eds.). (2013). The New Economic Policy in Malaysia: Affirmative action, ethnic inequalities, and social justice. NUS Press.

Heeren, H. J. (1979). Transmigrasi di Indonesia. Gramedia.

Hirschman, C. (1986). The making of race in colonial Malaya: Political economy and racial ideology. Sociological Forum, 1(2), 330–361.

Horowitz, D. L. (1985). Ethnic groups in conflict. University of California Press.

Jomo, K. S. (1986). A question of class: Capital, the state, and uneven development in Malaya. Oxford University Press.

Leigh, M. (1974). The rising moon: Political change in Sarawak. Sydney University Press.

Leong, C. H. (2021). Sarawak's push for autonomy in post-UMNO Malaysia. Asian Journal of Political Science, 29(3), 213–232.

Lijphart, A. (1977). Democracy in plural societies: A comparative exploration. Yale University Press.

Milne, R. S., & Ratnam, K. J. (1974). Malaysia: New states in a new nation—Political development of Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysia. Frank Cass.

Pepinsky, T. (2019). The end of UMNO's dominance: Implications for ethnic politics. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 50(4), 595–608.

Pringle, R. (1970). Rajahs and rebels: The Ibans of Sarawak under Brooke rule, 1841–1941. Cornell University Press.

Reilly, B. (2006). Political engineering and party politics in conflict-prone societies. Democratization, 13(5), 811–827.

Searle, P. (2006). The riddle of Malaysian capitalism: Rent-seekers or real capitalists? Allen & Unwin.

Shamsul, A. B. (2005). The construction and management of pluralism: Sharing the Malaysian experience. ICIP Journal, 2(1), 1–14.

Somers-Heidhues, M. (2003). Golddiggers, farmers, and traders in the “Chinese districts” of West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Cornell Southeast Asia Program.

Tanasaldy, T. (2012). Regime change and ethnic politics in Indonesia: Dayak politics of West Kalimantan. Brill.

Tanasaldy, T. (2015). A decade after the reform: Political activism of the Chinese of West Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Willmott, D. E. (2009). The national status of the Chinese in Indonesia, 1900–1958. Equinox Publishing.

Yuan, B. (2000). Chinese democracies: A study of the kongsis of West Borneo (1776–1884). Research School of Asian, Pacific and Australian Studies, Australian National University.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.