Mobilising Culture and Tradition for Peace – Reconciliation in the Moluccas

31/10/2007 - 15:30

31 October 2007
15.30 - 17.00 hrs 

Leiden Southeast Asia Seminar by Dr Birgit Bräuchler from the Asia Research Insitute, National University of Singapore

Venue: KITLV, Reuvensplaats 2, 2311 BE, Leiden
Room 138

In conflict-affected areas worldwide conventional approaches to reconciliation often seem to fail and we increasingly encounter tendencies to mobilise traditional institutions for peace and stability. In the Moluccas in Eastern Indonesia one of the most violent post-Suharto conflicts was fought out, mainly between Christians and Muslims. The Moluccan population is now in search of reconciliation and peace. In this seminar, Birgit Bräuchler argues that the revitalisation of adat - tradition and customary law - in the Moluccas is not only part of a common trend in Indonesia that was triggered by the new decentralisation laws, but at the same time a strategic move to foster reconciliation. Drawing on case studies from the Central Moluccas she discusses the potential and the problems coming along with the revival of tradition that can not only foster peace, but also create new conflict lines.
 
Birgit Bräuchler is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Asia Research Insitute, National University of Singapore, where she is engaged in a research project on the peace process in the Moluccas and, more generally, on alternative means for reconciliation. Currently she is a visiting research fellow at the KITLV, Leiden.
 
For more information please contact Ireen Hoogenboom at hoogenboom@kitlv.nl or 071 527 2295.

The Leiden Southeast Asia Seminar is a co-operation of the IIAS, ISIM, VVI and KITLV