At the Edges of States, Dynamics of State Formation in the Indonesian Borderlands

Author

Michael Eilenberg

Year

2012

Publisher

Brill

Language

English

Pages

Link

Last Update

12-Apr-2026

Keywords

Sociology

Description

The Indonesian-Malaysian borderland, 7 June 2007. Around noon a convoy of Kijang pick-ups with the Kapuas Hulu district seal accompanied by district police trucks entered the dusty border town of Lanjak. The convoy travelled the bumpy gravel road and passed the main bazaar at great speed with wailing sirens and blinking lights en route to the subdistrict office close to a newly erected community hall at the outskirts of town. In great anticipation of this arrival a large crowd had assembled along the road, many coming from faraway villages situated close to the international border with Sarawak.

Surrounded by heavily...