At the edges of states; Dynamics of state formation in the Indonesian borderlands

Front matter

At the edges of states

Dynamics of state formation in the Indonesian borderlands

Michael Eilenberg

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS list of maps and figures Terminology

Note on spelling and translation

INTRODUCTION Prologue

Introduction

Smuggling rings, clan and tribal relationships that have spanned territorial and/or public-private boundaries [...] have quietly put forth systems of meaning that imply boundaries quite different from those represented in the image of the state. Some have sought to change the lines on maps; others act only to minimize the importance of those lines. In both cases, they have openly or surreptitiously challenged a key element in the image of the state: its claim to be an avatar of the people bounded by that territory and its assumption of the connection of those people encompassed by state borders as a (or the) primary social bond (Migdal 2001:26).