Plate convergence measured by GPS across the Sundaland/Philippine Sea Plate deformed boundary: the Philippines and eastern Indonesia

The western boundary of the Philippine Sea (PH) Plate in the Philippines and eastern Indonesia corresponds to a wide deformation zone that includes the stretched continental margin of Sundaland, the Philippine Mobile Belt (PMB), extending from Luzon to the Molucca Sea, and a mosaic of continental blocks around the PH/Australia/Sunda triple junction. The GPS GEODYSSEA data are used to decipher the present kinematics of this complex area. In the Philippines, the overall scheme is quite simple: two opposing rotations on either side of the left-lateral Philippine Fault, clockwise to the southwest and counterclockwise to the northeast, transfer 55 per cent of the PH/Sundaland convergence from the Manila Trench to the northwest to the Philippine Trench to the southeast. Further south, 80 per cent of the PH/Sunda convergence is absorbed in the double subduction system of the Molucca Sea and less than 20 per cent along both continental margins of northern Borneo. Finally, within the triple junction area between the Sundaland, PH and Australia plates, from Sulawesi to Irian Jaya, preferential subduction of the Celebes Sea induces clockwise rotation of the Sulu block, which is escaping toward the diminishing Celebes Sea oceanic space from the eastward-advancing PH Plate. To the south, we identify an undeformed Banda block that rotates counterclockwise with respect to Australia and clockwise with respect to Sundaland. The kinematics of this block can be defined and enable us to compute the rates of southward subduction of the Banda block within the Flores Trench and of eastward convergence of the Makassar Straits with the Banda block. The analysis made in this paper confirms that this deformation is compatible with the eastward motion of Sundaland with respect to Eurasia determined by the GEODYSSEA programme but is not compatible with the assumption that Sundaland belongs to Eurasia, as was often assumed prior to this study.     

Passive revolution: A church‐military partnership in the Philippines

In the Philippines, a Catholic social movement for local development and broad structural transformation, referred to as Basic Ecclesial Communities, offers a counter‐narrative to state development. Predicated on the power of networked local groups, the Diocese of San Carlos has taken the original concept and rescaled it, operating a variety of social‐action programmes at the diocese level. The focus of this paper is a unique partnership between the diocese and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which has produced a number of measurable positive changes in under‐serviced areas. We remain uncertain, however, about the extent to which the church is cooperating with, or being co‐opted by, the military as it enters into partnership, and many members of the clergy share our scepticism. In this paper we draw upon Gramsci's concept of passive revolution (1971) as a means to conceptualize both the efforts of the church to reform society from within, and the reaffirmation of the hegemonic discourse that seems inevitable.     

Rescaling of Access and Property Relations in a Frontier Landscape: Insights from Jambi,Indonesia

The recent expansion of protected areas and oil palm plantations in Jambi (Sumatra), Indonesia, has been notably disruptive. This article investigates the scalar dimensions of land conflicts within a privately managed conservation area. We built on qualitative research focusing on struggles related to the formation of two informal settlements within the conservation area. Results indicate that, especially in the context of rapid rescaling (e.g., decentralization), new power constellations emerge, thereby altering preexisting property relations. We argue that competing scales of meaning and regulation are structuring the ability of actors to access land and, consequently, reflect tensions between structure and agency.     

Enclaves and ethnic ties: The local impacts of Singaporean cross‐border tourism in Malaysia and Indonesia

Cross‐border tourism is often proposed by governments as an incentive for economic growth, but critics have suggested that its impacts are, in fact, overplayed. This paper presents research in the Indonesia‐Malaysia‐Singapore Growth Triangle (IMS‐GT). It examines the broad economic impacts of Singaporean cross‐border tourism on local host communities in two locations: Kukup, a traditional Malaysian fishing village in Johor, southern Peninsular Malaysia, and Bintan in Riau Islands Province in western Indonesia. The study found that cross‐border tourism generated income, employment and some local economic linkages. In Kukup clear economic benefits with increased income and employment were unevenly distributed between ethnic groups. The Bintan enclave development had some linkages to the island economy but was reliant on immigrant labour. Cross‐border ethnic ties, particularly Chinese, also played an important role in the growth of tourism in the IMS‐GT. The paper shows that cross‐border tourism can be a useful addition to more conventional forms of international tourism within national tourism planning and could lead to significant economic benefits for local communities.     

Small‐Scale Enterprise Livelihoods and Social Capital in Eastern Indonesia: Ethnic Embeddedness and Exclusion*

This article explores the importance of specific forms of social capital for small‐scale enterprises while highlighting that such analyses must incorporate local sociocultural complexities. In Eastern Indonesia, small‐scale entrepreneurs in Makassar city rely heavily on informal networks, linkages, and trust relationships for their livelihoods. This dependence reflects different social capital forms, embedded in local ethnic and social relations that are inclusionary for some, yet exclusionary for others. Findings show that although bonding social capital is prevalent, albeit with diverse implications, bridging social capital is less so, and linking social capital is virtually absent. A lack of the latter, combined with widespread corruption in the city, hinders livelihood progress for many local entrepreneurs.     

Conceptualising State‐Controlled Resort Islands for an Environment‐Friendly Development of Tourism: The Maldivian Experience

The Maldives host a sophisticated and competitive international tourist industry which has replaced fishing as the dominant economic activity. With their rich tropical reef ecosystems and the abundant biodiversity of their marine environment, a total of 86 uninhabited islands had been converted into Resort Islands by the end of 2000. Resort Islands are equipped with comprehensive facilities for accommodation, food, recreation and leisure. They are also strictly reserved for foreign tourists and guarantee complete privacy. This gives the benefit of averting conflicts of acculturation with local islanders. In the arena of impacts on the physical environment, however, the consumptive leisure lifestyle of the tourists has been harmful to the Resort Islands as seen in sewage, garbage and waste pollution, as well as reef destruction and beach erosion. While the government of the Maldives takes great effort to harmonise tourism and the environment, the growth of mass tourism in the last 20 years has engendered grave environmental impacts. For future sustainable development of the Resort Islands, the tourists' environmental awareness must be increased to promote greater responsibility for the protection of the fragile coral and reef ecosystems of the Maldives.     

Home‐working in Rural Bali: The Organization of Production and Labor Relations*

This article aims to explore the role of home‐based production networks within the industrialization process of rural areas in developing countries and its impact on the labor involved. Based on the structures of the Balinese clothing industry, the article explores the organization of production, provision of production and working capital, and composition and origin of labor. This article shows that home‐based batik and embroidery clothing production in Bali is one of very few sources of income beyond agricultural work for immobile, rural labor. However, these production networks within the Balinese clothing industry are defined by weak labor relations vis‐à‐vis the clothing firm's exceptionally strong position.     

Regulating migration to Australia and back to the Philippines: Applying a ‘diaspora strategies’ framework

This paper examines circular labour migration between Australia and the Philippines by bringing Australian immigration policies and Philippine diaspora strategies under the same analytical framework. An extensive Philippine bureaucracy regulates migrants at each stage of the circular migration cycle, and as a sending state it has an interest in migrants staying temporarily in host countries such as Australia. The requirement to return home at the end of an overseas work contract compels migrants to remain attached to the sending state, their homeland, and return subsequently. However, Australia is allowing a route for temporary migrants to apply for permanent residency while in the host country. This has implications for sending states that rely on migrant ties to the homeland. The paper argues that analysing the intersections between the themes of migration, development and diaspora strategies reveals the multiple meanings of temporariness during migration and in migration studies. It questions whether associating temporariness with precariousness and marginalization is an accurate representation of the complex conditions underpinning circular labour migration.     

Access to fisheries in the maritime frontier of Palawan Province,Philippines

Globally, capital investments are intensifying extraction and contestation over resources in frontier spaces, yet most discussion has focused on terrestrial frontiers. This paper shifts this focus to bring a scaled political ecology approach to examine the access dynamics of fisheries trade in the maritime frontier of Palawan province, the Philippines. We adapt the linked concepts of access and exclusion to highlight how access dynamics unfold at multiple scales. At the local scale, social relations of class and ethnicity serve as important markers of difference that inform control over access to fisheries resources. At the regional scale, we show how engagement in fisheries trade is also shaped by broader historical and geographical contexts of migration and land use change. Access dynamics unfold at multiple inter‐related scales to heavily influence the differentiated social outcomes of expanded fisheries trade.     

Strategic coupling in ‘next wave cities’: Local institutional actors and the offshore service sector in the Philippines

The outsourcing and offshoring of services to developing countries has created new opportunities for economic development for countries in the global South. This paper looks at the scope for agency of local institutional actors in the investment attraction of business process outsourcing companies. Drawing on empirical work from the Philippines, an analysis of the process of integrating lower‐tier cities into global service production networks is presented. Specifically, the roles of local institutional actors in facilitating FDI attraction and strategically coupling local assets with the needs of multinational service corporations are discussed. Two contrasting cases, the cities of Baguio and Bacolod, show that considerable scope for intervention rests with local institutional actors. The findings have implications for policymaking and research concerned with the newest phase of outsourcing and offshoring in developing countries.     

Economic globalization and regional disparities in the Philippines

This paper empirically tracks the Philippine (policy) path following the mantra of economic globalization over the past 25 years. Specifically, it investigates the resulting regional growth‐inequality relationships and development footprints accompanying the restructuring of political economy and livelihoods. The Philippine case thereby shows how globalization can simultaneously cause the selective dismantling of (economic) barriers and enhancement of mobility and growth, as well as a deterioration of socioeconomic inequalities in space and society. In an increasingly deregulated and contested environment these development divides do not just pose serious threats to regional balance and national cohesion but, ultimately, undermine state capacity to achieve avowed goals of inclusive growth, stability and equality for citizens.     

Livelihoods, fire and policy in eastern Indonesia

Indonesian legislation calls for a zero-burning policy. This approach to fire management is largely in response to significant negative impacts on the economy and the environment, not only in Indonesia but also the neighbouring region, that result annually from peat fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra. In this context, the present paper investigates the local use and management of fire in Flores and Sumba islands in eastern Indonesia. Our appraisals show that people's livelihoods depend on fire to maintain grasslands and, therefore, that the national policy and legislation for zero-burning is inappropriate and needs to be revised. This follows from the fact that not all fires cause damage and are unwanted. Through a series of rapid rural appraisal interviews, we found that the fires in grasslands are often lit intentionally to maintain the grasslands that local people use to sustain a variety of livelihood activities such as cattle rearing, hunting and farming. Although fires can damage or destroy remnant dry forests in eastern Indonesia, in order to be effective, future policy formulations need to account for this human livelihood dimension and the geographic variation in fuels, climate and land use.     

Dissolving the sugar fields: Land reform and resistance identities in the Philippines

The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Programme (CARP) was introduced in the Philippines in 1988 to facilitate a more equitable distribution of land and heighten agrarian efficiencies. The programme has faced considerable obstacles on the island of Negros, where sugar barons have tried to manipulate the new land laws to retain ownership of their large estates. This paper outlines the response of peasant communities on Negros who, with national scale nongovernmental organizations, have coalesced a social movement in a vision of fair and equitable land reform. Building on recent work by social movement theorists, we focus upon the production of the collective identity that binds geographically isolated communities into a coherent and recognized grouping. Particular attention is given to the promulgation of oppositional histories and narratives through farmer association networks which provide peasants with the means to nurture alternative environmental imaginaries and inspire resistance actions. While the strengths of such identities in resisting more powerful development actors are evident, questions are raised about the longevity of such identities, their role post-land reform and their potential to contribute to more fundamental postdevelopment challenges to imposed development norms and processes.     

Accessibility and land-use patterns at the forest fringe in the northeastern part of the Philippines

Accessibility is considered to be one of the most important determinants of use and land-cover change. In rural land-use change studies, the accessibility situation is often described by simple measures of the distance to a location of interest. In this paper, different measures of access are tested for a rural area at the forest fringe in the northeastern Philippines. The accessibility measures addressed range from simple distance measures to land-use type specific transport costs and a population potential measure. The different measures are tested based on their capacity to explain the spatial pattern of different land-use types. A comparison of the findings based on a spatial analysis and an analysis of household level data is made. It is concluded that the relation between land use and accessibility is dependent on the specific characteristics of the different land-use types. The (dis-)advantages of the use of the different accessibility measures are discussed.     

An island in transition: governing conservation and development in Seram,Indonesia

Seram is Indonesia's 8th largest island. It is central to the historic spice islands, once a hotbed for international trade of profitable tree-products, primarily clove and nutmeg. Recent increased rates of social and ecological change, including costly conflicts, present Seram with new challenges and opportunities for conservation and development. Using place-based transdisciplinary research methods, we diagnose the problems emerging in Seram. Engaging with actors across multiple scales and sectors, we explore drivers of change, social-ecological impacts, and institutional arrangements that might achieve improved inclusive and sustainable development outcomes. Traditional and formal governance arrangements require harmonizing to optimize the benefits and costs from large-scale investments arriving in Seram. Organizations wishing to achieve positive impact can more strategically engage with the broad range of actors to harmonize divergent visions for the future and confront the reality of incoming investments and infrastructure.     

Implementing a national environmental policy: Understanding the ‘success’ of the 1989–1999 integrated pest management programme in Indonesia

The fact that most environmental degradation occurs in developing countries suggests the difficulties in implementing and sustaining environmental policies. In the current era of heightened environmental awareness and publicity for the impacts of climate change, where all countries are expected to take action, cases of ‘successful’ implementations of environmental policy in a developing country are instructive. This paper provides an overview of why and how the 1989–1999 national integrated pest management programme worked in Indonesia – before being terminated in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. It is seen that environmental programmes cannot be sustained without strong national political endorsement, focussed local research linked to international support, appropriate policy implementation mechanisms and demonstrated and direct benefits for local participants and communities.     

Policy and practice in karst landscape protection: Bohol, the Philippines

The karst landscape in the interior of the Philippines' Bohol Province represents one of the world's premier kegelkarst (cone karst) environments. Government efforts to protect some of this karst, exemplified by the establishment of the Rajah Sikatuna National Park and the Chocolate Hills Natural Monument, have proven to be significant catalysts of social conflict. In Bohol there is a long history of traditional land tenure, which has recently been supplanted by a Westernized model. Protected area establishment is a response to deforestation, agricultural exploitation and uncontrolled quarrying. However, the imposition of protective legislation to prevent further degradation has disenfranchized and marginalized many local farmers and residents. The conflict between the obligation of the State to ensure environmental protection and the perceived property rights of landowners and farmers has provoked an escalation in civil unrest and armed conflict.     

Migration and employment in urban Southeast Asia: examples from Indonesia and the Philippines

"Migration and employment characteristics are compared for two intermediate-sized cities in Southeast Asia: Cebu, the Philippines, and Medan, Indonesia. Using samples of household interviews as a source of information, the basic characteristics of migrant heads of household in the two cities are examined. In addition the nature of the employment and the search for employment are analyzed and contrasted."     

Soils and Land use on Lithologically Diverse Ophiolitic Alluvia on the Coastal Plain of Palawan,Philippines

The soils on the southeastern coastal plain of Palawan, Philippines are developed on alluvium derived from various lithologies of the Palawan Ophiolitic Complex. There is little lateral mixing of the alluvium. The soil pattern is interpreted as the result of increasing weathering and leaching with age on deposits of different lithological origins. In the ultramafic catchment the younger soils are infertile due to several unfavourable characteristics, including high contents of heavy metals and Mg, deficiencies of P and micro‐nutrients, and impermeability. These soils improve with increased weathering and leaching, and the older soils have better physical and Mg characteristics. In felsic alluvia the reverse is found, and the soils on younger deposits are the most fertile, while the older soils have unfavourable combinations of subsoil compaction, acidity and dominance by aluminium. These patterns are reflected in the current land use, with areas of sparse settlement and cultivation on the less fertile soils on younger ultramafic and older felsic alluvia. These areas have been avoided or abandoned, rather than overlooked, by farmers and cannot be considered as “empty lands”. Their sustainable development will require careful management. Most of the more fertile land is already cultivated.