Land grabs and the river: eco-social transformations along the Kapuas, Indonesia

Abstract

ABSTRACTLand grabbing is transforming the Kapuas River in Indonesia from a space of life and livelihood to one of illness and ecological collapse, and “green grabs” to mitigate climate change are equally implicated. Appropriation and accumulation strategies differ according to resource (minerals, lumber, oil palm, fish), scale of operations (smallholders, transnational firms) and the relationships among the economic and political actors, but our fieldwork confirms that the effects of the various socio-economic transformations are interlinked. Action research with local communities has identified the river’s – as yet unrealised – potential to connect and scale up otherwise isolated struggles against land grabs.