Recognition through reconnaissance? Using drones for counter-mapping in Indonesia

Abstract

Indonesia has a long history of land grabs before this term was coined, reaching from colonial occupation to cleptocratic rule. The most recent wave of enclosures across the archipelago builds on large-scale, market-oriented spatial planning. This paper shares our experience of using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) to produce high-quality community controlled maps in order to challenge some of the official spatial planning processes in West Kalimantan. Developed at first as a component of action research looking at the political ecology of the Kapuas River, the drone mapping soon developed its own dynamics and delivered quite impressive results in bolstering legal and political claims of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Dayak communities. We argue that relatively simple and accessible drone technology has some potential for furthering the recognition of local and indigenous people and their territorial claims. Such a view, however, stands in contrast to recent debates that have highlighted the limits and even detrimental social and political effects of counter-mapping. Drawing on our experience with ‘community drones’, we compare ‘traditional’ and drone counter-mapping in key dimensions of production, distribution and use. This comparison helps to delimit more clearly the occasions and conditions under which drone-based counter-mapping may be a politically useful tool.