SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Legal pluralism—the presence of more than one legal order within the same country—is intrinsically linked to cultural, social, religious, and legal dimensions. In Indonesia, it takes the form of adatrecht or customary law, which—after a period of strong political and institutional centralisation—began to be seen as a true reflection of a living society. Adat is expressed as institutionally recognised plurality, which acts as a tool to bridge cultural, linguistic, ethnic, religious, and legal diversity in the country. Legal pluralism offers solutions that are based on communities’ values and as such refutes legal centralism, which can be exclusive, unified, and hierarchical. Legal pluralism also presents a challenge to legal positivism, which does not attribute a moral value to the law or seek to explain its social aims or functions. Yet, the implementation of adatrecht has also introduced tensions, which are presented here through an analysis of the role of Islam and the environmental governance of customary law. This article contributes to a rich scholarship in legal anthropology, from which it seeks to build applicable solutions for pluralistic societies.