Patronage politics, plantation fires and transboundary haze

Since 1982, haze pollution has become an almost annual occurrence in Southeast Asia, with the worst episodes being in the period of 1997–1998 and in 2006–2007. Haze originates from peat and forest fires, mostly in Indonesia. The negative effects of haze can be observed at the global level, with inc...

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主要作者: Varkkey, H.
格式: Article
语言:English
出版: Taylor & Francis 2013
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在线阅读:http://eprints.um.edu.my/8408/1/PRE_PRINT_ehaz_2013.pdf
http://eprints.um.edu.my/8408/
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tenh20/current#.UkJdpNJmiSo
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spelling my.um.eprints.84082013-10-17T01:51:47Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/8408/ Patronage politics, plantation fires and transboundary haze Varkkey, H. JZ International relations Since 1982, haze pollution has become an almost annual occurrence in Southeast Asia, with the worst episodes being in the period of 1997–1998 and in 2006–2007. Haze originates from peat and forest fires, mostly in Indonesia. The negative effects of haze can be observed at the global level, with increased carbon emissions exacerbating climate change, and more importantly at the regional level, with serious environmental and socioeconomic effects in Indonesia and its neighbouring countries. Most of these fires are manmade, and can be traced back to land clearing activities of commercial oil palm plantations. This article questions why these companies have been able to burn with such impunity, even though using fire for land clearing is against Indonesian law. It argues that local and foreign plantation companies have cultivated strong patronage linkages with key patrons among the ruling elite. Hence, patrons are encouraged to protect their clients from the repercussions of their actions. This weakens the power of the state in terms of law enforcement, where national laws against the use of fire are thus rendered useless in the face of powerful economic interests. Well-connected companies therefore continue to use fire as a cost-efficient way to clear land while disregarding its serious environmental and socioeconomic implications. Taylor & Francis 2013 Article NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.um.edu.my/8408/1/PRE_PRINT_ehaz_2013.pdf Varkkey, H. (2013) Patronage politics, plantation fires and transboundary haze. Environmental Hazards. http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tenh20/current#.UkJdpNJmiSo 10.1080/17477891.2012.759524
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
language English
topic JZ International relations
spellingShingle JZ International relations
Varkkey, H.
Patronage politics, plantation fires and transboundary haze
description Since 1982, haze pollution has become an almost annual occurrence in Southeast Asia, with the worst episodes being in the period of 1997–1998 and in 2006–2007. Haze originates from peat and forest fires, mostly in Indonesia. The negative effects of haze can be observed at the global level, with increased carbon emissions exacerbating climate change, and more importantly at the regional level, with serious environmental and socioeconomic effects in Indonesia and its neighbouring countries. Most of these fires are manmade, and can be traced back to land clearing activities of commercial oil palm plantations. This article questions why these companies have been able to burn with such impunity, even though using fire for land clearing is against Indonesian law. It argues that local and foreign plantation companies have cultivated strong patronage linkages with key patrons among the ruling elite. Hence, patrons are encouraged to protect their clients from the repercussions of their actions. This weakens the power of the state in terms of law enforcement, where national laws against the use of fire are thus rendered useless in the face of powerful economic interests. Well-connected companies therefore continue to use fire as a cost-efficient way to clear land while disregarding its serious environmental and socioeconomic implications.
format Article
author Varkkey, H.
author_facet Varkkey, H.
author_sort Varkkey, H.
title Patronage politics, plantation fires and transboundary haze
title_short Patronage politics, plantation fires and transboundary haze
title_full Patronage politics, plantation fires and transboundary haze
title_fullStr Patronage politics, plantation fires and transboundary haze
title_full_unstemmed Patronage politics, plantation fires and transboundary haze
title_sort patronage politics, plantation fires and transboundary haze
publisher Taylor & Francis
publishDate 2013
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/8408/1/PRE_PRINT_ehaz_2013.pdf
http://eprints.um.edu.my/8408/
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tenh20/current#.UkJdpNJmiSo
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score 13.154949