Agrobiotechnology at The Nexus between Clientelism and The State’s Authority : The Indonesian Case

¹ Public Administration Department, Faculty of Social and Political Science, University of Jember, Indonesia
² Sociology Department, Faculty of Social and Political Science, University of Jember, Indonesia
³ Public Administration Department, Faculty of Social and Political Science, University of Jember, Indonesia
⁴ Social Welfare Department, Faculty of Social and Political Science, University of Jember, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: rachmat.hidayat@unej.ac.id

Abstract

The impact of the Green Revolution in Indonesia over the past 50 years has entirely changed the social structure of the farming community. The state and its institutional apparatus once took a huge part in controlling the agricultural sector, yet this vital role has indeed declined dramatically over the past two decades in line with the political push to implement a democratic agenda due to the concerns with the society. However, in rural areas of Java the authoritarian mechanism of agricultural management was quickly replaced by a new type of patronage that no longer relied on land tenure, but rather controlled seeds and fertilizer. The link between the state and seeds as well as fertilizer companies in controlling the dynamics of the Javanese farmer community has led to every agricultural and polemic innovation that has shaped the state’s relationship with civil society for decades, which has not yet made the farmers an independent community. Regarding the issues concerning land tenure, a classic critique of patronage, now the shift over the meaning of patronage is more centered on the control of seeds and fertilizers as if these were still a critical effort that did not have adequate capacity on the part of farmers and those who stand for farmer justice. Criticism of the tacit application of agricultural biotechnology in East Java remains a secondary issue, and it faces no obstacles at all upon going through the clientelism structure driving the mechanism of agricultural management in rural areas.