The Daily Bulletin Archive

Please join us for the talk "Contesting Land Reclamation in Bali," presented by Jennifer L. Gaynor, research fellow in the Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy at the University at Buffalo, today, March 10, from 12:15–1:30 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 216. This event is part of the ninth annual Southeast Asia Week celebration and is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

The protest movement against land reclamation in Bali, Indonesia, initially began with the resistance of coastal communities whose livelihoods were threatened by a proposed development project. The protest movement spread quickly among Balinese and their supporters, partly because of Indonesians’ extensive use of social media and as a result of international exposure. (Bali is a major tourist destination.) Yet the movement's spread has also relied on water’s importance in Hindu-Balinese society and religion. Referred to as the “religion of water” (agama tirta), water’s sacred character has given the Balinese a unique moral position in ethical and legal arguments with developers and the state, as well as inspired people to stage creative forms of resistance and to join mass mobilizations.