Plantation Life: Corporate Occupation in Indonesia’s Plantation Zone
2022. Ronald and Janette Gatty Lecture Series. Cornell University.
Lecture delivered as a part of the Southeast Asia Program's weekly Ronald and Janette Gatty Lecture Series.
Plantation Life examines the structure and governance of Indonesia’s contemporary oil palm plantations, which supplies 50% of the world’s palm oil. Li and Semedi theorize “corporate occupation” to underscore how massive forms of capitalist production and control over the palm oil industry replicate colonial-style relations that undermine citizenship. In so doing, they question the assumption that corporations are necessary for rural development, contending that the dominance of plantations stems from a political system that privileges corporations. In this talk, the authors will present the main arguments of the book and describe the methods they devised for collaborative research and writing.