Transformation of the Agrarian Landscape and Hope in the Central Kalimantan Peatlands

ABSTRACT In Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, agrarian state programs and corporate strategies seek to transform indigenous Ngaju Dayak into sedentary farmers. Focusing on the notion of transformation, the paper traces whether and how rural people can engage in struggles against structural injustices. It explores how indigenous Ngaju Dayak people aim to achieve a good life and how hope takes shape in the current context of agrarian change. The article argues that agrarian justice in Indonesia is a complex issue, and many forms of resistance are not openly expressed due to cross‐cutting networks of power, including patron–client relations, unless powerful people engage in resistance too. Examining cases of agrarian reform and food security policies, the paper analyses the entanglements of agrarian change and climate change. It shows that transformative change towards agrarian justice is still far away due to the hierarchical structures and connections of the patron–client relationships that inform relationships between the state, corporations, and rural people.