TY - JOUR
T1 - Commodifying Legality? Who and What Counts as Legal in the Indonesian Wood Trade
AU - Setyowati, Abidah
AU - McDermott, Constance L.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - This article examines how legality verification in Indonesia, as developed under the European Union (EU) Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), shapes who and what count as legal. A review of Indonesia's evolving legality verification system and in-depth stakeholder interviews reveal a process of commodification driven by international demand for an interchangeable label of "legality." This interchangeability is produced through a reduction of forest governance to a narrow set of legal standards and third-party, private auditing, which risks obscuring key governance challenges such as corruption and unclear tenure, and excluding most domestic and small-scale operators from economic and legal recognition. Given the market logic of legality licensing, it is more likely to "ratchet down" than "ratchet up" local access to, and benefit from, wood production, unless there is greater support and investment in legal and tenure reforms and improved local benefit capture.
AB - This article examines how legality verification in Indonesia, as developed under the European Union (EU) Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), shapes who and what count as legal. A review of Indonesia's evolving legality verification system and in-depth stakeholder interviews reveal a process of commodification driven by international demand for an interchangeable label of "legality." This interchangeability is produced through a reduction of forest governance to a narrow set of legal standards and third-party, private auditing, which risks obscuring key governance challenges such as corruption and unclear tenure, and excluding most domestic and small-scale operators from economic and legal recognition. Given the market logic of legality licensing, it is more likely to "ratchet down" than "ratchet up" local access to, and benefit from, wood production, unless there is greater support and investment in legal and tenure reforms and improved local benefit capture.
U2 - 10.1080/08941920.2016.1239295
DO - 10.1080/08941920.2016.1239295
M3 - Article
SN - 0894-1920
VL - 30
SP - 750
EP - 764
JO - Society and Natural Resources
JF - Society and Natural Resources
IS - 6
ER -