Indonesia
The archipelago at the heart of insular Southeast Asia is an economic heavyweight and rising middle power. As the world's most populous Muslim country, and in its third decade of democracy, Indonesia faces challenges including religious extremism, inequality, natural disasters, environmental degradation, and rising illiberalism.
Completed projects
UiO-NCHR Mid-term review of international department ]
Third Independent Review of the Indonesia-Norway Cooperation on REDD+
Politics of Faith
Regulating Religion: Secularism and Religious Freedom in the Global Era
REDD Integrity
Real-Time Evaluation of Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative
Transitional Justice, Violence and Reconciliation
Human Rights Commissions in Southeast Asia
CMI research on Indonesia began in 1993 and has involved a range of topics and collaborations. Today, CMI has the highest concentration of active Indonesia researchers of any Norwegian institution. We are broadly oriented on how to support Indonesia's sustainable development.
Our research is grounded in long term collaborations in Indonesia, characterized by mutual learning. Our team holds extensive language and fieldwork skills, as well as deep networks in academia, civil society and government. We publish in high quality peer-reviewed outlets including Routledge, The Journal of Development Studies, South East Asia Research, Ethnos, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Society, and Asian Ethnology. We also produce opinion articles, blogs, podcasts, briefs, reports, and organize events.
Recent topics addressed include the politics of faith, blasphemy trials, human rights, tourism enclaves, the politics of deforestation, corruption in the forest and health sectors, and the trajectory of specialized anti-corruption institutions. Our projects have received support from Norad and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, GIZ (Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Germany), and the Norwegian Research Council.