The Shifting Natures of “Development”: Growth, Crisis, and Recovery in Indonesia’s Forests

This examination of Indonesia argues the Asian crisis marked a shift in the dominant discourse and practices of development from authoritarian state developmentalism to neoliberal globalism, exacerbating the environmental destructiveness of development. The analysis considers the ecological contradictions, first, of the “miracle” in Indonesia and, second, of the IMF-led structural adjustment in Indonesia. This program included unusual forestry sector reform conditions favored by nongovernmental critics of Suharto. However, the paper concludes that structural adjustment is part of the broader ascent of global neoliberalism, a model that pays scant attention to the increasing social and environmental costs of reliance on resource-based export growth.