Discriminatory legal pluralism: The fragile authority of Sasi as living law in Maluku

Abstract

This article examines Sasi, a customary governance regime in Central Maluku, Indonesia, that regulates access to terrestrial and marine resources through ritualized closures and openings. While celebrated as cultural heritage and conservation practice, the authority of Sasi remains fragile. Drawing on literature review, field mapping of 44 Negeri (customary villages) and a qualitative multi-scalar case study design guided by a critical-interpretive approach, the study finds that Sasi is constrained by two layers of discrimination. Externally, its recognition is conditional, subject to constitutional clauses, statutory provisions, and spatial planning policies that privilege state permits over local prohibitions. Internally, Sasi institutions reproduce inequalities, through male-dominated decision-making structures and auction-based arrangements that benefit elites while excluding women and poorer households. An integrated typology reveals the variability of Sasi: strongholds that remain effective, religious–legal hybrids dependent on clerical legitimacy, marketised forms prone to elite capture, and institutional vacuums where governance collapses. These findings show that indigenous governance recognition in Indonesia often affirms Sasi symbolically while undermining its substantive authority. The paper conceptualises this paradox as discriminatory legal pluralism, a condition where plural recognition preserves cultural visibility yet reproduces structural subordination, limiting the potential of living law for juridical equality and sustainable commons governance.