(2012 Winter Holidays in Indonesia, Mark C. Eades and Nick Carruthers)

For almost two weeks I and my friend and colleague from Shanghai, Nick Carruthers, have been traveling in Indonesia. Following our arrival in Jakarta from Shanghai, we booked airline tickets for Denpasar, Bali. Leaving Jakarta for our flight to Denpasar, our airport bus was stalled for some time in the city center due to a demonstration for agrarian reform outside Parliament House. Among the demonstrators' demands was an end to violence against rural residents in land disputes with developers. Groups involved in the demostration included the Indonesian Peasants' Union (Serikat Petani Indonesia, or SPI), the Pasunsan Peasants' Union (Serikat Petani Pasundan, or SPP), and the Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM).