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UvA platform for Democratic Resilience Democratic Resilience

Prof. dr. W.J. (Ward) Berenschot

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Programme group: Moving Matters: People, Goods, Power and Ideas
Area of expertise: Clientelism, Local Democracy, Citizenship, Informality, Access to Justice, Land Conflicts, Political Finance
Photographer: Dirk Gillissen
Visiting address
  • Nieuwe Achtergracht 166
Postal address
  • Postbus 15509
    1001 NA Amsterdam
Contact details
Social media
  • Profile

    Ward Berenschot is a professor in comparative political anthropology at the University of Amsterdam and a senior researcher at KITLV. Employing a combination of up-close ethnographic fieldwork with quantitative techniques to study politics in India and Indonesia, his research focuses on the role of money and informality in election campaigns, while a second field of research concerns the character of citizenship and civil society in these countries. He is the author of Riot Politics: Hindu-Muslim Violence and the Indian State (Colombia University Press 2011) and Democracy for Sale: Elections, Clientelism and the State in Indonesia (with Edward Aspinall, Cornell University Press 2019) as well as several articles and on ethnic violence, governance, citizenship and legal aid. He has been engaged in efforts to strengthen legal aid in Indonesia, and is currently working on a book and a documentary on conflicts between palm oil companies and rural Indonesians. He teaches courses on political economy, political anthropology and historical comparative sociology at Leiden University and the University of Amsterdam.

  • Research

    Current research projects

    His current research focuses on three main topics: land conflicts, campaign finance, and public opinion manipulation through social media.  He coordinates a research collaboration (with Wageningen University and Universitas Andalas) that studies the activism of rural Indonesians against palm oil companies. With researchers at the University of Amsterdam and Universitas Diponegoro Berenschot works on a research project that studies how online ‘buzzers’ are used to manipulate public opinion in Indonesia. With Australitian National University he works on a project on village governance in Southeast Asia. 

    Research grants & honours

    • 2019 – 2023  NWO grant for ‘Palm Oil conflicts and access to Justice in Indonesia
    • 2022 – 2025  KNAW grant for ‘Cybertroops and computational propaganda in Southeast Asia
    • 2018               Visiting Fellowship, Yale University
    • 2013 – 2016  VENI scholarship, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) for ‘Shades of Clientelism: A Comparative Study of Indonesia’s Patronage Democracy’
    • 2013 – 2018  KNAW SPIN grant for ‘From Clients to Citizens? Emerging Citizenship in Democratising Indonesia

    Current collaborations

    Andalas University, Wageningen University, Australian National University as well as several NGOs in Indonesia

  • Teaching & PhD Supervision

    Education

    Berenschot teaches courses on political economy, political anthropology and historical comparative sociology at Leiden University and the University of Amsterdam.

    PhD supervison

    Berenschot supervises four Phd students.

  • Publications

    2024

    • Berenschot, W., & Saraswati, N. (2024). Discourses of Land Conflicts in Indonesia. Development and Change, 55(6), 1182-1205. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12865
    • Berenschot, W., Bagchi, S., & Karthik, V. K. R. (2024). The Oligarchisation of India’s Democracy Evidence from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Economic and Political Weekly, 59(48), 96-102.
    • Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, Article 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166
    • Wijayanto, Berenschot, W. J., Sastramidjaja, Y. M., & Ruijgrok, K. (2024). The Infrastructure of Domestic Influence Operations: Cyber Troops and Public Opinion Manipulation Through Social Media in Indonesia. The International Journal of Press/Politics. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612241297832

    2023

    • Afrizal, A., Hospes, O., Berenschot, W. J., Dhiaulhaq, A., Adriana, R., & Poetry, E. (2023). Unequal access to justice: an evaluation of RSPO’s capacity to resolve palm oil conflicts in Indonesia. Agriculture and human values, 40(1), 291-304. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10360-z [details]
    • Bedner, A., & Berenschot, W. (2023). Legal Mobilisation and Civil Society: On the use and usefulness of strategic litigation in Southeast Asia. In Routledge Handbook of Civil and Uncivil Society in Southeast Asia (pp. 81-97). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367422080-6
    • Berenschot, W., & Dhiaulhaq, A. (2023). The production of rightlessness: palm oil companies and land dispossession in Indonesia. Globalizations. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2023.2253657
    • Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., & Deviane, A. (2023). Local brokerage and international leverage: NGOs and land conflicts in Indonesia. Journal of International Development, 35(3), 505-520. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3640 [details]
    • de Jong, S., Berenschot, W., Ehrhardt, D., & Walton, O. (2023). Agents of order? Brokerage and empowerment in development and conflict. Journal of International Development, 35(3), 385-400. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3759

    2022

    2021

    2020

    2019

    • Berenschot, W. J. (2019). Informal democratization: brokers, access to public services and democratic accountability in Indonesia and India. Democratization, 26(2), 208-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2018.1512590
    • Berenschot, W. J. (2019). Patterned pogroms: Patronage networks as infrastructure for electoral violence in India and Indonesia. Journal of Peace Research, 57(1), 171-184. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343319889678
    • Berenschot, W. J., & Aspinall, E. (2019). Democracy for Sale: Elections, Clientele's, and the State in Indonesia. Cornell University Press.
    • Berenschot, W. J., & Aspinall, E. (2019). How clientelism varies: comparing patronage democracies. Democratization, 27(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2019.1645129
    • Berenschot, W. J., & Mulder, P. (2019). Explaining regional variation in local governance: Clientelism and state-dependency in Indonesia. World Development, 122, 233-244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.05.021
    • Berenschot, W., & van Klinken, G. (Eds.) (2019). Citizenship in Indonesia: Perjuangan atas Hak, Identitas, dan Partisipasi. Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia. [details]

    2018

    2017

    • Berenschot, W., Schulte Nordholt, H., & Bakker, L. (2017). Introduction: Citizenship and Democratization in Postcolonial Southeast Asia. In W. Berenschot, H. Schulte Nordtholt, & L. Bakker (Eds.), Citizenship and Democratization in Southeast Asia (pp. 1-30). (Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia; Vol. 115). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004329669_002 [details]
    • Kloos, D., & Berenschot, W. (2017). Citizenship and Islam in Malaysia and Indonesia. In W. Berenschot, S. Nordholt, & L. Bakker (Eds.), Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia (pp. 178-207). (Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia; Vol. 115). Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004329669_009

    2015

    2014

    • Berenschot, W. (2014). Muzaffarnagar riots: Perils of a patronage democracy. Economic and Political Weekly, (12), 15-18.

    2011

    • Berenschot, W. (2011). De komst van de chamchas: Staatsvorming en etnisch geweld in Gujarat, India. Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis , 124(4), 464-479. https://doi.org/10.5117/tvgesch2011.4.bere
    • Berenschot, W. (2011). On the usefulness of goondas in Indian politics: 'Moneypower' and 'musclepower' in a Gujarati locality. South Asia: Journal of South Asia Studies, 34(2), 255-275. https://doi.org/10.1080/00856401.2011.582669
    • Berenschot, W. (2011). Political fixers and the rise of Hindu nationalism in Gujarat, India: Lubricating a patronage democracy. South Asia: Journal of South Asia Studies, 34(3), 382-401. https://doi.org/10.1080/00856401.2011.620552
    • Berenschot, W. (2011). The Spatial Distribution of Riots: Patronage and the Instigation of Communal Violence in Gujarat, India. World Development, 39(2), 221-230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2009.11.029
    • Berenschot, W. J. (2011). Riot politics: Hindu-Muslim violence and the Indian state. Columbia University Press.

    2010

    2009

    2021

    2017

    2016

    • van Klinken, G., & Berenschot, W. (Eds.) (2016). In Search of Middle Indonesia: kelas menengah di kota-kota menengah. KITLV-Jakarta dan Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia. [details]

    2014

    • van Klinken, G., & Berenschot, W. (2014). In Search of Middle Indonesia: middle classes in provincial towns. (Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde; Vol. 292), (Power and place in Southeast Asia; Vol. 4). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004263437 [details]

    2009

    • Berenschot, W., & Schijf, H. (2009). Etnisch geweld: groepsconflict in de schaduw van de staat. (Mens en maatschappij. Boekaflevering; No. jg. 84). Amsterdam University Press. [details]

    2006

    • Berenschot, W. J. (2006). The Hifi People vs the Cheap People: Class Divisions and Ethnic Conflict in Bombay, India. In A. Zwaan, & M. de Keizer (Eds.), Politiek geweld: Etnisch conflict, oorlog en genocide in de twintigste eeuw (NIOD Jaarboek; No. 16). Walburg Pers.

    2021

    • Berenschot, W. (2021). The informality trap: Democracy against governance in Asia. [details]

    2017

    Media appearance

    Talk / presentation

    • Sastramidjaja, Y. (speaker), Berenschot, W. (speaker) & Wijayanto, (speaker) (29-6-2022). Social Media Propaganda and Public Opinion Manipulation in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Analysis., EuroSEAS Paris 2022, Paris.
    • Berenschot, W. (speaker) (31-10-2021). The informality Trap: Democracy against Governance in Indonesia, 2nd APSSI International Conference, Universitas Brawijaya.
    • Berenschot, W. (speaker) (2-10-2021). The informality Trap: Democracy against Governance, Indonesia Focus Conference, University of Pittsburgh.
    • van Klinken, G. A. (speaker) & Berenschot, W. J. (speaker) (25-9-2015). Roundtable on governance - what political anthropologists of Asia and Africa can contribute, Inaugural and first biennial conference of the association for Asian studies in Africa (A-Asia), Accra.
    • Berenschot, W. J. (speaker) (2008). Moneypower and Musclepower in a Gujarati Locality: On the Usefulness of Goondas in Indian Politics., ASSR working paper presentation, Amsterdam.
    • Berenschot, W. J. (speaker) (30-6-2006). The Machinations of municipal elections in Ahmedabad, India, Paper presented at the ‘19th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, Leiden.

    2023

    • Febriany, V. (2023). Can authoritarianism be good for women? Community-based health care, citizenship, and democracy in Indonesia. [Thesis, fully internal, Universiteit van Amsterdam]. [details]

    2009

    2022

    • Berenschot, W. J. (2022). Palm Oil Conflicts in Indonesia - dataset of 150 Company-community conflicts. DANS Data Station Social Sciences and Humanities. https://doi.org/10.17026/dans-xbn-wmrj
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