Cultural Agency and Indigenous Community Empowerment: Manifestations of Civil Disobedience in Resisting Legal Hegemony in Minangkabau, West Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

This study examines the phenomenon of civil disobedience as a form of community empowerment in response to the implementation of Government Regulation (PP 84/1999) on the Territorial Proliferation of Bukittinggi City and Agam Regency, West Sumatra, Indonesia. While previous studies focused on administrative conflict management, this research analyzes how cultural agency and Islamic values transform the community from passive objects of regulation into empowered subjects of resistance. Using a qualitative case study design, data were gathered through in-depth interviews with key actors, including traditional leaders (niniak mamak), bureaucratic elites, and community representatives, complemented by an extensive analysis of newspaper archives and official documents. The findings reveal that the two-decade resistance was driven by a deliberative deficit and a perceived threat to nagari autonomy and Minangkabau social ideology. This defiance manifested in statutory dormancy, where the regulation was effectively neutralized by collective social forces. The study concludes that the integration of customary principles and Islamic justifications provided the moral legitimacy necessary for organized advocacy. This cultural agency successfully pressured the state to issue Law 53/2024 on Bukittinggi City, confirming that law's sustainability depends on its harmonization with the living law.