Starting Sustainable Agendas From the Class: An Effort to Deconstruct Agrarian Law Teaching in Indonesia

Rofi Wahanisa; Amelia Choya Tia Rosalia; Intan Hapsari Permata; Zulfa  Sakhiyya

doi:10.23969/litigasi.v27i2.43497

Authors

Rofi Wahanisa Faculty of Law, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Kampus UNNES, Indonesia
Amelia Choya Tia Rosalia Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Kampus UNNES
Intan Hapsari Permata Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Kampus UNNES
Zulfa Sakhiyya Faculty of Languages and Arts, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Kampus UNNES

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23969/litigasi.v27i2.43497

Keywords:

agrarian law, sustainable agendas, interdisciplinary legal studies, legal teaching

Abstract

Land governance issues are increasingly complex and involve multiple legal, political, economic, social, and ecological factors. Agrarian law education in Indonesia, nevertheless, remains centered on doctrinal and legal-formal approaches to land relations. This study analyzes how such an approach limits students’ understanding of modern land governance issues and offers preliminary directions for reforming agrarian law education in Indonesia to embrace multidisciplinary perspectives on sustainable land governance. The study uses qualitative content analysis to explore eighteen publicly available Semester Learning Plans (RPS) of Agrarian Law courses provided by Indonesian higher education institutions. The analysis centers on learning outcomes, course themes, and disciplinary references. The paper finds that the identification, interpretation, and application of legal norms lie at the center of Agrarian Law courses, whereas the political economy and ecology of land governance and sustainable agrarian legal practice remain marginal. The study contributes to the discussion on reforming Agrarian Law education by arguing that the problem is not the doctrinal approach per se but rather its dominance over other approaches that recognize the complexity of land relations. As such, the reform of Agrarian Law education can start with rethinking the role of doctrinal legal studies in the curricula and promoting interdisciplinary perspectives on land governance issues. The novelty of this study lies in integrating a multidisciplinary perspective in the analysis of the Agrarian Law courses and suggesting directions for reforming this education based on students’ learning outcomes and their relevance to sustainable land governance.

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