Observing Dharmasraya Regency from a Social Legal Studies Perspective

This small note began with my first trip to Jorong Sukoharjo, Nagari Tiumang, Tiumang District, Dharmasraya Regency, West Sumatra Province, some time ago. A journey I initially imagined as a family visit turned into a learning space that showed how law, culture, and daily life are interconnected. I departed from Jakarta to Muara Bungo Airport, a flight of about one hour and thirty-five minutes. From the airport, the journey continued for about two hours to Dharmasraya. Along the way, my eyes were treated to vast green landscapes and air that felt so different from Jakarta. However, behind that beauty, a phenomenon kept disturbing my attention. At nearly every petrol station we passed, vehicle queues snaked for several kilometres. According to my relatives, Mas Edi and Mbak Rini, this condition is not extraordinary but part of the local community’s daily life. As a Master of Law student at the University of Indonesia studying Social Legal Studies, I no longer see this phenomenon merely as a fuel shortage. I began to question the relationship between the state, law, public policy, and social reality. In the Social Legal Studies perspective, law does not stop at regulatory texts but must be seen in how it works in real life. The state may have various regulations regarding energy distribution and fuel supervision. Yet, when people still have to spend hours obtaining a basic right like access to energy, questions arise about the effectiveness of policy implementation. The fuel queue phenomenon shows that the existence of law is not always synonymous with the creation of justice. As often emphasised in lectures by Prof. Sulistyowati Irianto, law must be read through the social context in which it operates. In other words, legal analysis cannot stop at the question of ‘what does the rule say’ but must evolve into ‘why does the rule not produce the expected conditions for society.’ This perspective brought me to the understanding that law is influenced by many factors, ranging from geographical conditions, governance, resource distribution, economic relations, to social practices that develop in the community. The fuel queues I witnessed may be the result of logistical distribution problems, suboptimal supervision, high community needs, or even possible irregularities in energy distribution. All these factors cannot be understood solely through a normative legal approach. The concept of legal pluralism, which is also an important discussion in Social Legal Studies, further enriched my way of viewing Dharmasraya society. Community life is evidently regulated not only by state law but also by Minangkabau customary norms, religious values, kinship relations, and a still-strong culture of mutual cooperation. These various normative systems coexist and together shape social order. The most touching experience I found when visiting my aunt, Sri Wahyuningsih, and my uncle, Suratman. We had not met for years. During the four days I stayed with them, I felt a peace that is difficult to find in big cities. The simplicity of their lives actually revealed an extraordinary wealth of social values. Every day I enjoyed produce from the garden they cultivated themselves. Fresh vegetables were available without depending on modern markets. This simple life demonstrated a harmonious relationship between humans and their environment. What was most inspiring was their current decision to build a mosque for the surrounding community. On a plot of land covering about 2,500 square metres stands the Asy-Syifa H. Suratman Mosque, with a building size of approximately 27 metres by 27 metres. All of this was done not because of legal obligations or state demands, but because of moral awareness, faith, and social responsibility to the community. Here I found an important lesson from Social Legal Studies. Social order does not always arise from legal sanctions. In many communities, order is built through social capital, namely trust, solidarity, mutual cooperation, and humanitarian values that live within society. Robert Putnam explained that social capital is an important foundation for a society’s success. What I saw in Dharmasraya became a real example of how trust and care can produce far greater benefits than mere compliance with formal rules. This journey also revealed two faces of Indonesia. On one hand, there are fuel distribution problems that show challenges in implementing public policy. On the other hand, there is a society that maintains solidarity, helps one another, and continues to do good despite living with limitations. As a law student, I learned that the task of an academic is not only to identify the weaknesses of law but also to find social values that can be capital in building a more just legal system. The Social Legal Studies approach teaches that society is not merely an object of law, but an active subject that shapes, implements, and even corrects the workings of law. This short journey ultimately changed my view of law. Law is not just legislation arranged in state sheets.