概要

This article examines the role of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS), namely the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in improving the sustainability of palm oil and agrofuel production. The author considers VSS from a critical state and hegemony theory perspective, viewing RSPO as part of a transnational network state where certain interests and strategies are prioritsed over others. Drawing on data from interviews in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, and primary document analysis, the paper concludes that within the RSPO scheme, business interests, downstream industries, and export-oriented companies are privileged, often leaving smallholders, plantation workers, and indigenous peoples marginalized, leading to a depoliticization of socioecological conflitcs.