
Santy Kouwagam
Santy Kouwagam
Santy Kouwagam is a legal scholar and practitioner specializing in Indonesian law, with expertise in corporate land litigation, legal strategy, and social security systems. Her earlier doctoral research at Leiden University examined how lawyers influence outcomes in land conflicts through legal strategy, structural advantage, and social capital—revealing their broader impact on governance and the rule of law in Indonesia.
Her current work shifts focus to social security for the elderly, investigating how legal, religious, and cultural norms shape access to care and state responsibilities in legally plural societies.
Trained across civil and common law systems—including Indonesia, Europe, the U.S., and Singapore—she brings a comparative perspective to questions of justice, institutional complexity, and social vulnerability.
Before academia, she practiced at a top-tier commercial law firm in Jakarta and provided legal services to underserved communities in the U.S. She holds an LL.M. (cum laude) from the University of Pittsburgh and a law degree from Universitas Hasanuddin. In 2019, she founded Stichting Socio-Legal Consulting, a nonprofit offering legal support in family, inheritance, and housing matters for those with ties to Indonesia. Her work bridges legal theory and practice to advance inclusive and context-sensitive legal reform.
Research interests
- Social security systems for the elderly—investigating how legal, religious, and cultural norms converge in plural legal settings to influence access to care, social inclusion, and state responsibilities in aging societies.