Abstract

The emergence of environmental justice movements in Indonesia is a phenomenon associated with the struggle directed towards dominant power that regulates palm oil production structure. Research focusing on this binary interaction has often been built on the assumption that the emerging movements stand and act as a robust collective. However, the case of palm oil justice movements in Indonesia reveals how such struggle is not neutral from contestation arising within the collective political groups seeking to transform the existing power structure towards a more desirable and just alternative order. Such contestation is a product of contending discourse articulated by activities within the movements, which shapes their identity, approach and strategy in promoting justice as part of the collective action. This has further produced fragmentation and alignment as the movements seek to find their sense of collective action in their relations to the dominant power.

About the speaker

Maharani is Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Science, Universitas Gadjah Mada. She is currently Executive Secretary of the Center for World Trade Studies (CWTS) Universitas Gadjah Mada. She is Chair of the WTO Chair Programme (WCP) Indonesia. Maharani obtained her master and doctoral degree from the Graduate School of International Development, Nagoya University, JAPAN in 2010 and 2012. She has an extensive experience in international development sector through her teaching, research and policy consultancy activities. Her current research interest covers politics of global environmental change, international development cooperation, trade and sustainability, and knowledge co-production in international trade policy making.

The rise of environmental justice movements in Indonesia