In my geography class a couple of weeks ago, we were exploring the Environmental Justice Atlas. This map includes case studies of environmental justice issues from all over the world, including many in Indonesia. For this cultural post, I will be focusing on the Wawonii islanders of Sulawesi and how they are responding to unwanted nickel mining permits. Here is a link to the study, which is called "Islanders Resisting Nickel Mining Permits." https://ejatlas.org/conflict/islanders-resisting-nickel-mining-permits-wawonii-southeast-sulawesi-indonesia
The report soberingly acknowledges that despite many years of hard work from the local people fighting these corporate investors, environmental injustice persists. Destructive nickel extraction continues to threaten the community’s traditional fishing practice: nickel contaminates the water, and biodiversity challenged as mining changed the landscape. It does not help that the governing body, known as the Konawe Kepulauan (Konkep) Regency, actively supports the international actors. To these government leaders, the success of the nickel exports over the wellbeing of people. The locals, partnered with the student-, environmental-, and faith-based organizations, have been engaging in many forms of activism, ranging from protests to art-based initiatives. Unfortunately, this vigor has been met with police militarization and state-sanctioned violence. Despite the messiness of this situation and enormous obstacles, the local islanders are facing, I grateful that this study emphasized the autonomy of the local community. I felt like I was able to empathize with the work these people were doing together as they worked to preserve their traditional way of life and ancestral land.
This issue becomes complex when we realize that the nickel extracted in Wawonii is used for electric car batteries, which we consider an ideal green standard in the United States. This example of local Indonesian culture forces me to think about the interdependency of scales. Even though Wawonii is halfway across the world, my consumer preferences and purchases affect their livelihood. And is this digital age, I can get involved in environmental issues in Indonesia. The bottom of the study includes many links to videos, articles, and even Twitter campaigns.
The Environmental Justice Atlas provides an authentic artifact that goes beyond celebrating the rich artistic traditions and food culture of Indonesia to grapple with the real problems that members of this country are facing. From this study, I learned how Indigenous Indonesians are committed to protecting their ancestral land to honor past generations and those to come. This is but one example of a courageous community that is willing to work together to preserve their traditional way of life. And yet, I also see that the western countries have influenced the governing structure, i.e., the institution of the police. I was struck by how the images resonate with those we have seen in the United States from Black Lives Matter protests. From my Race and Crime sociology class, I know that the police came out of the slave codes as a way of maintaining order and that such institutions did not always exist in Indonesia. It was painful to see native people are suppressed as violent, disorderly criminals for big corporations to get what they want.
Comments
It is really unfortunate that the Indonesian government seems to favor profit over the wellbeing of its own citizen. I understand the economic importance of precious metals, but I absolutely agree with you that the people living in these affected areas should have more say in how their resources are being treated.
Hey Casey! I loved reading about the Nickel mining situation going on in Wawonii. I am very adamant about environmental issues and this was definitely an interesting read. It is said to see how they are destroying Indonesion lands in order to make money. I hope they can fix it soon.
The Indonesian government is closely involved in the ETA vetting process, but don't hesitate to let me know if I can introduce you to Phil. I think he'd be very happy to talk with you, and he lived in Indonesia for 5+ years.
Fascinating post, Casey. I have a close friend, Phil Jacobson, who was briefly imprisoned while working in Indonesia last year as a journalist or investigating ecological crimes and corruption. Connecting with him may, unfortunately, hurt your chances in the Fulbright ETA pool, but I think he'd have a lot of interesting pointers and insights to share with you. He did significant work on the palm oil industry, but I think it would readily connect to your interest in mining.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-26/american-jour...
https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/american-journalist-philip-jacobs...