The Women's Movement Against a Mining Corporation

in Gunem, Central Java, Indonesia

Dia Puspitasari

, Emy Susanti

Departement of Sosiology, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya

Keywords: women, movement, corporation, environment, Indonesia

Abstract: The relationship between humans and nature is understood on a fundamental level in Rembang regency in

Central Java. This understanding is related to the environmental condition and local communities, especially

focused on the women in Rembang. The background of this research is the existence of a permit for the

establishment of a cement factory by Rembang Regency Government and the Central Java Provincial

Government for PT. Cement Indonesia. Society thinks that the permit does not consider the existence of

people who depend on the nature in the environment surrounding the site of the factory. The problem

focused on in this research is the women's knowledge of nature. This study discussed how the movement

and the strategy of the Rembang mothers was to preserve the nature on the slopes of the Pegunungan

Kendeng Utara, Rembang Regency, Central Java. This study used a critical paradigm and was analysed

using social construction theory, social movements and ecofeminism. The data in this study was primary

data obtained directly from the research subjects. The subjects of the study were 9 women, called the 9

Kartini, who were the actors of the cement establishment rejection. The collected data was the subject’s

answers to the open interviews. An observation is done by making records of the events that occurred

during the field research. The observation also aimed to describe the phenomena that the researcher wants to

observe. The construction of a woman as Mother Earth is the internalisation stage which becomes the base

of the knowledge of the mothers in the Regency of Rembang. The construction of women as Mother Earth

is formed through the process of internalisation, externalisation and objectification. Gender equality is a

form of externalisation process for the mothers in Rembang. Their actions are a type of objectification

process. The strategies of the movements are based on gender and ecological awareness, which is the

ecofeminist strategy in Rembang.

1 INTRODUCTION

Historically, the movement in Indonesia began in

1928 during the Dutch colonial period. These

movements include movements by women. The first

Women's Congress in Indonesia took place on

December 22

, 1928 and became a milestone for the

unity of Indonesian women's movements pioneered

by R. A Kartini. She used the strategy of a struggle

through education because she thought that

education was the main tool to use to free women

from oppression (Kowani, 1978: p.1).

The strategy of the struggle of the Indonesian

women's movement at the end of the Dutch colonial

period was to improve the position of women in

order to achieve an independent Indonesia. At the

time, Japan's position was that the women's

movement was prohibited just like any other

movement – it was forbidden. In the war of

independence, the strategy of the struggle of the

Indonesian women's movement was to defend

Indonesia's independence. The women's movement

in Indonesia has been widely observed, including the

women's movement in Rembang Regency against

the mining companies in Central Java (Mcgregor &

Hearman, 2015).

The residents of Rembang filed a lawsuit against

the environmental permit issued by the Governor of

Central Java for the establishment of and mining by

a cement plant ran by PT. Cement Indonesia in

Rembang. In April 2015, the lawsuit was stopped by

a panel of judges of the State Administration Court

of Semarang because the time to file a lawsuit was

considered to have passed the grace period. As a

124

Puspitasari, D. and Susanti, E.

The Women’s Movement Against a Mining Corporation in Gunem, Central Java, Indonesia.

DOI: 10.5220/0008817701240127

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Contemporary Social and Political Affairs (ICoCSPA 2018), pages 124-127

ISBN: 978-989-758-393-3

form of protest, the women in Rembang occupied a

tent that they called the "tent of struggle". On June

16th, 2015, the struggle had been ongoing for a year.

The villagers in Kabupaten Rembang made an effort

to reject the permit for the establishment of a cement

factory because their environment was threatened by

the presence of the factory. The community's refusal

aimed to save the environment from the adverse

impact of cement manufacturing. The interesting

thing about the rejection action is that the action of

the citizens was conducted by mothers who worked

as farmers.

Earlier studies focused on the Rembang women's

movement to describe the social movements of the

Rembang community described in relative

deviations. On the other hand, this research will

describe 1) the linkage of women to maintaining

natural sustainability and 2) the strategy used by the

women's movement in fighting against the mining

corporation. The data obtained was analysed using

the theory of ecofeminism. The purposes of this

study were 1) to gain awareness of the knowledge of

Rembang women over nature, and how it was

exploited by PT. Cement Indonesia and 2) to know

the strategies of the movement ran by the women of

Rembang used to fight the mining corporation.

The findings of the field data from the research

subjects and observation results will be used to

understand the existing realities through the critical

paradigm. Critical paradigm is a form of structural

dominance (Staggenborg, 2001). This paradigm

helps the community to understand the root of

oppression, such as the resistance of the Rembang

women against the mining corporation owned by

PT. Cement Indonesia. This research study used

social construction theory, social movement and

ecofeminism to analyse the situation, setting and

context. The research subjects were women who

were involved in the "9 Kartini" movement in

Rembang. The subject was determined based on the

criteria of the informant selection method.

Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann

explained that the theory of social construction

produces a basic conception of how individuals

acquire the reality of knowledge and how society, in

turn, shapes the reality of knowledge. Social reality

consists of subjective reality, symbolic reality and

objective reality (Dreher, 2015). Social construction

explains the existence of dialectics between the self

and society. This dialectic occurs as part of a process

that has three "simultaneous moments" (Hirsch &

Boal, 2000). The three "simultaneous moments" are

externalisation, objectification, and internalisation.

Externalisation is an adaptation to the sociocultural

world as a product of the human world. The

objective is social interaction within the

institutionalised or institutionalised world of inter-

subjectivity. Internalisation is about identifying

themselves with the social institution or social

organisation in which the individual is located (Sica,

2015).

Ecofeminism is a relatively new variant of

ecological ethics. Ecofeminism first appeared in

1974 in the Franscoise d'Eaubonne book Le

Feminism ou la mort. Franscoise d'Eaubonne reveals

that there is a direct connection between the

oppression of women and the oppression of nature

(Christ, 2006). Franscoise d'Eaubonne claims that

the two cannot occur separately. Ecofeminism, as a

movement, does not limit its space only to the

academic field. Ecofeminism is a forum for women

to understand and formulate the vision of life on

earth in the context of feminism and ecology (Gilleo,

1999). The damage and destruction of the earth in

the view of ecofeminism is closely related to the

domination of women. According to Karen J.

Warren (1996), the basic assumptions of

ecofeminism are 1) that there is an important linkage

between the oppression of women and the

oppression of nature; 2) an understanding of nature

is essential to gaining an adequate understanding of

the oppression of women and the oppression of

nature; 3) feminist theory and practice should

incorporate an ecological perspective and 4)

ecological problem solving should include a feminist

perspective (Eaton, 1999).

Ecofeminism is embodied in social movements.

Social movement has a fairly broad definition

because it has a wide range of applications

(Friedman, 2016). Tarrow places social movements

as form of political resistance that occur when

ordinary people join a more influential group of

people (Roberts, 1989). The group mobilises forces

against a political elite, the authorities or a

corporation. When this resistance is supported by a

strong network and echoed by cultural resonance

and action symbols, resistance politics leads to an

ongoing interaction with the opposing parties, thus

resulting in a social movement (Field, 2000).

Collective action has the impression of

contradiction when the action is committed by

people who lack access to institutions to file new

claims or claims that are unacceptable to the

authorities. Collective action for resistance is the

basis of social movement because this action is often

the only resource that ordinary people have when

opposing other powerful parties such as corporations

or the State (Tarrow, 1998). The action is then

The Women’s Movement Against a Mining Corporation in Gunem, Central Java, Indonesia

125

repeated. Berger and Luckmaan (1996) suggest that

humans construct a social reality that can be

objectified in subjective processes. This process

begins with the refraction of an action that allows

the actors and other parties to notice that the action

has regular and repetitive features. The actors

assume that there will be a determinant reciprocity

that will describe their own behaviour toward one

another.

2 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Rembang mothers experience a simultaneous

moment consisting of internalisation, externalisation

and objectifation when gaining knowledge of the

earth as a mother. This corresponds to the statements

of Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann (1966).

The field data findings indicate the internalisation

process experienced by Rembang's mothers.

Murtini's mother analogised the earth as herself.

According to Mrs. Murtini, the Earth remains

accepting and silent if the earth is used as a place to

dump the remnants of human reproduction, but the

earth cannot be blamed when a natural disaster

occurs. This is due to the impact of human acts that

exploit nature. The argument presented by Mrs.

Murtini is in accordance with the argument

presented by Ibu Sukinah, commonly called Yu 'Na.

Yu 'Na is one of the leaders of the ecophysical

movement in Rembang as well as one of the 9

Kartini who do foot casting in front of the State

Palace.

Internalisation also represents the earth as the

mother. The mother will give birth to children, while

the earth will produce water, animals and plants. The

produce of the earth becomes the source of life for

all living things. Yu 'Na said that if Rembang build a

cement factory, then the agricultural land will be

mined. The area of Rembang will feel the explosion

of the cement making process which will impact on

the produce of the earth.

Rembang's mothers keep on with their daily

activities while doing the internalisation process.

They work as farmers, so they see the reality that

nature is a source of livelihood for society. When

they learned of the plan to build a cement factory,

Rembang's mothers assumed that their farmland

would be lost and that the ecosystem would be

damaged. Mothers in Rembang analogise the earth

as a mother, with the water as blood, the soil as bone

and the forest as hair. This reinforces the

internalisation of Rembang's mothers to produce a

philosophy focused on Mother Earth.

External processes such as the statements of

Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann (1966)

occurred in the movement of ecofeminism. This is

reflected in the natural exploitation that will be done

by PT. Cement. The eco-feminist movement (saving

the environment) was spearheaded by Yu'Na, Ibu

Murtini, Mrs. Karsupi, Mbah Arsa, Mrs. Gerwani,

Ibu Gunarti and Mbah Tiar. The rescue measures

undertaken by the mothers in Rembang were to

prevent the process of building a cement factory.

The mothers were demonstrating, hoping to get help

from the government to thwart the construction of

the factory.

The housework that was usually done by Mrs.

Karsupi, like cooking, washing clothes, washing the

dishes and feeding cattle, was done by her husband

when Mrs. Karsupi was in the movement. Yu 'Na

also experienced the same thing. When Yu 'Na

fought for the sustainability of Kendeng’s nature,

her husband did the house work. This shows that

gender exchange is one form of externalisation

instilled in the Rembang mother’s family. According

to Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann (1966),

externalisation is an adjustment to what is

sociocultural.

The mothers in Rembang experienced

objectification in the form of the movement. Based

on the findings of the data in the field, the

involvement of the mothers in Rembang in the world

of the movement is motivated by the analogy that

the oppression that occurs in nature is the oppression

of a mother. The movement is based on ecological

and gender awareness. Oppression is done for reason

of prosperity of Rembang society, but the cement

factory will damage the nature of the Kendeng

Mountains especially in Rembang. When fighting

against corporations, the mothers did not experience

any coercion.

The strategy adopted by Rembang's mothers to

protest against the mining was to conduct

demonstrations. The mothers in Rembang walked by

foot from Semarang to Jakarta. Bung Melky said

that the strategy of the ecophysical movement in

Rembang is not only based on ecological awareness,

but gender awareness as well. This is because

mothers have the gender role related to doing the

housework.

ICoCSPA 2018 - International Conference on Contemporary Social and Political Affairs

126

3 CONCLUSIONS

Based on the research results, it can be concluded

that: 1) Rembang mothers interpret the earth as a

representation of themselves when constructing their

knowledge of nature. This is evident in two ways.

First, the subject is strongly influenced by the

historical factors of values and doctrine. These

factors seem to be more supportive of the formation

of knowledge about the earth as a mother. The

knowledge is based on the analogy that the earth and

women have to be equally guarded. Second, they

preserve nature for the survival of the next

generation, so then the next generation will have no

difficulty in getting to the source of life; 2) The

strategy of the eco-feminist movement (women's

rescue movement) is based on gender awareness and

ecological awareness. Rembang's mothers used new

strategies, like foot casting in front of the State

Palace. The husband was in charge of doing the

housework when his wife was away committing acts

of ecofeminism.

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