Natural resource conflicts on iron sand mining area: an implication study of regional autonomy (A Case Study in Kulon Progo District Yogyakarta Province)

Abstract

The social transformation of coastal community in Kulon Progo District, Yogyakarta Province, as a result of ecosystem transformation, has occurred since 1980. These processes take place gradually as the progress of indigenous knowledge and supported by the subsistent local livelihood activities. The local government publishes the mining policy on the coastal area to earn native local income. The impacts of the policy not only triggers the natural resource conflicts between local community; local government; and private sector, but also threaten the sustainability of community’s knowledge evolution; ecosystem; and the local community existence. A qualitative research was conducted to analyzed the natural resource conflicts, power relation, and develop conflicts resolution, used Theory of Decentralization, Theory of Property Rights, Theory of Conflict, and Theory of Human Ecology on the political ecology perspective as conceptual analysis. The concept of Governmentality was used to analyzed the empirical dimensions i.e. : 1) the agrarian structure, 2) the political processes of natural resource policy, 3) the structure of conflict, and 4) the relation of power on natural resource control. The results are that 1) natural resource conflicts are caused by both of material grounds (agrarian structure, decentralization) and immaterial grounds (political economy, partiality), its existence are manifest and latent, 2) the political processes of natural resource policy indicate the involvement of political economy of global economic actor in the context of agrarian changes, 3) the complexity of structure of conflicts are on the level of power, policy, and community, and 4) the power relations of conflicting actors are mutual, conflictual, and neutral. The conclusions are 1) the structure of natural resource conflicts in Kulon Progo District could characterize as multi actors, multi dimensions, multi arenas, and multi matters, manifest and latent, perennial and temporal conflicts, 2) the web of power relations of natural resource in Kulon Progo district are an articulation of agrarian structure, political process of natural resource policy, and the structure of conflicts that occur on decentralized political system, 3) the ecological crisis in Kulon Progo District is connected to social political crisis, and 4) the alternative of natural resource policy in Kulon Progo district is difficult to develop due to the absence of equality, transparency, and trust on the conflicting actors.