Dinamika dan Dampak Pengakuan Hutan Adat Bagi Perwujudan Kedaulatan Agraria Masyarakat Adat (Studi Kritis Atas Pengakuan Hutan Adat di Masyarakat Adat Kasepuhan Karang Kabupaten Lebak - Provinsi Banten)

Abstract

Kebijakan pengakuan hutan adat di Indonesia seringkali terjebak dalam formalitas legalistik yang belum menyentuh akar persoalan struktural agraria. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis dinamika, kontestasi, dan dampak kebijakan pengakuan Hutan Adat di Kasepuhan Karang, serta merumuskan strategi untuk melampaui limitasi pengakuan tersebut demi mewujudkan kedaulatan agraria yang substantif. Menggunakan kerangka teoritis Ekologi Politik Kritis, Politik Pengakuan dan Redistribusi, serta Studi Agraria Kritis, penelitian ini membedah relasi kuasa antara masyarakat adat dan negara pasca Putusan MK 35/PUU-X/2012. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah kualitatif dengan pendekatan studi kritis. Penggalian data dilakukan melalui wawancara mendalam terhadap 75 narasumber, diskusi kelompok terfokus (FGD), observasi, dan live-in di lokasi studi selama kurun waktu 2024 hingga awal 2026. Temuan penelitian menunjukkan bahwa meskipun pengakuan hutan adat memberikan jaminan keamanan tanah (land security) dan penguatan identitas, kebijakan ini secara mendasar belum mampu mengubah masalah struktural agraria. Terjadi gap tajam antara pengakuan de jure dan praktik pengelolaan de facto yang masih didominasi oleh rezim konservasi negara melalui "teritorialisasi fungsional". Penelitian ini mengungkap fenomena "pengakuan tanpa redistribusi" (recognition without redistribution), di mana transfer kewenangan yang terjadi bersifat devolusi parsial, simbolik, dan administratif, bukan devolusi substantif. Akibatnya, ketimpangan penguasaan sumber daya masih bertahan, bahkan memicu ketidakadilan internal karena akses tetap dimonopoli oleh kelompok elit lokal tertentu. Novelty utama disertasi ini adalah (1) Rekognisi (hutan adat) tanpa redistribusi, tidak melahirkan keadilan sosial bagi masyarakat adat; (2) Transfer kewenangan pengelolaan sumber daya alam tanpa pemenuhan transfer hak dan otoritas penuh, akan melahirkan model devolusi parsial, simbolik dan administratif; (3) Kebijakan pengakuan negara tanpa pengorganisasian sosial yang baik, untuk perombakan ketimpangan struktural, dapat melahirkan Ketidakadilan Internal; (4) Pengakuan hukum tidak selalu mengubah struktur penguasaan agraria yang timpang. Maka, politik pengakuan mesti tersambung dengan politik redistribusi agraria (Reforma Agraria).

Policies on the recognition of customary forests in Indonesia are often trapped in legalistic formalities that fail to address the root causes of structural agrarian issues. This study aims to analyze the dynamics, contestations, and impacts of the customary forest recognition policy in Kasepuhan Karang, as well as to formulate strategies to overcome the limitations of such recognition in order to realize substantive agrarian sovereignty. Using a theoretical framework drawn from Critical Political Ecology, Politics of Recognition and Redistribution, and Critical Agrarian Studies, this study examines the power relations between indigenous communities and the state following Constitutional Court Decision No. 35/PUU-X/2012. The research method employed is qualitative with a critical studies approach. Data collection was conducted through in-depth interviews with 75 informants, focus group discussions (FGDs), observations, and field immersion at the study site from 2024 to early 2026. The research findings indicate that although the recognition of customary forests provides guarantees of land security and strengthens identity, this policy has fundamentally failed to address structural agrarian issues. There is a sharp gap between de jure recognition and de facto management practices, which remain dominated by the state’s conservation regime through “functional territorialization.” This research uncovers the phenomenon of “recognition without redistribution,” in which the transfer of authority is partial, symbolic, and administrative in nature, rather than substantive. As a result, inequalities in resource control persist and even fuel internal injustices, as access remains monopolized by certain local elite groups. The main novelties of this dissertation are: (1) Recognition (of customary forests) without redistribution does not bring about social justice for indigenous communities; (2) The transfer of authority over natural resource management without the full transfer of rights and authority will result in a model of partial, symbolic, and administrative devolution; (3) State recognition policies without proper social organization to address structural inequalities can lead to internal injustice; (4) Legal recognition does not always alter the unequal structure of agrarian control. Therefore, the politics of recognition must be linked to the politics of agrarian redistribution (Agrarian Reform).