Women, gender and protest: contesting oil palm plantation expansion in Indonesia

Abstract

This study explores the conditions that lead to the participation of rural women in protest. Drawing from a case study in Indonesia, it finds that gender relations are integral to shaping the motivations and political opportunities that lead to women’s decisions to participate in protests around land. It also argues that gender relations are not fixed. Individual actors play an influential role in opening up new political opportunities for women, who are discursively cast as apolitical. Despite dominant gender relations that tend to exclude women from politics, the presence of women in protest opens up the possibility that rural struggles around land and dispossession, though ostensibly free of explicit gender concerns, may simultaneously serve as sites of struggle over gender as well.

Keywords:

• oil palm
• gender
• protest
• land grabs

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to all who contributed to the PhD research that preceded this paper, especially to my research assistant Ridho, my translator Kate Stevens, my supervisors Noel Castree and Erik Swyngedouw, and to the following for providing funding: the Brooks World Poverty Institute, the Overseas Research Student Awards scheme and the Land Deal Politics Initiative. Thanks to Ben White for his insightful comments, and the JPS editors for their patience. Finally, I would like to thank the communities in Sambas for their hospitality and time, and especially the women protesters for their warmth and openness.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 A local journalist estimated there were 5000 protesters, while NGO workers and protesters said there were at least 7000 people (Nova 2008).

2 The Sambas protest also involved another major protest group from the sub-district of Jawai, demanding that the Bupati withdraw the permit he had given to another private company to harvest industrial forests. The present study focuses exclusively on those protesting the permit given to PT SAM for its proposed oil palm plantation. 

3 The Bupati revoked both the Location License and Plantation Business Permit of PT SAM.

4 The authors also mention ‘everyday’ forms of subversion such as the illegal gathering of berondol (scattered oil palm fruits; Julia and White 2012, 1006).

5 Sheil (2009) finds ‘substantial' differences in smallholder versus large plantation patterns throughout Indonesia, with the relative share of smallholders in newly planted area much higher in Sumatra (51 percent) than in West Kalimantan (‘only' 15–20 percent; 41). As of 2015, the planted area of oil palm on smallholder estates was 25,820 hectares, less than half of the planted area on large estates (59,586 hectares; BPS Provinsi Kalimantan Barat 2016).

6 In order to obtain a Land Use Permit (Hak Guna Usaha), companies must have first obtained their (1) Initiation Permit, (2) Location License (Izin Lokasi) and (3) Plantation Business Permit (Izin Usaha Perkebunan). The permitting process requires companies to produce a variety of documents and conduct impact assessments and consultations. See more details about the procedure of obtaining a Land Use Permit in Marti (2008), Milieudefensie et al. (2007), and Sirait (2009).

7 Source: UNDP Indonesia (2010), as well as Sambas district data (BPS Provinsi Kalimantan Barat 2009).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Miranda Morgan

Miranda Morgan is currently working as a Learning Adviser on Women’s Economic Empowerment for Oxfam GB. Her previous professional experiences include working at UNDP, LEAD International and ODI, and most recently as a Scientist with the CGIAR (WorldFish) where she worked to integrate gender-transformative approaches into agricultural research and development. She has a PhD in Human Geography (University of Manchester), an MSc in Nature, Society and Environmental Policy (University of Oxford) and a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Political Studies and Development Studies (Queen's University, Canada).