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Abstract

This study analyzes the narratives of women’s resilience in disaster from the post-colonial feminism approach. Ecological justice and gender issues have been addressed by other studies on Indonesia to amplify the voices of Indonesian women, but few of them focus on women’s narratives. As a culture relying on oral traditions, Indonesian women’s narratives and stories are instrumental in decolonizing the knowledge on ecological justice. Even though feminist perspectives play an instrumental role in addressing ecological justice in Indonesia, studies using post-colonial feminism remain very limited.

This study employs post-colonial feminist ethnography and focuses on three watershed areas in Bengkulu, Indonesia: Rindu Hati village representing rural upstream location; Talang Empat village representing rural midstream region, and Tanjung Jaya village representing downstream urban areas. Interviews were conducted with women who are members of peasant groups, agricultural workers, traders, village administrators, and other community members.

The narratives show several important trends: (a) Women’s daily live reflects their knowledge about the environment and women’s responses to disaster and climate change indicating local eco-consciousness, resilience, and adaptation to changes. (b) Local power configuration contributes to resilience. There are interconnections of gender relations, disaster resilience, and environmental sustainability. Local power map shows the interconnection between disaster responses, environmental sustainability and gender relations in the community. (c) Upstream population tends to have higher commitment to environmental conservation and disaster resilience compared to the communities in the midstream and downstream locations. Women’s position in the circle of power in watershed management has important influence in their resilience facing disaster and climate change. These narratives inform the interrelations of women’s positions, disaster resilience, and eco-consciousness in creating ecological justice.

Bahasa Abstract

Penelitian ini menganalisis narasi-narasi ketangguhan wanita dalam bencana dari pendekatan feminisme pasca-kolonial. Masalah keadilan ekologis dan gender telah dibahas oleh penelitian lain di Indonesia untuk memperkuat suara perempuan Indonesia, tetapi sedikit dari mereka yang berfokus pada narasi wanita. Sebagai budaya yang mengandalkan tradisi lisan, narasi dan cerita wanita Indonesia memiliki peran penting dalam mendekolonisasi pengetahuan tentang keadilan ekologis. Meskipun pandangan feminis memainkan peran penting dalam mengatasi keadilan ekologis di Indonesia, penelitian yang menggunakan feminisme pasca-kolonial tetap sangat terbatas. Penelitian ini menggunakan etnografi feminis pasca-kolonial dan berfokus pada posisi wanita dalam kebijakan pengelolaan daerah aliran sungai di tiga wilayah di Bengkulu, Indonesia: desa Rindu Hati mewakili lokasi hulu pedesaan; desa Talang Empat mewakili wilayah tengah pedesaan, dan desa Tanjung Jaya mewakili wilayah perkotaan di hilir. Wawancara dilakukan dengan wanita yang merupakan anggota kelompok petani, pekerja pertanian, pedagang, administrator desa, dan anggota masyarakat lainnya. Narasi-narasi tersebut menunjukkan beberapa tren penting: (a) Kehidupan sehari-hari wanita mencerminkan pengetahuan mereka tentang lingkungan dan tanggapan wanita terhadap bencana dan perubahan iklim yang menunjukkan kesadaran ekologi lokal, ketangguhan, dan adaptasi terhadap perubahan. (b) Konfigurasi kekuatan lokal berkontribusi pada ketangguhan. Terdapat keterkaitan antara hubungan gender, ketangguhan bencana, dan keberlanjutan lingkungan. Peta kekuatan lokal menunjukkan keterhubungan antara tanggapan terhadap bencana, keberlanjutan lingkungan, dan hubungan gender dalam masyarakat. (c) Penduduk di hulu cenderung memiliki komitmen yang lebih tinggi terhadap pelestarian lingkungan dan ketangguhan bencana dibandingkan dengan komunitas di lokasi tengah dan hilir. Posisi wanita dalam lingkaran kekuasaan dalam pengelolaan daerah aliran sungai memiliki pengaruh penting dalam ketangguhan mereka menghadapi bencana dan perubahan iklim. Narasi-narasi ini memberikan informasi tentang hubungan antara posisi wanita, ketangguhan bencana, dan kesadaran ekologis dalam menciptakan keadilan ekologis.

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