A critical political economy of climate obstruction: forests, fossils, and foundations of developmentalism in Indonesia

Abstract

Climate obstruction has become a key concept in climate policy research, yet it is still predominantly understood through the lens of actors, practices and discourses, often centred on denial and delay. This paper advances a Gramscian critical political economy approach that shifts the focus towards the structural conditions under which climate obstruction is (re)produced and sustained. It conceptualizes climate obstruction as a hegemonic project aimed at organizing consent—and, where consent fails, coercion—for climate inaction, delay or rollback within specific historically-grown political-economic configurations. Applying this framework to Indonesia, the paper demonstrates how developmentalism, oligarchic power, neoliberal governance and state-led capitalism interact to obstruct climate action. Focusing on the forestry and energy sectors, it shows how colonial and authoritarian legacies of resource control have been reconfigured rather than dismantled, sustaining investments in coal, plantations and centralized forms of ‘green’ development while undermining a (just) energy transition and anti-deforestation efforts. Dominant developmentalist narratives play a central role in legitimizing these trajectories. By shifting attention from obstructionist actors to the political-economic foundations of climate obstruction, the paper offers a transferable framework for comparative research, particularly in Global South contexts where denial is oftentimes less salient than structurally embedded forms of climate delay.