Participatory environmental governance in Indonesia: assessing the limitations

Abstract

This article analyses the dynamics of resource governance at the village level in Indonesia. It pays attention to the way the ideology of the Joko Widodo (Jokowi) administration shaped participatory governance policy as an instrument of achieving national interests. Instead of employing the policy to deepen village democracy and strengthen local institutions to address village environmental degradation, the Jokowi administration used it to accelerate infrastructure development and achieve high economic growth. Utilizing qualitative data and a longitudinal monitoring study, this article argues that the efforts of the administration to centralize village governance have put the village agenda of self-governing their environment in danger.