- Author: Ali Ja’far
- From: Center for Religious and Cross Cultural Studies UGM-Yogyakarta
Abstract:
The idea of development does not always concern on the idea of empowerment. Recently, after decentralization policy established in Indonesia and the idea of rural economic development flourished, local community resource was much explored to enhance local revenue and to gain community prosperity. Hence, there are still serious problems within development design that is about the neglected ethic and value toward resources. This research was focused on strong rejection from local community over the exploration of cement factory toward the mountain in the southern Rembang and unpacking what are missing in the negotiation. Examining Kathrine Marshal?s idea about common cases of neglected values in the modern development, and Hallowell?s idea about inter-personal relation, this research then attempts to unpack how deagrarianization in the heartland of Central Java has endangered agrarian community religious values that worsen the conflict. Through ethnographic research, this paper has a significant finding; First is that the proposed development does not consider local religious value of agrarian community in seeing the mountain as ?person? that integrated in the pivotal body of their agrarian structure. Secondly, the developer and government are lacking the ample room about local spiritual wisdom in seeing the equilibrium relation between human and nature as well as lacking in seeing agrarian religious practice in seeing the earth compassionately. The third is that local communities are having local idea about economic development as the reason behind preserving agrarian identities.
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