Regimes of Environmental Truth: EIA as a Power/Knowledge Apparatus in the North Kendeng Mining Dispute, Indonesia

Abdul  Kodir

doi:10.22500/14202671984

Authors

Abdul Kodir Department of Sociology, Universitas Negeri Malang, Jl. Semarang No. 5, Malang, East Java, 65145, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22500/14202671984

Keywords:

EIA, North Kendeng, political ecology, power/knowledge

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between power and knowledge in the implementation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) policy in Indonesia, focusing on the case of the cement mining project in North Kendeng Mountain. The research aims to understand how environmental knowledge is produced, legitimized, and contested within the framework of state-led development. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with activists, government officials, academics, and community members across Rembang, Semarang, Yogyakarta, and Jakarta between August 2023 and April 2024. Thematic analysis was applied to identify key patterns in the discourse and practice of EIA. The findings reveal three major dynamics: first, environmental data in EIA are selectively interpreted to legitimize development; second, public participation functions as a procedural formality that masks power asymmetries; and third, expert authority operates as a technocratic mechanism that transforms political conflict into technical consensus. These results indicate that EIA serves as a power/knowledge apparatus in which science and policy converge to sustain state and corporate legitimacy. The study concludes by conceptualizing EIA as a regime of environmental truth that disciplines both knowledge and participation in environmental governance.

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