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FEMINIST POLITICAL ECOLOGY AND WOMEN’S RESISTANCE: STRUGGLES FOR ACCESS, CONTROL, AND POWER OVER SAGO IN EAST SERAM, INDONESIA

Ishak R. Boufakar, Andi M. Akhmar, Fierenziana G. Junus

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Abstract:

The transformation of the sago management system in East Seram, from a subsistence-based practice rooted in customary traditions to a commodified framework within a neoliberal market, has created gender disparities in natural resource governance. This study adopts a Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) approach to examine various forms of systemic exclusion faced by women sago processors, as well as the resistance strategies they develop amidst the intersection of capitalism, patriarchy, and customary relations. Using a critical ethnographic method through participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions across five villages from August to October 2024, involving 30 informants, data were coded thematically using grounded theory principles. The research reveals that women have lost access and control over sago, while being marginalized from the local ecological knowledge systems that have supported community sustainability. However, women are not passive; they create alternative ecological spaces through collective, symbolic actions and daily negotiation practices. Women’s bodies, labor, and ecological knowledge function as mediums of resistance against exclusive and patriarchal power structures. The findings suggest that the FPE approach provides a new analytical space for understanding unequal socio-ecological relations, while also emphasizing the importance of recognizing women's agency in building just and sustainable food systems.

Keywords: Feminist Political Ecology, women sago processors, resistance, gender inequality, capitalism, East Seram.