Beneath the Surface: Exploring the Role of Gender in Indonesia’s Climate Justice Struggle through the Lens of Water Access
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65815/x2qqt494Keywords:
Gender, Climate Justice, Water Access, Indonesia, Climate AdaptationAbstract
This study explores the intersection of gender and climate justice in Indonesia, focusing on the unequal access to water resources in the context of climate change. Women, particularly in rural and marginalized communities, often bear the brunt of water scarcity, which is exacerbated by climate-induced changes such as shifting rainfall patterns, droughts, and extreme weather events. Through qualitative interviews and participatory research with local communities, the study investigates how gender shapes both vulnerability to and agency in responding to water crises. The research critically examines the role of women in water management, as well as the gendered impacts of policies aimed at climate adaptation and water resource governance. While men traditionally control water access and distribution, women play a crucial role in managing household water needs and advocating for sustainable water practices. The study argues that gender-sensitive approaches to climate justice are essential for equitable water access, and that policies must recognize and address the unique challenges faced by women in water-scarce regions. By highlighting the ways in which gender dynamics influence both vulnerability and resilience, the research contributes to the broader conversation on integrating social equity into climate justice frameworks, offering policy recommendations to ensure more inclusive and effective climate adaptation strategies in Indonesia.
Downloads
References
Araral, E., & Hartley, K. (2013). Polycentric governance for a new environmental regime: Theoretical frontiers in policy reform and water governance. Journal of Environmental Management, 125, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.03.014
Arora-Jonsson, S. (2011). Virtue and vulnerability: Discourses on women, gender and climate change. Global Environmental Change, 21(2), 744–751. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.01.005
Bakker, K. (2007). The “commons” versus the “commodity”: Alter-globalization, anti-privatization and the human right to water in the global South. Antipode, 39(3), 430–455. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2007.00534.x
Bakker, K. (2012). Water security: Research challenges and opportunities. Science, 337(6097), 914–915. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1226337
Bates, B. C., Kundzewicz, Z. W., Wu, S., & Palutikof, J. P. (Eds.). (2008). Climate change and water. Cambridge University Press.
Bee, B. A., Biermann, M., & Tschakert, P. (2021). Gender, climate change and adaptation: A review of the literature. Climate and Development, 13(1), 1–14.
Boelens, R., Perreault, T., & Vos, J. (Eds.). (2018). The Oxford handbook of water politics and policy. Oxford University Press.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.
https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Cleaver, F., & Hamada, K. (2010). “Good” water governance and gender equity: A troubled relationship. Gender & Development, 18(1), 27–41.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13552071003600046
Cornwall, A., & Jewkes, R. (1995). What is participatory research? Social Science & Medicine, 41(12), 1667–1676. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(95)00127-S
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139–167.
Dankelman, I. (2010). Gender and climate change: An introduction. Earthscan.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2018). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Djoudi, H., Locatelli, B., Vaast, C., Asher, K., Brockhaus, M., & Sijapati, B. B. (2016). Beyond dichotomies: Gender and intersecting inequalities in climate change studies. Ambio, 45, 248–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0825-2
Eastin, J. (2018). Climate change and gender inequality: The impact of climate change on women and gender. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 18, 401–414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-018-9390-7
Elmhirst, R. (2015). Feminist political ecology. In T. Perreault, G. Bridge, & J. McCarthy (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of political ecology (pp. 519–530). Routledge.
Flick, U. (2018). An introduction to qualitative research (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Fraser, N. (2008). Abnormal justice. Critical Inquiry, 34(3), 393–422.
https://doi.org/10.1086/589478
Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599.
https://doi.org/10.2307/3178066
Harding, S. (1991). Whose science? Whose knowledge? Thinking from women’s lives. Cornell University Press.
IPCC. (2022). Climate change 2022: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Cambridge University Press.
Kaijser, A., & Kronsell, A. (2014). Climate change through the lens of intersectionality. Environmental Politics, 23(3), 417–433.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2013.835203
Kindon, S., Pain, R., & Kesby, M. (Eds.). (2010). Participatory action research approaches and methods. Routledge.
Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2015). InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (3rd ed.). SAGE.
MacGregor, S. (2010). “Gender and climate change”: From impacts to discourses. Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 27, 223–248.
Meinzen-Dick, R., & Zwarteveen, M. (1998). Gendered participation in water management: Issues and illustrations from water users’ associations in South Asia. Agriculture and Human Values, 15, 337–345.
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007533018259
Moser, C. O. N. (1993). Gender planning and development: Theory, practice and training. Routledge.
Nightingale, A. J. (2011). Bounding difference: Intersectionality and the material production of gender, caste, class and environment in Nepal. Geoforum, 42(2), 153–162.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2010.03.004
Orb, A., Eisenhauer, L., & Wynaden, D. (2001). Ethics in qualitative research. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 33(1), 93–96.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1547-5069.2001.00093.x
Pretty, J. (1995). Participatory learning for sustainable agriculture. World Development, 23(8), 1247–1263. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(95)00046-F
Resurrección, B. P. (2013). Persistent women and environment linkages in climate change and sustainable development agendas. Women’s Studies International Forum, 40, 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2013.03.011
Rocheleau, D., Thomas-Slayter, B., & Wangari, E. (Eds.). (1996). Feminist political ecology: Global issues and local experiences. Routledge.
Schlosberg, D. (2007). Defining environmental justice: Theories, movements, and nature. Oxford University Press.
Schlosberg, D., & Collins, L. B. (2014). From environmental to climate justice: Climate change and the discourse of environmental justice. WIREs Climate Change, 5(3), 359–374. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.275
Sultana, F. (2011). Suffering for water, suffering from water: Emotional geographies of resource access, control and conflict. Geoforum, 42(2), 163–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2010.12.002
Sultana, F. (2014). Gendering climate change: Geographical insights. The Professional Geographer, 66(3), 372–381. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2013.821730
Swyngedouw, E. (2009). The political economy and political ecology of the hydro-social cycle. Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education, 142(1), 56–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1936-704X.2009.00054.x
Tschakert, P., Barnett, J., Ellis, N., Lawrence, C., Tuana, N., New, M., Elrick-Barr, C., Pandit, R., & Pannell, D. (2017). Climate change and loss, as if people mattered: Values, places, and experiences. WIREs Climate Change, 8(5), e476. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.476
Walker, G. (2012). Environmental justice: Concepts, evidence and politics. Routledge.
World Bank. (2021). Indonesia water security outlook. World Bank.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Pham Thi Lan Anh, Kanya Suwan, Manuel da Costa (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All writings published in this journal are the personal views of the authors and do not represent the views of this journal or the authors’ affiliated institutions. Authors retain copyrights without any restriction under the license of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
