When the Capital Enters Indigenous Territory: Balik Women and the Politics of Livable Space in Sepaku

Abstract

The construction of Indonesia’s new capital city in East Kalimantan has transformed Sepaku into a major frontier of infrastructure development, investment, and territorial restructuring. Beneath the national narrative of modernization, however, Indigenous Balik communities face profound changes in land access, livelihoods, cultural landscapes, and social relations. This article focuses specifically on the experiences of Balik women, whose perspectives are essential for understanding the gendered consequences of capital-city development. Drawing on feminist political ecology and Indigenous territorial rights, the study examines how land acquisition, displacement, environmental transformation, and changing access to natural resources affect women’s everyday lives. It asks how women experience the loss or fragmentation of spaces that support food production, household economies, cultural practices, and community relationships. The article also investigates the unequal power relations embedded in development planning, particularly the gap between state-defined public interest and Indigenous understandings of territory and livable space. By centering women’s experiences, the study challenges approaches that treat displacement primarily as a question of physical relocation and compensation. It argues that territorial justice must recognize social reproduction, cultural identity, gendered labor, and political participation. The case of Balik women demonstrates that infrastructure development can simultaneously produce economic opportunity and deepen existing inequalities in access to land, resources, and decision-making.