CRITICISM ON ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION, SOCIAL INJUSTICE, AND EXTREMISM IN INDONESIA THROUGH NAVICULA
SELECTED SONG LYRICS
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement
to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M. Hum.) Degree in English Language Studies
Herda Pramundito
Student Number: 166332012
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
i
CRITICISM ON ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION, SOCIAL
INJUSTICE, AND EXTREMISM IN INDONESIA THROUGH NAVICULA
SELECTED SONG LYRICS
A THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement
to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M. Hum.) Degree in English Language Studies
Herda Pramundito Student Number: 166332012
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In this part, I want to express my deepest gratitude for those people who
become my support system in this thesis. First of all, I want to give the greatest
gratefulness to Allah SWT. I also want to give another gratitude to my only one
prophet Muhammad SAW whom I wait his blessing in the end of the world.
Secondly, my deepest thankfulness goes to my thesis advisor Dra. Novita
Dewi, M.S., M.A. (Hons), Ph.D.for her time, guidance and also the support during
my thesis writing. I would like to thank also for the comments and the suggestions,
without that I cannot finish my thesis. I also want to give another thankfulness to
all lecturers in ELS department, Prof. Dr. Soepomo Poedjosoedarmo, Paulus
Sarwoto, Ph.D., F.X. Mukarto, Ph.D., Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A., Dr. E.
Sunarto, M. Hum., Dr. Fr. Borgias Alip, M. Pd., M.A., and Dr. J. Bismoko for
the knowledge and inspiration inside or outside the class.
I dedicate this thesis to my beloved parents; Drs. Prajudi ‘Prataph Singh’
and Dra. Suparti who always give me strength and courage during the study and
the thesis writing. Before I forget, I want to thank also to my not so little brother
Henu Abiseka Prasida for disturbing me during my thesis writing.
I would also give my big thanks to my classmates in ELS, Listi, Florence,
Sr. Christine, Eirene, Desca, Bu Ismi,Witta and all friends. To ELS staffs, mbak
Marni and her assistants. To my friend, Yoseph. The last but not the least, I would
like to thank to anyone that cannot be mentioned one by one for helping me
finishing this thesis, may God bless you all, and all living creatures in this world.
vii
MOTTO
Layukallifullahu nafsan illa wus’aha
Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity
[QS. Al-Baqarah: Verse 286]
CREATE. COURAGE. CREATE. WONDERFUL
Will you create courage no matter what?
[The Globe Philippines]
Berusaha bener - bener gimana caranya. Menekuni. Membuat sesuatu yang tidak
mungkin menjadi mungkin dan Insyaallah gimana caranya selesai
viii
THE WAY NAVICULA CHALLENGES THE UNRESOLVED ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION IN INDONESIA THROUGH THEIR SONG LYRICS ... 33
A. Environmental Pollution in Indonesia ... 34
B. Tree, Forest, the Protectors and Ecosystem Issues ... 52
C. The Movement of Navicula to the Environmental Destruction ... 69
D. Navicula’s Attitude and Ideology behind the song lyrics ... 78
CHAPTER IV ... 83
ix
A. Mafias and the People Representatives in Indonesia ... 84
B. Munir Case as the Representation of Unresolved Human Rights ... 94
C. Environmental Destruction to Social Injustice in Indonesia ... 104
D. Navicula’s Attitude and Ideology behind the song lyrics ... 108
CHAPTER V ... 114
RESPOND TO EXTREMISM THREAT IN INDONESIA THROUGH NAVICULA SONG LYRICS ... 114
A. Extremism in the Context of Terrorism in Indonesia... 114
B. Extremism as the Main Factor of the Religious Conflict in Indonesia .... 123
C. Navicula’s Attitude and Ideology behind the song lyrics ... 132
CHAPTER VI ... 135
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ... 135
A. Conclusion ... 135
B. Suggestion ... 142
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 144
x
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Kali Mati” [The Dead River] from
Alkemis Album [2005]. ... 139
Appendix 2: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Lagu Sampah” [The Waste Song]
from Earthship Album [2018]. ... 141
Appendix 3: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Ibu” [Mother] from Earthship Album
[2018]. ... 143
Appendix 4: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Metropolutan” from Love Bomb
Album [2013]. ... 145
Appendix 5: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Zat Hijau Daun” [Chlorophyll] from
Alkemis Album [2005]. ... 147
Appendix 6: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Bubur Kayu” [Wood Pulp] from Love
Bomb Album [2013]. ... 149
Appendix 7: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Harimau! Harimau! (A Tale of the Last
Sumatran Tiger)” [Tiger! Tiger!] from Love Bomb Album [2013]. .... 151
Appendix 8: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Orangutan” from Love Bomb Album
[2013]. ... 152
Appendix 9: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Over konsumsi” [Over Consumption]
from Salto Album [2009]. ... 154
Appendix 10: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Dead Trees” from Tatap Muka Album
xi
Appendix 11: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Mafia Medis” [Medical Mafia] from
Love Bomb Album [2013]. ... 158
Appendix 12: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Mafia Hukum” [Mafia of Law] from
Love Bomb Album [2013]. ... 160
Appendix 13: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Dagelan Penipu Rakyat” [People's
Deception Comedy] from Earthship Album [2018]. ... 163
Appendix 14: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Refuse to Forget” from Love Bomb
Album [2018]. ... 165
Appendix 15: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Bekas Luka” [Scar] from Tatap Muka
Album [2015]. ... 167
Appendix 16: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Biarlah Malaikat” [Let the Angel]
from Earthship Album [2018]. ... 169
Appendix 17: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Kartini” from Single in order to
support Kendeng’s female farmers struggle [2016]. ... 171
Appendix 18: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Budi Si Berani Mati” [Budi, Dared to
Die] from Salto Album [2009]. ... 172
Appendix 19: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Everyone Goes to Heaven” from
Salto Album [2009]. ... 174
Appendix 20: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Peace Pretenders” from Salto Album
xii
Appendix 21: Navicula Song Lyrics entitled “Kill the Fireflies” from Salto Album
xiii
ABSTRACT
Pramundito, Herda. 2019. Criticism on Environmental Destruction, Social Injustice, and Extremism in Indonesia Through Navicula Selected Song Lyrics. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program on English Language Studies, Sanata
Dharma University.
Navicula is a group band known for their consistency in voicing environmental issues all around the world especially in Indonesia. This thesis attemps to answer three main questions namely, (1) In what way do Navicula song lyrics challenge unresolved environmental destruction in Indonesia? (2) How do Navicula song lyrics criticize social injustice in Indonesia? (3) How do the song lyrics from Navicula respond to the danger of extremism in Indonesia?
In order to answer those questions, Theory of Ecocriticism is used to analyze the action from Navicula to challenge the unresolved environmental destruction through the band’s songs. The various theories in social injustice including that of John Rawls are used to reveal the criticism. Theories on extremism from Emile Durkheim, Anthony Giddens, and Ted Robert Gurr are used to elaborate the main problem in extremism depicted in the song lyrics. Using these theories, Navicula’s ideology and attitude can be revealed as to why the group band uses song to send its messages.
This study shows that two main problems, pollution and deforestation are criticized as seen in Navicula’s songs. The first problem of pollution can be seen from such disaster like flood that is caused by humans behaviour and habit of throwing waste to the river. The second problem is the massive deforestation in many places in Indonesia especially Sumatra and Borneo that affect the life of many living organisms like Tiger and Orangutan as seen in the songs. Navicula’s songs also show the way they challenge the problems of pollution and deforestation. The second section on the social injustice can be seen from various cases, i.e. the practice of mafias, the deception role of parliaments, the unresolved dehumanization cases, and the problems of social injustice as the result of environmental destruction in Indonesia through the songs. The case of the mafia’s practice in Indonesia can be seen from the medical cases and law cases in Indonesia. The case on the deception role of parliaments shows that the function of the parliaments is to represent people but in reality they work only for themselves and their political parties. The unresolved dehumanization case can be seen in the representation of Munir’s case. The last case in social injustice is the environmental destruction in Kendeng for cement factories. The third section on extremism deals with two main problems namely, Bali Bombing and religious conflicts that occur from the early Reformation Era until today.
xiv
ABSTRAK
Pramundito, Herda. 2019. Criticism on Environmental Destruction, Social Injustice, and Extremism in Indonesia Through Navicula Selected Song Lyrics. Yogyakarta: Program Pascasarjana Kajian Bahasa Inggris, Universitas
Sanata Dharma.
Navicula adalah sebuah grup band yang dikenal dalam konsistensinya menyuarakan isu lingkungan di seluruh dunia khususnya di Indonesia. Tesis ini mencoba menjawab tiga pertanyaan utama yaitu (1) Dalam cara apa lirik lagu Navicula menantang kerusakan lingkungan yang belum terselesaikan di Indonesia? (2) Bagaimana lirik lagu Navicula mengkritisi ketidakadilan sosial di Indonesia? (3) Bagaimana lirik lagu dari Navicula menanggapi bahaya ekstremisme di Indonesia?
Untuk menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan tersebut, Teori Ekokritisisme digunakan untuk menganalisis tindakan dari Navicula untuk menantang kasus perusakan lingkungan yang belum terselesaikan melalui beberapa lagu. Berbagai teori dalam ketidakadilan sosial termasuk John Rawls digunakan untuk mengungkapkan kritik. Berbagai teori ekstremisme dari Emile Durkheim, Anthony Giddens, dan Ted Robert Gurr digunakan untuk menguraikan masalah utama dalam ekstremisme yangdigambarkan pada lirik lagu Navicula. Menggunakan teori-teori ini, ideologi dan sikap Navicula dapat diungkapkan seperti mengapa Navicula menggunakan lagu untukmengirimkan pesan.
Studi ini menunjukkan bahwa dua masalah utama, polusi dan deforestasi dikritik dalam lagu Navicula. Masalah pertama, polusi dapat dilihat dari bencana seperti banjir yang disebabkan oleh perilaku manusia dan kebiasaan membuang sampah di sungai. Masalah kedua adalah deforestasi besar-besaran di banyak tempat di Indonesia terutama Sumatra dan Kalimantan yang berdampak pada kehidupan banyak mahluk hidup seperti harimau dan orangutan yang terlihat dalam lagu. Lagu Navicula juga menunjukkan cara mereka menantang masalah polusi dan deforestasi. Bagian kedua tentang ketidakadilan sosial yang dapat dilihat dari berbagai kasus yaitu praktik mafia, penipuan dalam parlemen, kasus-kasus dehumanisasi yang belum terselesaikan, dan masalah ketidakadilan sosial sebagai akibat dari kerusakan lingkungan di Indonesia melalui lagu. Kasus praktik mafia di Indonesia dapat dilihat dari kasus medis dan hukum di Indonesia. Kasus penipuan dalam parlemen menunjukkan bahwa fungsi parlemen itu untuk mewakili rakyat, namun dalam kenyataannya mereka bekerja hanya untuk mereka sendiri dan partai politik mereka. Kasus dehumanisasi yang belum terselesaikan dapat dilihat dalam representasi kasus Munir. Kasus terakhir dalam ketidakadilan sosial adalah tentang kerusakan lingkungan di Kendeng untuk pembangunan pabrik semen. Bagian ketiga tentang ekstrimisme berkaitan dengan dua masalah utama yaitu Masalah Bom Bali dan konflik agama yang terjadi dari awal Era Reformasi hingga saat ini.
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of three sections: the background of the study, research
questions, and benefit of the study. The first section deals with the reason why
Navicula song lyrics are chosen as the primary data for this research. The second
section presents the limitation given to this research. The third section shows the
benefit for further research.
A. Background of the Study
This study focuses on the analysis of the song lyrics from Navicula, a group
band and activists who concern about three main issues in Indonesia, namely
environmental destruction, social injustice, and extremism. This study shows how
Navicula attempts to voice, criticize, and respond to environmental destruction,
social injustice, and extremism in the country through their songs.
Nowadays, Indonesia being a developing country has abundant natural
resources, various ethnic groups, religions, and cultures. However, the wealth that
Indonesia possesses has not made Indonesia free from common problems often
occur in developing countries such as corruption, crime, unemployment, social
injustice, environmental issue, and also extremism. There are many solutions in
order to solve the problem from developments of infrastructure, economic
improvement, human resources enhancement, until social welfare without
In the era of technological and scientific advancement, the acceleration of
environmental destruction is also rapidly growing as the result of those
accelerations. Recovery for environmental damage requires a high commitment
from the world authorities to preserve the environment including Indonesia as one
of the largest contributors of forests destruction in the world1 Indonesia’s forests
become home for many living creatures including rare floras and faunas.
Environmental issues become the current problem for Indonesia such as massive
deforestation, climate change, and also pollution in all sectors. The environmental
problem in Indonesia is featured in, for example, the Time’s magazine showing the
serious deforestation statistics from Nature Climate Change journal.2 There are
many examples of environmental issues as the result of human’s treatment to the
environment such as pollution3 and deforestation.4
1 Andini, Afifah Rahmi, Tri Cahyo Utomo, and Sheiffi Puspapertiwi, "10. Identitas dan Kebijakan
Luar Negeri: Komitmen Jepang Terhadap Penanganan Illegal Logging di Indonesia dalam Kerangka Asia Forest Partnership Tahun 2002-2012." [10 Identity and Foreign Policy: Japan's Commitment to Handling Illegal Logging in Indonesia in the Asia Forest Partnership Framework for 2002-2012]
Journal of International Relations 3. 1 (2017): 98-105.
2 Melissa Hellman, “Indonesia Now Has the Highest Rate of Deforestation in the World.”Time Magazine, 2014. http://time.com/2944030/indonesia-now-has-the-highest-rate-of-deforestation-in-the-world/ Accessed December 14, 2017.
3 Muhammad Amin and Suci Amaliah Assyahra, "Analisis Social Costs pada Pembuangan Limbah
Tailing Pt Freeport Indonesia di Sungai Ajkwa” [Social Costs Analysis of Tailings Disposal of Pt Freeport Indonesia on the Ajkwa River]. Jurnal Ilmiah Universitas Bakrie 3. 1 (2015).; (2) Rene C. Kepel, Desy MH Mantiri, Darus SJ Paransa, James JH Paulus, and Billy T. Wagey, "Arsenic Content, Cell Structure, and Pigment of Ulva sp. from Totok Bay and Blongko waters, North Sulawesi, Indonesia." AACL Bioflux 11. 3 (2018): 765-772.; (3) Keith Bentley and Amin Soebandrio, "Arsenic and Mercury Concentrations in Marine Fish Sourced from Local Fishermen and Fish Markets in Mine-impacted Communities in Ratatotok Sub-district, North Sulawesi, Indonesia." Marine pollution bulletin 120. 1-2 (2017): 75-81.; (4) Teevrat Garg, Stuart E. Hamilton, Jacob P. Hochard, Evan Plous Kresch, and John Talbot, "(Not so) Gently down the Stream: River Pollution and Health in Indonesia." Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 92 (2018): 35-53.; (5) Younoh Kim, James Manley, and Vlad Radoias, “Medium-and Long-run Consequences of Pollution on Labor Supply: Evidence from Indonesia's Forest Fires of 1997.” (2017): 1-7.
4 Atsuhiro Takahashi, Tomo’omi Kumagai, Hironari Kanamori, Hatsuki Fujinami, Tetsuya Hiyama,
The existence of the Indonesian rain forest has slowly began to change with
palm oil plantation, starting to destruct and ruin the ecosystem of many living
creatures. As the forest ecosystem is destroyed, the rainforest species such as the
orangutan, Borneo elephant and Sumatran tiger start to meet their extinction point.
The tribals are the first level of people who protect the forest for the next
generations and they also the people who are brutally driven out from their land.
The smallest form of environmental destruction can be seen from human daily
activities such as polluting the river by throwing all wastes and materials, using
vehicles that create air pollution, and also consuming the air conditioner that can
make the depletion of the ozone.
The Indonesian government states in Pasal 1 butir 12 Undang-Undang
Nomor 23 Tahun 1997 that environmental pollution is entry or inclusion of living
creatures or other components into living environment by activity to decrease the
quality into certain level and create malfunction to the living environment. In the
Pasal 1 butir 14 The Indonesian government states that environmental destruction
is the act that affects a direct change to the malfunction of living environment.
Those two constitutions really indicate that environmental issue has become a
serious concern in Indonesia.
Social issues also become another important issue in Indonesia. Social
injustice and poverty become the primary roots for all social issues in Indonesia.
Social injustice grows as the setback of the law enforcement in Indonesia. The law
implementation as what states in Undang-Undang Dasar 1945 Pasal 27 ayat 1
decadence of the constitution and also the representatives of the people themselves
cannot be denied as one of several issues in Indonesia.5 There are some issues
related to the setbacks of the law enforcement in Indonesia such as the
dehumanization case of Minah, Basar and Kholil, Manisih, Sri Suratmi, Rusmanto
and Yuwono, Siptoyono and Sulastri, Parto, Aspuri, and also Rasminah and Aal are
the victims of social injustice in Indonesia.6 Those people above are the small
examples for social injustice case in Indonesia. There are still massive
dehumanization cases in Indonesia that have not been resolved until now such as
Munir,7 Udin,8 and also Marsinah9 which have all become the evidence that the
enforcement of human rights in Indonesia is still questionable. The other issues can
be seen from the role of mafias in Indonesia like mafia of law and mafia of food.
This mafias create social gap in the society which as seen in poverty problems.
Poverty is a situation where there is an inability to fulfill basic needs such
as food, clothing, and shelter. Poverty can be caused by the scarcity of basic needs
5 AA Ngurah Oka Yudistira Darmadi, "Kebijakan Hukum Pidana dalam Penanggulangan Korupsi
di Indonesia (Suatu Perspektif Politik Hukum)” [Criminal Law Policy in Countering Corruption in Indonesia (A Legal Political Perspective)]. Jurnal Kertha Wicaksana 21. 1 (2017): 21-25.
6 Setiawan Nurdayasakti, "Mendesak, Amandemen Pasal Pencurian Ringan dalam KUHP” [Urgent,
Light Theft Article Amendment in the Criminal Code]. Jurnal Ilmiah Hukum LEGALITY 20. 2 (2013).
7 Herlambang P. Wiratraman, "Legal Reforms for Improving the Freedom of the Press in Indonesia." JSEAHR 1 (2017): 80.; (2) Allan Nairn, "Trump’s Indonesian Allies in Bed With ISIS-Backed FPI Militia Seek to Oust Elected President Jokowi." 2017. (3) Philip Lorenz, "From Alien to Inalienable? Changing Attitudes about Human Rights in the Indonesian Security Sector." (2018): 19.
8 D. N. Susilastuti, Hermin Indah Wahyuni, and Munawar Akhmad, "Jejak Relasi Agency-Struktur
dalam Perjalanan Pers di Indonesia” [Traces of Agency-Structure Relations in the Press Journey in Indonesia]. Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi 15. 3 (2017).
9Riyadi, "Transformasi Pelaksanaan Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) dalam Pengembangan
fulfillment media and also the difficult access to education and employment. This
situation currently becomes an obstacle in the society or in a wider scope can be
seen as one of social problems in Indonesia. Poverty is also considered as a social
problem when the stratification in society has created boundary lines or often called
as social gap. This gap creates a dividing line in the interaction or communication
between people in their daily activities.
Poverty can also impact the environment which will damage the
environment itself as the result of environmental destruction. Land conversion is
one of many factors that will damage the environment. Land conversion can occur
due to economic, social, environmental conditions and government regulations.
Poor people who do not have home will look for critical lands or conservation lands
like river banks as settlements. Land that must be functioned as a buffer zone loses
its environmental function and is converted into residential areas. The behaviour of
poor people also aggravates the environmental condition by throwing wastes into
the river. The next result, it will cause environmental imbalances that lead to many
disasters like landslides, floods, and diseases.
Land conversion is not only carried out by the poor but also by businessmen
to enrich their pockets. Industrial development is important for the development of
the nation, but it must be followed by the ethics of sustainable development and
good governance to the environment. The law protects the sustainability of people
and environment from the industrial development through UU no 32 tahun 2009
regarding protection and management of the environment. The development of
of land conversion that can disrupt the ecological balance. The development
disrupts the water absorbing area for natural irrigation of thousands of hectares of
agricultural area in Kendeng. This development also affects to the social injustice
in many aspects like the environment and Kendeng people due to the threat of
ecological disaster.
Extremism also becomes one more important issue that needs to be resolved
in Indonesia. The term “extremism” can be understood as an abuse form of political
activity that utilizes minority groups or organizations.10 This term is often used to
depict political or religious understanding which in doing the action they will use
all ways to reach or achieve the goals. Extremism can be divided into two sections.
The first section is related with religious conflicts in Indonesia. The second section
deals with the action of terrorism in Indonesia.
The example of extremism in religious context can be seen from the
religious conflict in Sampang11, Mesuji12, Maluku13 etc.The basic problem of this
conflict is caused by the inability of the nation to implement the meaning of unity
in the diversity as one Indonesian nation. The other form of extremism can be seen
in rampant terrorism occurring in the country. Terrorism becomes a global issue
10 Matthew L.N. Wilkinson, “An abuse form of political activity” in The Genealogy of Terror: How to distinguish between Islam, Islamism and Islamist Extremism. (Routledge, 2018), p. 4.
11Ali Imron, “Konflik Perebutan Lahan Pemakaman: Studi di Desa Mambulu Barat Kecamatan
Tambelangan Kabupaten Sampang” [Funeral Land Seizure Conflict: Study in Mambulu Barat Village, Tambelangan District, Sampang Regency]. Paradigma 5. 1 (2017).
12 Idrus Ruslan, “‘Membangun’ nasionalisme Sebagai Solusi Untuk Mengatasi Konflik Sara Di
Indonesia” [‘Building’ Nationalism as a Solution to Overcoming Sara's Conflict in Indonesia].
Jurnal TAPIS 10. 1 (2017): 85-102.
13 Yunus Rahawarin, “Kerjasama Antar Umat Beragama: Studi Rekonsiliasi Konflik Agama di
after the bombing tragedy on October 12, 2002 in Paddy’s Pub and Sari Club in
Legian Street, Kuta, Bali, followed by the biggest one near US’s Consulate Office
that created chaostic situation in Legian.14 The history of terrorist groups in
Indonesia can be seen from the existence of various groups such as Negara Islam
Indonesia (NII)15, Jama’ah Islamiyah (JI)16, Mujahidin Indonesia Timur (MIT)17,
Mujahidin Indonesia Barat (MIB)18, Laskar Jihad (LJ)19, Jamaah Anshaarut Tauhid
14 Bambang Waluyo, R. Narendra Jatna, and Jamal Wiwoho, "Eradication of Al Jamaah Al
Islamiyah in Indonesia." Yustisia Jurnal Hukum 6. 1 (2017): 1-13.
15NII was founded by Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosoewirjo in 1949. This organization becomes the
first terrorist group who want to establish Islamic country. The law of this organization is Islamic law, and this organization becomes the predecessor of Islamic organization. Indra Utama Tanjung, "Pendirian Negara Khilafah Islam Di Indonesia Perspektif Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (Kajian Teoritis Hukum Tata Negara)." [Establishment of Islamic Khilafah State in Indonesia Perspective of Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia (Theoretical Study of Constitutional Law)] Jurnal Penelitian Medan Agama 9. 1 (2018): 95-104.
16Jamaah Islamiyah was formed in the end of 1980’s by some Indonesian extrimists. The branch of
this organization has spread through Malaysia, Thailand, Saingapore and any other countries in Southeast Asia, the smaller branch also spreads outside SEA. The purpose of this organization is to establish an Islamic state in Indonesia. The member of this organization has been educated in Afghanistan by Al-Qaeda in order to create an Islamic state through violence action like bombing. The product of this organization can be seen in some case such as Bali and Australian Embassy Bombing. This organization also became the part of a new extremist organization in Aceh that declared as an Indonesian Al-Qaeda. Bambang Waluyo, R. Narendra Jatna, and Jamal Wiwoho, "Eradication of Al Jamaah Al Islamiyah in Indonesia." Yustisia Jurnal Hukum 6. 1 (2017): 1-13.
17 Mujahidin of Eastern Indonesia (Mujahidin Indonesia Timur, MIT), is based in Poso, Central
Sulawesi and the leader is Abu Wardah also known as Santoso. This organization is also involved in the Maluku conflict in 1999 and 2002. MIT also has a purpose to establish an Islamic state in Indonesia through fighting against Shia, Christians, and also Indonesian government. Nodirbek Soliev, "Uyghur Militancy in and Beyond Southeast Asia: An Assessment." Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses 9. 2 (2017): 14-20.
18 Mujahidin of Western Indonesia (Mujahidin Indonesia Barat, MIB) is located in Jakarta and West
Java. This organization was founded by Abu Roban in 2012. Abu Roban died in 2013 due to the Police operation. This organization has purpose to unite the jihadists all over Indonesia, this organization also known as the fund raiser for the operation. The method used by this group to find money is robbery in several places in Java and Sumatra. Mahathir Muhammad Iqbal, "Meneguhkan Konsep Islam Nusantara Sebagai Perspektif Alternatif Kontra Ideologi Radikalisme dan Terorisme." [Affirming the Concept of Islam Nusantara as an Alternative Perspective of Counter Ideology of Radicalism and Terrorism] Jurnal Aghniya 1. 1 (2018): 45-56.
19 Laskar Jihad, was an Islamist and anti-Christian Indonesian militia, which was founded and led
by Jafar Umar Thalib in 2000. Laskar Jihad is established due to the sectarian conflict in Maluku, this organization also involved in the sectarian conflict after the first conflict in Maluku by joining
(JAT)20, Jamaah Anshaarut Daulah (JAD)21, and Jamaah Ansharusy Syariah
(JAS)22. After conducting several investigations on the case of Bali bombing, there
is a connection between the suspect and the former of Jamaah Islamiyah, Abu Bakar
Baasyir.23 The court of Bali bombing case began in 2003 against Imam Samudera
and his affiliations as the suspects.
After the bombing tragedy in Bali, the government issued UU No.15 Tahun
2003 regarding the terrorism eradication.24 The head of Ministry of Religious
Affairs found out that there are many elements that cause extremism arise in
Indonesia; one of which is social injustice.25 Meanwhile, the law, constitutions, and
20 Jama’ah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) is an organization that founded by Abu Bakar Bas’asyir in
September, 2008. This organization has member from some members from Jama’ah Islamiyyah.
This organization declares that people need to do jihad in order to go against Islam’s enemy, however they insist on arguing that they do not resist against the law. They also think that the human law is considered as haram (illegitimate). Asman Abdullah, "Radikalisasi Gerakan Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid dan Pengaruh Isis di Indonesia.” [Radicalization of the Movement of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid and the Influence of Isis in Indonesia] Jurnal Sosiologi Reflektif 12. 2 (2018): 213-232.
21 JAD was formed by Aman Abdurrahman in Nusakambangan. This organizations has several
purpose such as a place to unite ISIS’s supporters in Indonesia from various Islamic organizations, preparing Indonesian Muslims to welcome the arrival of the Khilafah Islamiyah, and also preparing Indonesian Muslims to go jihad. The difference between JAD and JAT can be seen from the knowledge of the members, JAT is educated outside in Indonesia and create a massive bomb like car bomb. JAD stands for local education and creating smaller bomb with an intense attacking. V. Arianti, "Aman Abdurrahman: Ideologue and ‘Commander’of IS Supporters in Indonesia."Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses 9. 2 (2017): 4-9.
22 JAS is the fraction of JAT organizations that founded in 2014. This organization is established
due to the dissent from JAT about the concept of Islamic state from ISIS. This organisation rejects
ISIS’s Khilafah perspective and chooses Khilafah Rasyidah that related to the prophet teachings.
Kumar Ramakrishna, "The Growth of ISIS Extremism in Southeast Asia: Its Ideological and Cognitive Features—and Possible Policy Responses." New England Journal of Public Policy 29. 1 (2017): 6.
23 Anne Barker, "Bali Bombings 'Ideological Leader' Could Be Granted House Arrest". ABC News,
2018, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-03/bali-bombings-leader-bashir-could-be-granted-house-arrest/9505806. Accessed 13 Aug 2018.
24UU No.12 Tahun 2003 is the final arrangement of the constitutions for Bali Bombing tragedy. The
previous constitution was PerpuNo. 2 Tahun 2002 and also Perpu No. 1 Tahun 2002 issued by the Indonesian president Megawati Soekarnoputri.
25 Agung Sasongko, “Menag: Pisahkan Istilah Radikalisme dari Extrimisme” [Minister of Religion:
also government regulations are not really responsive to handle the social injustice
faced by them. Religious understanding also becomes another element causing
extremism arise. Shallow and incomplete understanding of religion becomes the
justification of extremism acts, i.e., bombing. The reason why people become
extrimists sometimes comes from the social factors, Such people do not receive a
good feedback from government whose role is to give peace and prosperity to the
people. The result of the extrimists’ disappointment can be seen from their efforts
to destroy Indonesia and create a new country based on their religious teachings
which they think will give them prosperity.
Environmental destruction and social issues including extremism become a
global problem for all countries around the world, from developed countries to
mostly developing countries such as Indonesia. The effects of those problems have
been widespread in the mass media, hence the evidence that the solution of the
problems is still limited in Indonesia.
Solutions to those problems above are not only the responsibility of the
government as a driver of state policy, but citizens as stake holders who have to
contribute for it, especially young generation. Young generation is a generation
with dynamic and optimistic characters but has no stable emotional control.
Nowadays, the young generation faces a period of social and cultural change; and
college students are listed as examples.26
26 Asni Ovier, "Generasi Milenial Harus Siap Menghadapi Perubahan". Beritasatu.Com, 2018,
College students always become the part of a nation's journey. The wheel
from the history of democracy always puts students as pioneers, activists, even as
decision makers. Critical, democratic and constructive thinking are always born
from the mindset of college students. Student voices often represent and elevate the
social reality that occurs in the society. The idealism attitude encourages college
students to fight for an aspiration to the authorities in their own way. In this case,
college students carry three strategic functions, namely as agents of social control,
as agents of change, and as the next generation of iron stock.
To express the dismay from the researcher that caused by such issues like
environmental destruction, social issues, and extremism, literary works like novels,
poems, and musics can function as a medium to convey the message to college
students. College students are used as the medium to spread the message of the issue
above because they can be functioned as as agents of social control, as agents of
change, and as the next generation of iron stock to the next decades. The concern
of the researcher to those issues is also from the concern of Sanata Dharma
University where the researcher concluded the study as shown in the university’s
research roadmap. In Rencana Induk Penelitian Sanata Dharma University,27
several points related to this study include Kerusakan Lingkungan Hidup
[Environmental Destruction], Pelestarian Alam [Nature Conservation], Kemiskinan
Sebagai Tantangan Gereja dan Masyarakat [Poverty as the Challenges of the
Church and Society], Radikalisme Agama [Religious Radicalism], and Sumbangan
27Sanata Dharma University’s Research Roadmap is the main plan of research management that
Kajian Bahasa, Sastra dan Budaya Pada Peningkatan Kesejahteraan, Toleransi, dan
Pelestarian Lingkungan [ Contribution of Language, Literature and Culture Studies
in Improving Welfare, Tolerance and Environmental Conservation]. The researcher
believes that college students are one of many solutions in fighting those issues that
are related to the university’s concern.
One of the media that has the ability to campaign on combating those issues
is music. The ideas related to this issue can be found in both lines such as the
popular music industries and also independent or indie music industries. The indie
music industry is the industry that goes against all norms and traditions in popular
music industry. Navicula is one of the group bands that moves on the independent
music track and pays attention to those three issues mentioned above.
Navicula’s group band’s members include Gede Robi Supriyanto (vocal,
guitar), Dadang S. Pranoto (guitar), Made Indria Dwi Putra (bass), and A. A.
Ngurah Rai Widya Adnyana aka Gembul (drum).28 Navicula has released several
albums such as Self Portrait (1999), K.U.T.A. Keep Unity Through Art (2002),
Navicore Neo Rock Club (2003), Alkemis (2005), Beautiful Rebel (2007), Salto
(2009), compilation album entitled Kami No Mori (2012), Love Bomb (2013),
Tatap Muka (2015), and the latest album Earthship (2018). Navicula has joined a
big major label Sony-BMG in 2007 and launched an album called Alkemis, but on
the next albums Navicula has decided to get back on the indie track. The name of
the band, Navicula, is inspired by a type of single celled golden algae which looks
28 Made Indra has been passed away due to the car crash in Sukawati, Gianyar, Bali after performing
in Ubud. Made’s position changed by the additional player. The position of AA Ngurah Rai Widya
like a small ship. Navicula chooses grunge rock as their genre of music, whereas
Navicula’s lyric is often inspired by the members’ involvement as the activists. The
song lyrics mostly contain messages such as peace, environmental awareness,
social injustice, extremism, love, and also freedom. Formed in 1996, Navicula is
also known as the “green grunge gentlemen” for their consistency in voicing the
environmental issues through grunge music. Navicula’s music is strongly
influenced by the alternative 90’s rock, especially grunge rock/Seattle sound.29
There are many bands who became the influence for Navicula such as Soundgarden,
Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Nirvana. But what makes Navicula different from
the other bands is their unique combination of musicians-activists and creativity
with which the band composes songs to represent their concerns for grave problems
in Indonesia.
In this thesis, the researcher will analyze how Navicula song lyrics criticize,
challenge, and respond to the issues concerning environmental destruction, social
injustice, and also extremism in Indonesia. Navicula and the three problems above
are chosen by the researcher because none of the students in the university have
made Navicula or grunge music to be the topic of their research. Through this thesis,
the researcher hopes that Sanata Dharma University’s students will be motivated to
conduct research on literary works especially on non-mainstream music as their
material to analyze some problems around them which also become a concern of
Sanata Dharma University as listed in the university research roadmap. In a wider
29 Tomi Wibisono and Triantoro Soni, "Navicula: 17 Years of Green Grunge!" Warning Magazine,
scope, the researcher hopes that the society especially the young generation will be
more sensitive and critical to the problems around them because songs become one
of many mediums that is familiar to juvenile. Navicula is also chosen as the data in
this study in order to open the perspective of the wider community that Navicula,
grunge or underground music cannot be underestimated anymore. Those genres of
music do not only offer loud music without benefits, they also care about problems
in their own way of music. The object of this thesis is the selected 21 song lyrics
from Navicula that related to three topics in this study. The selected song lyrics is
chosen as the data of this thesis due to the relation of the three main issues above.
B. Research Questions
This study examines the representation of each song from Navicula related
with the main three issues aformentioned in Indonesia. This study aims at exploring
the depiction of environmental destruction, social injustice, and extremism in
Navicula songs. It also attempts to provide the reason why Navicula deals with
those issues. This thesis formulates the questions as follows.
1. In what way do Navicula song lyrics challenge unresolved
environmental destruction in Indonesia?
2. How do Navicula song lyrics criticize social injustice in Indonesia?
3. How do the song lyrics from Navicula respond to the danger of
extremism in Indonesia?
C. Benefit of the Study
This thesis aims to have benefit for researcher who want to study the main
Indonesia. This thesis can also be useful for interested students in analysing song
15
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
The arrival of Indonesia in the music industry cannot be separated from the
era as well as social and political issues as its background since the late 20th century
until now. Indonesian music scene can be organized from keroncong to a variety of
genres nowadays i.e. indie, rock, pop, jazz, dangdut, blues, electronic dance, and
underground.
Discussing a variety of underground genres as one of many sources in this
study, Indonesia music industy cannot be separated to various influences on
underground music. Grunge is one of many influences on Indonesian music scene,
a fusion genre of music among punk rock and heavy metal which is initially
unknown and only consumed by local communities in the Northwest of the United
States, Seattle. Grunge itself means shabby, dirty, but then becomes something
"worshiped" globally until now. Grunge in the music field can be categorized into
a sub-genre of alternative rock through its heavy guitar distortion and melancholic
lyrics. There are several bands that emerged in Grunge music scene and they
become popular like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains which
is known as The Big Four of Grunge.30 Grunge music enters Indonesian music scene
30 There are some opinions about Grunge bands in that they do not want to be labelled as Grunge
bands due to the meaning of Grunge itself that is worse, garbage or dirt. Grunge is known as a bad lifestyle on a certain group in Seattle. This group is known as orphans who eat by scavenging trash and earning money by surrounding people who give coins to them. However, none of these grunge musicians have such a lifestyle. Their styles may be randomly messed up but their music is far from their style. Eddie Vedder, "Grunge (Early to Mid-1990s)." Street Style in America: An Exploration
in 1990’s through the popularity of Nirvana’s “Smell Like Teen Spirit.” However,
the development of Grunge music in Indonesia not as much as in the 1990s, this
music develops their music scene through band’s community and fans that spread
all around Indonesia.
The theme of Indonesian music scene is also different from era to era
according to the situation and condition of each respective time. In the late 1990-s,
there are several bands criticizing the New Order era as a result of Soeharto’s
draconian leadership. They include D’Lloyd, God Bless, OM Pancaran Sinar
Petromaks31, Elpamas, and also Slank. The theme nowadays changes into various
issues such as social injustice as the effect of Munir’s issue, environmental as the
result of deforestation, ozon depletion, and the other environmental destruction, and
also extremism and radicalism as the effect of Bali bombing tragedy. There are
many group bands that really concern those issues and most of them come from the
underground scene such as Superman Is Dead, Bangkutaman, Marjinal, Dead
Squad, Seringai, Superglad, Auman, Navicula, Efek Rumah Kaca, and etc.
The study about environment, social injustice, and extremism issues has
emerged in order to support the environment from the danger of extinction. There
are many social movements which create campaign about those issues stated above.
A study on environmental issue in Bali32 begins with the assumptions that many
31 Raditya Putra, "Kritik Sosial dalam Lagu Orkes Moral Pancaran Sinar Petromaks Tahun
1978-1982” [Social Criticism in the Songs of Orkes Moral Pancaran Sinar Petromaks in 1978-1982]. Avatara 3. 3 (2015).
32 Putu Kartika Cahyani, Ikma Citra Ranteallo, and Imron Hadi Tamim, "Band Indie: Bentuk
indie bands in Denpasar can affect the community in Bali to raise their awareness
to protect and maintain their environment indirectly. This study uses close reading
and content analysis to examine the song lyrics to see how they 1) challenge
unresolved environmental destruction in Indonesia, 2) criticize social injustice in
Indonesia, 3) respond to the danger of extremism in Indonesia. The bands can create
critical evaluation on the environmental movement, the use of the song become an
important part in this section, bands can affect and influence the audiences through
their songs. Songs become the effective way to spread the message to the
audiences.33 The audiences from Dialog Dini Hari, Nosstress, and Navicula are
mostly the young generation who is capable to make the message about the
environmental issues spread easily to others. The bands really concern about the
environmental issues and the fact about the environmental destruction and through
the song they can spread the message about the environmental issues.
Songs can be interpreted not only as a way to express feeling or create
campaign about issues nowadays, but also as a medium to voice many issues
regarding to environmental destruction, social injustice, and also extremism.
Environmental issue is used by several indie bands such as Superman is Dead,
Dialog Dini Hari, Slank, Shaggydog, Nosstrees, Navicula, Efek Rumah Kaca,
Endah and Rhesa, Naif, /rif, Semenjana, Kapital, Hutan Tropis, Musikimia and etc.
33 Sidney G Tarrow, Power in movement: Social movements and contentious politics. (Cambridge
In the scope of social injustice and extremism, there are many bands and
musicians who use songs to voice human concerns which cannot be voiced through
common people or especially marginalized people, for example, Efek Rumah Kaca,
Superglad, Slank, Bangkutaman, Sisir Tanah, Navicula, Seringai, and Marjinal. The
last name of the list becomes one of the bands who voices many problems from
political issue until social injustice i.e. the issue about Marsinah, the woman who
died to fight for the labor’s right.34 Marsinah’s name becomes a song by Marjinal
that represents the injustice issue. It is also the name Marsinah that had inspired the
band to change its name from ANTI-MILITARY become Marjinal.35 Studies about
the song “Marsinah” have been documented arguing that the song criticizes the way
Marsinah is being marginalized as a labor.36 The way Marjinal raises Marsinah’s
case through song is an example of how a song can become medium to voice the
social injustice.
Like Marjinal, other Indie bands also take up social criticisms as theme for
their songs, for example the local band called Bangkutaman.37 The representation
of environmental destruction can be seen through their song entitled “Ode Buat
34 Marsinah is one of the leaders for labors who demonstrate to PT. Catur Putra Surya to get a raising
salary from IDR 1.750 to IDR 2.250/day. Marsinah got the salary increase but she was discovered dead in the morning after three days lost with many wounds of tortures. The case was left unresolved due to the involvement of military department.
35 The name Marjinal was coined after Marsinah’s issue . Beforehand, this band’s name was
ANTI-ABRI and ANTI-MILITARY because this department is the primary example of the practicioner of violence in the New Order era.
36 Achmad Budiman Sudarsono and Andi Murniadi, “Penggambaran Kritik Sosial pada Lirik Lagu
Marsinah dan Buruh Migran pada Grup Band Marjinal” [Depiction of Social Criticism on the Lyrics of Marsinah Songs and Migrant Workers through Marjinal Group Band]
https://isip.usni.ac.id/jurnal/Achmad%20Budiman%20new. 2017. Accessed 5 Oktober 2017
37 Bangkutaman is an indiepop band from Yogyakarta founded in 1999 after the moment of
Kota.” Bangkutaman potrays the situation of a certain city when the color of the
river is getting dark, the roads are getting narrowed, and under the bridge the kids
sing along.38 The song is composed in a simple arrangement, however the meaning
is deeper than the word presented in the lyric. “The dark colored river” symbolizes
the behavior of people who throw everything to the river including waste which
make the river polluted because of the waste. “The roads are getting narrowed” in
the lyric symbolize the development of the city where there are many apartments
and hotels invited other people to make the road are getting narrowed by the
building itself. The meaning of the lyric “under the bridge the kids sing” is the
picture of poverty makes homeless kid live under the bridge in the capital city. The
song shows the condition faced by Indonesia, the song is adressed to a certain city
or town, however the situation actually faced by Indonesia. Bangkutaman used this
song as a medium to criticize the condition in their show. The way this band delivers
the music is also different from others band like underground music who deliver
the message with scolding and cursing, they deliver the song in a satirical way to
those problems to differentiate between underground music and indie music.
The development of songs as a social criticism cannot be separated from
Efek Rumah Kaca, an indie rock band from Jakarta. This band takes social issue
and environmental issue as their theme on their album. “Di Udara”is one of their
famous song from first album that discusses the death of Munir, a human right
activist. “Hijau” is one of the songs from their latest album titled Sinestesia, it
38 Doan Mitasari, “Menonton Bangkutaman: Subkultur Musik Indie Yogyakarta” [Watching
contains two symbols, Hijau: Keracunan omong kosong and Hijau: Cara
pengolahan sampah. Those two songs can be interpreted into the way people are
poisoned by waste and the way waste are processed. However, the meaning is
actually different, the first song has meaning of how television has lied to people
about the political situation and also poisoned people with political interest, while
the second song has meaning of the political parties have given the false hope and
also deceived people with their false information.39 The representation of the
symbols of their songs show how indie music potrays the situation in their
environment. The songs can be presented as a medium to criticize the unfinished
case or situation in Indonesia. The audiences of those bands above are mostly young
generations who do not really want to read the history and news. Songs can be a
medium for them to read and understand the history and issues about environmental
destruction and also social injustice. The development on social criticism through
songs can be one of the way to educate and inform young generations to become
aware about the situations of their environment.
Navicula becomes the medium for people to voice the three issues,
environmental destruction, social injustice, and extremism. Studies on Navicula
have been done by several writers, for example a study on social issues in the songs
by Moore. Moore states that criticizing social injustice is risky business as proven
through some socio-political situations in Indonesia.40
39Rd. G. R. Kusuma, Sri Dewi Setiawati, and Baruna Tyaswara, “Semiotika Lagu Hijau di Album
Sinestesia Efek Rumah Kaca” [Semiotics on the song “Hijau” in Efek Rumah Kaca’s Synesthesia Album]. Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi (J-IKA) 2. 2 (2015).
40 Rebekah Moore, "“Politrick (s)” and “Medical Mafia”: Rock and Social Justice in
Navicula potrays the representation of poverty in their music video through
people who work in the informal sectors such as “Metropolutan” and “Terus
Berjuang [Keep Struggle].” The representation of people who work in informal
sectors can potray the economical condition in certain area. The development of the
city can invite the investors and increase the development of formal sectors.
However the informal sectors must face the reality, they become marginalized and
defeated. The result of the condition is that people who work in informal sectors
will live under a line of poverty. The role of government does not help people who
live under a line of poverty, in the name of city development, they have to violate
people and civilize people as the legacy of the colonial policy.
From all studies, the discussion on environmental destruction, social
injustice and extremism through song lyrics have not covered all those cases in
Indonesia. In this thesis, song lyrics have function not only to entertain people, but
it is also used as medium to criticize environmental destruction, social injustice and
extremism in Indonesia. The previous studies of Navicula discuss the song only
from each study like environmental issues, social issues only. The analyses from
the previous studies only discuss each study on the context of the song and do not
can be potrayed in the novel Bumi Manusia from Pramoedya Ananta Toer and punk concert in Aceh. In the social justice movement against the social injustice, there is no limitation to become an activist as seen from the musicians and bands who become the activists to protest and fight for something right and for justice, for example Metallica band with their song entitled “And Justice for All.”
combine or validate the study to the reality. This thesis is considered as a new study
because this thesis combines all issues raised by Navicula into a complex and
comprehensive study.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Ecocriticism
Literature has been discovered as an anthropocentric study that focuses on
human beings’ benefits. The result of the fact can be seen from the values and
morals become the foundation of human beings’ daily activities in the society. The
study of ecocriticism has been emerged as a response to the need to study
environment and to discover the values in literary work to raise awareness to care
for all living creatures in this universe.
Ecocriticism does not only study and discover about the human’s
exploitation on nature but also speak for human minorities.41 Ecocriticism is a
modern literary criticism that scrunitizes issues in literature study and environment.
According to Cheryll Glotfelty, ecocriticism is the study about two relations
between literature and the physical environment.42 This theory becomes the
foundation of all ecocriticism theories which become the introduction of the study.
Ecocriticism has been described by Garrard as a study to help decide, explore, and
answer the ecology issue in a wide understanding.43 It can be seen that the use of
41 Michael Bennett, "From wide open spaces to metropolitan places: the urban challenge to
ecocriticism." Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment (2001): 31-52.
42 Cheryll Glotfelty and H. Froom (eds.), “Ecocriticism is the study about two relations” inThe Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. (London: University of Goergia Press, 1996), p. xix.
43 Greg Garrard, “A study to help decide, explore, and answer the ecology issue in a wide
ecocriticism theory becomes the medium for the researcher to explore the issues
about ecology through the study of literature especially song analysis. Literature
can be seen also as a medium to present attitude, perspective, and also response to
show ideas about environment and issues around it.
Lawrence Buell's The Environmental Imagination. Thoreau, Nature Writing,
and the Formation of American Culture explores some criterias about literary work
that can be categorized as a ecocritical literature i.e., the non-human environment
comes not only as a frame but also a presence. It shows that human history is
implied with nature history; human interests are not understood as a legitimate
interest; and also some environmental understandings is known as a process and it
does not belong to a fixed understanding.44 The criteria on the ecocritical literature
from Buell complement the foundation of ecocritical literature as seen in the
Garrard’s criteria of ecocriticism from pastoral genre. The other criteria can be seen
from the characteristics of an ecocritical literature that contains pastoral genre with
apocalyptic narration.45
The presence of pastoral genre in ecocriticism becomes important due to the
relevance of the reality as seen in some points of pastoral literature in ecocriticism.
There are several points related to pastoral literature in ecocriticism i.e. ecocentric,
norm and etiquette in tune with nature, the ideal and comfort place, and also the
idea about the unity between human and the environment in physical and
44 Lawrence Buell, The Environmental Imagination. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1995),
p. 8
45 Garrard sets up three categories of pastoral i.e., the elegy looks back to a vanished past with a
metaphysical. Those points from the pastoral literature in ecocriticism supports the
reality that the human in their life will need the environment to fulfil their needs
and also unite with the environment both physical and metaphysical is a destiny as
written on the pastoral literature towards ecocriticism.
Serpil Oppermann’s The Future of Ecocriticism: New Horizons defines the
three waves of ecocriticism.46 The first wave happened when ecocriticism deals
with the interaction between energy, matter and ideas or known as the nature
writing. The second wave of ecocriticism is related with its revolution, Scott slovic
adds supporting information that the second wave turns its attention to wider genres
of literature such as environmental justice and urban ecology.47 It can be seen that
ecocriticism in second wave is associated with the engagement in cultural studies.
Joni Adamson and Slovic supports the revolution of ecocriticism by claiming that
the engagement today related to all facets of human experience from various
environmental viewpoints.48 The third wave of ecocriticism starts from layering the
ecocritical trends and visualize multiple layers from the sea of ecocritical ideas.49
Oppermann states that ecocriticism has evolved into transdisciplinary field and
refers to a complex set of ideas nowadays, explain as follows:
Today ecocriticism refers to a complex set of ideas derived from cultural and literary studies, science and animal studies, ecophilosophy, environmental ethics and history, environmental justice movement, ecofeminism, animal studies, sociology and
46 Serpil Oppermann, Ufuk Özdağ, and Nevin Özkan, eds, The Future of Ecocriticism: New Horizons. (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011), pp. 10-14.
47 Scott Slovic, "The Third Wave of Ecocriticism: North American Reflections on the Current Phase
of the Discipline." (2010): 5-7.
48 Serpil Oppermann, "Feminist Ecocriticism: A Posthumanist Direction in Ecocritical Trajectory." International perspectives in feminist ecocriticism. Routledge (2013): 37-54.
psychology, and globalism studies among other academic domains.50
The statement above shows that the evolution of ecocriticism has led to
various fields. The evolution makes ecocriticism can be combined with other fields
like social justice and cultural issues on the next part. Oppermann also defines
ecocriticism as a study which focus on various fields and cultural issues as the
engagement of ecocriticism to various studies, explain as follows:
The deepening of engagement of ecocriticism, for example, with such cultural issues as race, gender, ethnivity, and identity, and with social issues, such as global systems of hegemonic power, operations of imperalist systems of political, economic and cultural domination, oppression of nonhuman animals, and of marginalized sexualities and genders, globalization of social injustice, and its more recent engagements with environmental justice movement, and queer theory […]51
It must be noted that ecocriticism becomes a study which focuses on several
cultural issues including social injustice as a transdisciplinary study. The evolution
of ecocriticism can be used to reveal various issues in another study like social
justice that will be discussed in the next point.
2. Social Injustice
The concept of social justice has emerged in many studies across many
disciplines such as education, psychology and philosophy as an interdisiplinary
study. John Rawls defines social justice as the most fundamental layer of society
50 Serpil Oppermann, et al., “Today ecocriticism” in The Future of Ecocriticism: New Horizons, p.
16
that leads to the fundamental rights and duties, it determines the division of
advantages from social cooperation.52
Social justice has been formulated by Minton as having three stages, i.e.
outcome, procedure, and system.53 Social justice actually does not only depend to
the amount of the outcome, but also depends to the treatment and also the system
behind it, it means that the three stages are related each other to gain the social
justice. The types of social injustice can be categorized into stereotype,
marginalization, and subordination which can lead to domination to a group that
does not have power. One example that can summarize the types of social injustice
above can be seen from the case of Marsinah, she is a female labour and died in
fighting for the labour’s rights. The first reason is the combination between
stereotype and subordination when Marsinah worked as female labour and also
activist, people stereotype that labour cannot fight for their rights on that era and
the gender of the labour usually male. The second reason is marginalization,
Marsinah is being marginalized by some people from the factory, the action of
marginalization can be seen from the assassination of Marsinah as the effort to
marginalize and silence the demonstration from the labour.
A group that does not have power usually ends with domination and being
marginalized with a primacy group as the effect of the power. The example of
domination and marginalization usually happen among the majority population and
the minority population in certain place or country. Social justice itself can be
52John Rawls, A Theory Of Justice. (Massachusetts: Harvard university press, 2009), p. 6.
categorized into distributive justice, commutative justice, and also procedural
justice.54 Distributive justice will be used as the theory on the next chapter about
social injustice.
Distributive justice according to Rawls has a function to become the
foundation for several fields such as the societal system, political interest, law, and
also social institution. However Rawls focuses on the primary justice which is the
society system.55 There are two main principles to reveal the concept of distributive
justice, namely, the equal liberty principle and also the difference principle. The
equal liberty principle deals with several liberties i.e., liberty to participate in
political interest, liberty to speak, liberty to choose the religious interest and etc.56
This principle becomes important in this study in order to reveal the problem of
social injustice. The difference principle can be categorized into the difference
principle and also the equal opportunity principle. The first principle discuss about
the social and economical differences must be controlled to give an advantage to
the most disadvantaged people. The second principle focuses on the social injustice
that can arrange the bridge between the advantaged and disadvantaged people. It
can be understood that the use of some principles in distributive justice are needed
to reveal the problem of social injustice such as marginalization between the
majority and minority population, stereotype on the people’s perspective towards
54 David Matzko McCarty, Vicki Schieber, and Trudy D. Conway, eds, Redemption and restoration: A Catholic perspective on restorative justice. (Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2017), pp. 21-40.
55 Joseph P. De Marcu, “Rawls and Marx” Theory of Social Justice. (Ohio: Ohio University, 1980),
pp. 359 – 430.
56 John Rawls, A Theory Of Justice. 1st ed., (Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard
