OLIGARCHY AND ECOLOGICAL DISASTER: STATE CAPTURE IN INDONESIA’S NATURAL RESOURCE POLICIES

Abstract

Oligarchy and environmental degradation in Indonesia exhibit an increasingly strengthening correlation within contemporary development dynamics, particularly in the context of natural resource management. This study aims to analyze the nexus between oligarchy and environmental degradation, focusing on how power configurations influence the direction of natural resource policies. The method employed is a qualitative literature-based approach utilizing the concept of state capture to analyze the dominance of oligarchic actors in policy-making processes. The findings indicate that environmental degradation is a structural consequence of an extractive development model legitimized through state capture practices, which allow oligarchs to steer policies according to their interests. This dominance is also distributed down to the local level through elite patronage mechanisms that reinforce social exclusion and inequality. Such conditions result in the narrowing of civic space for public participation, escalating resource conflicts, and weakening environmental protection. Consequently, the ongoing ecological crisis reflects a democratic crisis within poor natural resource governance.