Exploring the Resistance of Coastal Farmer Union (PPLP) Involved in the Context of the Sand Iron Mining Plan Conflict in Kulon Progo, Indonesia

The Government of Kulon Progo Regency and Jogja Magasa Iron, Ltd. socialized the sand iron mining plan to the coastal community in Kulon Progo, Yogyakarta in 2006. The coastal farmers refused the plan because mining would grab their agricultural land as the source of livelihood and harm the environment. The coastal farmers established Perhimpunan Petani Lahan Pantai (PPLP) to fight the mining plan. The PPLP developed social movements in the coastal areas through rallies, information campaigns, and networking with national and international NGOs. In 2014, the government postponed the mining plan, which remains unclear today. Moreover, resistance became a strategy to resist all forms of industrialization that would grab coastal land. The PPLP resistance is a reaction to extractivism developed by the state and public sector. The phenomenon reflects the fifth premise of accumulation by dispossession theory by Harvey (2003), that accumulation by dispossession encourages struggles. Therefore, this paper will describe how the Indonesian political economy sets up the extractivism process in the context of the sand iron mining plan in Kulon Progo and how the PPLP sustains its resistance.