Jakarta Under Water: The 2007 Flood and The Debate On Jakarta’s Future Water Infrastructure

This paper examines the debate in the wake of the 2007 flood in Jakarta, the biggest one to occur in the city’s history. By analyzing textual sources both online and in the archives as well as interviews with several actors in the debate, I demonstrate that a new sociopolitical condition in Indonesi...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Anto Mohsin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Diponegoro University 2015-04-01
Series:Jurnal Wilayah dan Lingkungan
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ejournal2.undip.ac.id/index.php/jwl/article/view/168
_version_ 1828963923373588480
author Anto Mohsin
author_facet Anto Mohsin
author_sort Anto Mohsin
collection DOAJ
description This paper examines the debate in the wake of the 2007 flood in Jakarta, the biggest one to occur in the city’s history. By analyzing textual sources both online and in the archives as well as interviews with several actors in the debate, I demonstrate that a new sociopolitical condition in Indonesia facilitated a vibrant discourse in the wake of a so-called “natural disaster.” In a democratizing society such as Indonesia, state actors no longer monopolized the social production of a “risk object” or a source of danger or harm. I show that the Indonesian public, who participated in the debate, shaped “networks of risk objects” either by “emplacing” a risk object (i.e. defining an entity as an object and linking it to a potential harm) or by “displacing” it (i.e. challenging the existence of a risky object or delinking it from a putative danger) (Hilgartner 1992). These non-state actors managed to insert themselves into a sphere once dominated by the technocrats, in large part because the press was no longer controlled by the state. In doing so they exposed the messiness and vulnerability of the city’s water management system. The “risk objects” they identified run the whole gamut of entities that make up the entire Jakarta’s water management sociotechnical system, which includes water technologies, laws, practices, institutions, conditions, policies, and the environment.
first_indexed 2024-12-14T10:38:36Z
format Article
id doaj.art-725a7e9c94e845c8aea45eeb0d8246dc
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2338-1604
2407-8751
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-14T10:38:36Z
publishDate 2015-04-01
publisher Diponegoro University
record_format Article
series Jurnal Wilayah dan Lingkungan
spelling doaj.art-725a7e9c94e845c8aea45eeb0d8246dc2022-12-21T23:05:47ZengDiponegoro UniversityJurnal Wilayah dan Lingkungan2338-16042407-87512015-04-0131395810.14710/jwl.3.1.39-58108Jakarta Under Water: The 2007 Flood and The Debate On Jakarta’s Future Water InfrastructureAnto Mohsin0Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY, USAThis paper examines the debate in the wake of the 2007 flood in Jakarta, the biggest one to occur in the city’s history. By analyzing textual sources both online and in the archives as well as interviews with several actors in the debate, I demonstrate that a new sociopolitical condition in Indonesia facilitated a vibrant discourse in the wake of a so-called “natural disaster.” In a democratizing society such as Indonesia, state actors no longer monopolized the social production of a “risk object” or a source of danger or harm. I show that the Indonesian public, who participated in the debate, shaped “networks of risk objects” either by “emplacing” a risk object (i.e. defining an entity as an object and linking it to a potential harm) or by “displacing” it (i.e. challenging the existence of a risky object or delinking it from a putative danger) (Hilgartner 1992). These non-state actors managed to insert themselves into a sphere once dominated by the technocrats, in large part because the press was no longer controlled by the state. In doing so they exposed the messiness and vulnerability of the city’s water management system. The “risk objects” they identified run the whole gamut of entities that make up the entire Jakarta’s water management sociotechnical system, which includes water technologies, laws, practices, institutions, conditions, policies, and the environment.http://ejournal2.undip.ac.id/index.php/jwl/article/view/168the 2007 Jakarta floodreformationrisk objectssociotechnical systemJakarta’s water management
spellingShingle Anto Mohsin
Jakarta Under Water: The 2007 Flood and The Debate On Jakarta’s Future Water Infrastructure
Jurnal Wilayah dan Lingkungan
the 2007 Jakarta flood
reformation
risk objects
sociotechnical system
Jakarta’s water management
title Jakarta Under Water: The 2007 Flood and The Debate On Jakarta’s Future Water Infrastructure
title_full Jakarta Under Water: The 2007 Flood and The Debate On Jakarta’s Future Water Infrastructure
title_fullStr Jakarta Under Water: The 2007 Flood and The Debate On Jakarta’s Future Water Infrastructure
title_full_unstemmed Jakarta Under Water: The 2007 Flood and The Debate On Jakarta’s Future Water Infrastructure
title_short Jakarta Under Water: The 2007 Flood and The Debate On Jakarta’s Future Water Infrastructure
title_sort jakarta under water the 2007 flood and the debate on jakarta s future water infrastructure
topic the 2007 Jakarta flood
reformation
risk objects
sociotechnical system
Jakarta’s water management
url http://ejournal2.undip.ac.id/index.php/jwl/article/view/168
work_keys_str_mv AT antomohsin jakartaunderwaterthe2007floodandthedebateonjakartasfuturewaterinfrastructure