Keywords
reclamation of Benoa Bay
the sacred area
social movement
How to Cite
Accepted 2026-06-26
Published 2026-06-30
Abstract
Reclamation is not inherently problematic and can yield positive results when well-planned, compliant with environmental standards, and mindful of social impacts. However, many reclamation projects have caused problems and sparked public protest. While most studies on reclamation plan typically examine social movements as a collective entity, this study explores the individual reasons for engagement through the lens of the actors subjective lived experiences in regard to social resistance against reclamation plan of Benoa Bay. The long movement to reject the plan (2013-2019) depicts the struggle of the Balinese people to uplift their traditional existence in the modern day. Using phenomenological qualitative approach, this study was conducted in Tanjung Benoa Traditional Village. Data collection was based on the narratives produced by series of long and frequent interviews with five main actors of the resistance, consisting of a local fisherman, two youth leaders, a traditional leader, and a hamlet head. This study indicates that the actors defend their subjective significance of the Benoa Bay in various claims and stories which significantly becomes the driving force of their personal engagement of rejection. The public contest against reclamation was related more to people’s cultural belief and social-environmental solidarity with each other than to political-economic interests. The Balinese rejection as a whole is not a single movement that is well-organised. The social resistance against the plan of reclamation, in the context of Balinese people, consists of multiple layers of the individual and existential motivations and beliefs. The Balinese beliefs not only sophisticatedly display the local religion, but also the existential struggle of the adat villagers against the onslaught of capitalism that offers modern progress. Myth and modern science are not only competing, but also intertwining. The conceptualisation of the resistance varies in terms of individual engagement.
References
Böhm, S., Dinerstein, A. C., & Spicer, A. (2010). (Im)possibilities of Autonomy: Social Movements in and beyond Capital, the State and Development. Social Movement Studies, 9(1), 17–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742830903442485, accessed on January 13, 2020.
Bräuchler, B. (2018). Diverging Ecologies on Bali. Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, 33(2), 362–296. https://doi.org/10.1355/sj33-2f , accessed on May 8, 2024.
Bräuchler, B. (2020). Bali Tolak Reklamasi: The Local Adoption of Global Protest. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 26(3), 620–638. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856518806695 , accessed on May 8, 2024.
Cabasset, C., Couteau, J., & Picard, M. (2017). La poldérisation de la baie de Benoa à Bali : vers un nouveau puputan ? Archipel, 93, 151-197. https://doi.org/10.4000/archipel.412 , accessed on May 7, 2024.
Dana, I. G. N. K. (2024). Actor Networks and Environmental Conflicts: The Case of Benoa Bay Reclamation (2014-2019). Politicos: Jurnal Politik Dan Pemerintahan, 4(2), 137–148. https://doi.org/10.22225/politicos.4.2.2024.137-148, accessed on June 12, 2026.
Dewi, S. (2015, January 2). Pertarungan Untuk Teluk Benoa. ForBali. https://www.forbali.org/id/pertarungan-untuk-teluk-benoa/,
accessed June 21, 2026.
Eroğlu, S. E., & Florek, I. (2018). Disclosure of New Social Movements After 19th Century. OPUS-International Journal of Society Researches, 8(14), 633–654. https://doi.org/10.26466/opus.411612, accessed on May 7, 2024.
Fominaya, C. F. (2010). Collective Identity in Social Movements: Central Concepts and Debates. Sociology Compass, 4(6), 393–404. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2010.00287.x , accessed on October 3, 2018.
Habermas, J. (1987). The Theory of Communicative Action: Lifeworld and System (Volume 2). Boston: Beacon Press.
Heidegger, M. (2001). Being and Time. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Husserl, E. (1970). The crisis of European sciences and transcendental phenomenology: An introduction to phenomenological philosophy. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Laverty, S. M. (2003). Hermeneutic Phenomenology and Phenomenology: A Comparison of Historical and Methodological Considerations. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2(3), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690300200303, accessed on February 24, 2018.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, M. A., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative Data Analysis (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA.: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Melucci, A. (1989). Nomads of the Present: Social Movements and Individual Needs in Contemporary Society. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Melucci, A. (1996a). Challenging Code. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Melucci, A. (1996b). Individual Experience and Global Issues in a Planetary Society. Social Science Information, 35(3), 485–509. https://doi.org/10.1177/053901896035003005, accessed on March 12, 2018.
Mongabay. (2016, February 18). Tolak Reklamasi Teluk Benoa, 14 Bendesa Adat Datangi Kantor Kepresidenan. Mongabay. https://mongabay.co.id/2016/02/18/tolak-reklamasi-teluk-benoa-14-bendesa-adat-datangi-kantor-kepresidenan/, accessed on June 21, 2026.
Priadarsini S., N. W. R., Dewi, P. R. K., & Parameswari, A. A. A. I. (2018). Gerakan Tolak Proyek Reklamasi Teluk Benoa sebagai Penguatan Identitas Kultural Masyarakat Bali. Jurnal Kajian Bali (Journal of Bali Studies), 8(2), 159. https://doi.org/10.24843/JKB.2018.v08.i02.p10
Reedy, P., King, D., & Coupland, C. (2016). Organizing for Individuation: Alternative Organizing, Politics and New Identities. Organization Studies, 37(11), 1553–1573. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840616641983, accessed on May 2, 2024.
Riyanto, A. (2018). Relasionalitas Filsafat Fondasi Interpretasi: Aku, Teks, Liyan, Fenomen. Yogyakarta: PT. Kanisius.
Schlembach, R. (2013). Moments of Excess: Movements, Protest and Everyday Life. Social Movement Studies, 12(4), 486–487. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2013.830565 , accessed on May 4, 2024.
Smith, D. W. (2013). Husserl (2nd ed.). London, Routledge.
Segara, I.N.Y. Transformation of Fishermen’s Culture Post Reclamation of PT. BTID in Serangan, Denpasar. (2019). Proceedings the 5th International Conferences on Cultural Studies, Udayana University Towards the Development of Trans-Disciplinary Research Collaboration in the Era of Global Disruption, 22-28. Denpasar: Udayana University.
Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2022). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research (2nd edition). London: SAGE.
Sudiarta, I. K., Hendrawan, I. G., Putra, K. S., & Dewantama, I. M. (2013). Kajian Modeling Dampak Perubahan Fungsi Teluk Benoa Untuk Sistem Pendukung Keputusan (Decision Support System) Dalam Jejaring KKP Bali. Denpasar: Conservation International Indonesia.
Sudiarta, I. K. (2018). Coral Restoration and Conservation in Serangan Island, Denpasar City, Bali, Indonesia: Turning Coral Miners into Conservation Advocates. In T. E. Chua, G. Chou, G. Jacinto, S. A. Ross, & D. Bonga (eds.), Local Contributions to Global Sustainable Agenda: Case Studies in Integrated Coastal Management in the East Asian Seas Region. Quezon City, Philippines: PEMSEA and CMC.
Touraine, A. (1981). The Voice and the Eye: An Analysis of Social Movements. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
van Manen, M. (1990). Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy. New York: State University of New York Press.
Wardana, A. (2017). Neoliberalisasi Kawasan Perairan Teluk Benoa: Sebuah Catatan Kritis atas Praksis Perlawanan di Bali. Wacana, 19(35), 55–90.
Wiranata, I. M. A., & Siahaan, H. (2019). Konstruksi Identitas Kolektif Warga Desa Adat dalam Gerakan Tolak Reklamasi Teluk Benoa di Bali. Journal of Bali Studies, 9(2), 407–428. https://doi.org/10.24843/jkb.2019.v09.i02.p07, accessed on May 2, 2024.
Yates, L. (2015). Everyday politics, social practices and movement networks: daily life in Barcelona’s social centres. The British Journal of Sociology, 66(2), 236–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12101 , accessed June 4, 2018.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 ETNOSIA : Jurnal Etnografi Indonesia