Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

The present paper is a call to rethink the disputed mega project in Jakarta, where the central government of Indonesia held land reclamation to build seventeen artificial islands in Jakarta Bay, from Science and Technology Studies perspective. The focus is how a bay becomes a matter of care – a notion delivered by Puig de la Bellacasa (2011), and how the dispute around the issue of land reclamation reflects cosmopolitics – a notion delivered by Isabelle Strengers (2005). As a nonhuman entity, the land reclamation project plays a role as it can threat health, economy, and environment. By examining the different roles of each actors around the issue of land reclamation in Jakarta bay, we can observe the potential and possibility of cosmopolitics existence in the issue of land reclamation in Jakarta bay. We can also see how a bay in the capital city of Indonesia is perceived as a matter of care by several actors in that cosmopolitics, while other actor perceives it as a matter of fact. And as Stengers describes, there is no importance for a general agreement. What matters is the participation from all the actors, e.g. the participation from traditional fishers, environmental activists, scientists, and also the government.