The Roles of Legitimacy in Environmental Conflict: An Indonesian Case Study

摘要

Legitimacy is central to conflicts between environmental nongovernment organizations(ENGOs) and natural resource extraction companies. This process rangesfrom differing interpretations of legitimacy regarding the utilization of naturalresources and its development through adapting the practices to meet society’sexpectations and norms, to its portrayal and finally being granted the stakeholders’seal of legitimacy. This article analyses an example of this conflict by exploring thelegitimacy of the positions of a pulp and paper company and ENGOs opposing itsoperating practices. The article is based on an analysis of the actions of both setsof organizations, through interviews and a review of their documents. The resultsshow differing roles that legitimacy plays in environmental conflict and how theseroles make the conflict increasingly complex, making resolution harder. This underlinesthe need for tools to facilitate resolution, including one that would provide aclearer perspective and clarify the different stakeholders’ claims of legitimacy.