Abstract
When faith meets extraction, what or whose priority comes first: communities, organizations, or the environment?
In 2024, the Indonesian government issued mining concessions for religious organizations. Both PBNU and PP Muhammadiyah accepted the concessions. Regardless of claiming that they will be environmentally responsible, this move still quickly drew criticism and public debate. Using critical discourse analysis, this research explores how PBNU and PP Muhammadiyah justified their acceptance of mining concessions. It analyses how humans and nature are represented in the texts, what goals are presented, and how the decisions are legitimized. The findings reveal similarities and contrasts between the two organizations. While PBNU emphasizes wealth creation and positions NU as a business organization, PP Muhammadiyah ties mining to social work and da’wa, presenting Muhammadiyah as a development organization. Both, however, reproduce an anthropocentric stewardship view of nature, which complicates and, to some extent, weakens the “greening of religion” hypothesis.
Short Bio
F. Zahro is a recent graduate of the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS). Building on her background in linguistics, she developed a strong interest in studying religions and environmentalism through ecolinguistics and discursive studies. This thesis on religion and mining marked the starting point in her research journey!
Recording
