- by Graham Holton
- The Guardian
- Issue #2188
The Indonesian province of West Papua, the western half of New Guinea, is a classic example of Marxist dependency theory, in which the region occupies a peripheral position in global capitalism. The raw materials extracted from the periphery (West Papua) create the profits accumulated at the core (US, Europe, and global financial centres) leaving the region underdeveloped. Capitalist extraction depends on state power. In West Papua the Indonesian state grants mining concessions, the military forces protect infrastructure, and dissent is often suppressed. The state acts as “the executive committee of the ruling class” ensuring resource flows continue to developed countries.
Marxist ecological theory maintains that capitalism disrupts the natural relationship between society and the environment. Environmental damage in West Papua is illustrated by the rivers absorbing mining tailings, rainforests are cleared for plantations, and ecosystems are degraded without corporations paying the full ecological costs.
Global capitalism demands minerals for industry and technology. Major resource extraction in West Papua, is driven by international and state-owned enterprises carrying out oil and gas production, and the extraction of copper, gold, nickel, timber, and palm oil. These operations, heavily protected by Indonesian security forces, have resulted in deforestation, environmental damage, and the displacement of indigenous communities. West Papua’s copper and nickel are needed for electronics, renewable energy infrastructure, and military technology.
The Grasberg Mine, run by Freeport McMoRan (USA), it is one of the largest copper and gold mines on earth. The mine has caused massive environmental degradation and caused serious social conflict. BP operates the Tangguh Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility in Bintuni Bay. Eni Oil (Italy) and Genting Oil (Malaysia) are involved in oil and gas production. PT Vale Indonesia (Brazil/Indonesia) are involved in nickel mining. Other actors include the German company Ferrostaal. PT Anugerah Sakti Internusa is a subsidiary of the Indonusa Agromulia Group, which owns major palm oil concessions in South Sorong.
The social cost of this resource extraction has impacted local communities, society and the environment. The true social cost of this plunder includes deep and lasting harm to Indigenous societies, cultures and wellbeing, at a scale that far outweighs the financial revenues generated by extraction. Indigenous communities are being forced off ancestral territories to make way for mining, plantations and infrastructure, breaking social cohesion and undermining traditional lifestyles. Loss of forests and hunting and fishing grounds leads to food insecurity as traditional sources of food and medicine are destroyed. Large areas of customary land have been leased to corporations, with limited compensation or involvement of local peoples in the decision-making.
Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) consistently highlight a pattern in which corporate and state-led resource extraction in West Papua is linked to severe environmental degradation, including deforestation and ecosystem disruption. NGO, civil-society and advocacy groups have documented the social, environmental and human cost of resource extraction and land grabbing in West Papua. Their reports highlight concerns about Indigenous rights, environmental destruction, and corporate and government practices.
West Papuans refute the 1969 ‘Act of Free Choice’ that proclaimed West Papua as Indonesian territory. Since the Indonesian takeover as many as 500,000 West Papuans have been killed. West Papuan resistance movements are anti-colonial and anti-capitalist struggles over control of natural resources. Indigenous environmental systems can represent an alternative to capitalist exploitation of natural resources.
