Economic Justice In The Extractive Age: Can Religious Ethics Redefine Mining Practice?

Abstract

This research explores the evolving meaning of economic justice within Indonesia’s extractive governance, focusing on the 2023–2025 policy that allows koperasi, small enterprises (UKM), and religious organizations (ormas keagamaan) to manage mining operations. While the policy is framed as a moral and redistributive intervention, this study examines whether it advances structural justice or merely rearticulates extractivism through moral discourse. The theoretical framework integrates Rawlsian distributive justice, Amartya Sen’s capability approach, and Islamic economic ethics, linking them to political ecology and eco-theological perspectives on sustainability and stewardship. These frameworks position economic justice not only as equitable distribution but as moral accountability to both human and ecological communities. Methodologically, the study applies critical analysis combining policy hermeneutics and discourse analysis. Primary data include government regulations, official statements from major religious organizations, and national media coverage. The analysis identifies how religious narratives of stewardship, welfare (maslahah), and creation care are mobilized to legitimize or challenge extractive development. Findings reveal that current religious participation in mining tends to moralize rather than transform extractive structures. However, when interpreted through the ethics of sufficiency and stewardship, religion provides a conceptual basis for redefining economic justice toward post-extractive governance, emphasizing ecological balance, social equity, and intergenerational responsibility. The study concludes that genuine economic justice requires shifting from redistributive inclusion to transformative moral economies grounded in sustainability and human dignity.