4 - The River Brantas in Surabaya: Understanding the Riverine Hydrosocial Dynamics of an Indonesian Industrial City

This paper is based on my PhD research fieldwork I am working in from October 2023 until October 2024. My project actually aims to understand the riverine hydrosocial dynamics in the densely populated Indonesian industrial city of Surabaya. Central to this project is the discussion of how unequal power influences the daily riverine experience of several stakeholders of the river, which is shaped by the urban environmental process, the municipal ambitions of a global vision for the city, the growing NGO concerns about the environment and economic inequality. The main question of this project is “how do various interest groups from the state, corporations, NGOs and citizens make sometimes conflicting uses of the River Brantas in a hydrosocial network affecting the environmental quality of the river in Surabaya?”. Adopting the hydrosocial concept and an urban political ecology approach, this project will see how different sources of power determine the hydrosocial processes in the city. This research will be carried out in Surabaya, Indonesia, using ethnographic methods in five kampungs near to the river. I will use in-depth interviews to collect the data from state representatives, corporations, NGO, and citizens. In this study, I focus on the interplay between culture, power and ecology in that hydrosocial process. The research will look at how the river meaning is created and contested by actors in the urban context where the global vision of the city, the growing concern for the environment, capitalism and economic inequality clash.