This paper explores how climate change and Javanese cosmology collide in a landslide-prone area and challenge the emotional practices of the farming community in Karanganyar, Central Java. This situation then determines the response strategies in order to mitigate the landslide risk.
Paper long abstract:
Climate change has challenged the emotional practices of the farming community, that lives in a landslide-prone area. For many generations, these emotional practices which are based on their cosmological idea have succeeded to overcome the uncertainty the people face by living in a precarious environment. However, a prolonged rainy season is an anomaly and makes their life more vulnerable. Thus, this paper will discuss the response strategy in order to mitigate the landslide risk in the midst of climate change by exploring the perception of rain and landslides, the economic aspect that emerges during the prolonged rainy season, as well as their practices to reach a state of security. This paper which is based on field research in Karanganyar, Central Java, then shows that even though the climate has changed, the community's perception of landslides remained the same. Therefore, the response strategy to mitigate the risk has also barely improved.