Communication Justice and Reactive Participation: Deconstructing Development Communication Patterns in Mandalika
Abstract
The Mandalika Special Economic Zone is a new development area for the tourism sector, facing complex challenges in the form of social transformation between technocratic and hegemonic interests, and the agency of the Sasak indigenous community amidst resistance. The purpose of this study is to examine the dynamics of communicative interactions between actors and their impact on the quality of participation. A qualitative descriptive approach was used in this study, conducting in-depth interviews with 12 key informants. The findings demonstrate how the linear communication model implemented in Mandalika has largely failed. This study demonstrates the existence of "reactive participation," a high level of citizen involvement that appears to be a form of countermeasure against information injustice and economic exclusion. The practice of "post-fact information" has been shown to trigger a crisis of social legitimacy, resulting in citizen participation being associated with unfavorable perceptions of development success. This article contributes to theory by developing the Dialectical Communication Justice Model, which urges a redistribution of communicative power. Concrete recommendations include recognizing local cultural capital, such as sangkep beleq, in more formal decision-making systems. This research suggests that solutions exist; and the transformation towards a deliberative-transformative model is an inevitable prerequisite for global investment to be responsive to local community sovereignty, thus ensuring sustainable tourism.
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