Between chili farms and an aerotropolis: the struggle against the new airport in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

ABSTRACT Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA), which opened on 28 August 2020, represents one of the largest infrastructure developments in the modern history of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. While, for some, the airport project was proof of the Indonesian government’s commitment to invest in the region, to the farmers of the Temon area on which the airport now stands, it represented the threat of eviction and loss of their farmlands. Thus, in 2012, the Temon farmers formed an organization called Wahana Tri Tunggal to carry out anti-airport activities and protect their interests. The farmers were joined by activists of diverse ideological backgrounds, and together they continued to resist the development of the new airport until 2018, when they eventually decided to end the struggle. Based on interviews with farmers and activists who participated in the anti-YIA campaign, this article describes the attachment the farmers had to their land in Temon and the reason why they rejected the compensation package offered to them, the pluralistic composition of the anti-YIA struggle, as well as the recollections of the movement by its former participants.