{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,28]],"date-time":"2026-07-28T05:00:02Z","timestamp":1785214802228,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":83,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,28]],"date-time":"2026-07-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785196800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Sociol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>This article examines how lived religion, indigenous cosmology, and gendered moral practice shape environmental governance within the Kajang indigenous community of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork with 27 participants and secondary ecological data, the study demonstrates that ecological sustainability is sustained not through formal institutional regulation but through culturally embedded systems of lived religion and collective moral obligation. Central to this system is the cosmological concept of anrongta, which positions nature as a sacred maternal entity requiring protection, restraint, and reciprocal ethical responsibility. This cosmology is operationalized through a structured forest zoning system (Borong Karama, Borong Batasayya, Borong Luarayya) reinforced by customary sanctions (ba\u2019bala) and ritual practices. The findings further reveal that women occupy central positions through the institutionalized role of Anrongta, functioning as advisor to the Ammatoa and participant in customary deliberations. Significantly, the Kajang case reveals a complex gender dynamic in which feminist goals of environmental care are enforced through masculine mechanisms, demonstrating that ecofeminism in this context transcends essentialist binaries. By integrating lived religion, ecofeminism, and indigenous cosmology, this article argues that cosmologically embedded governance constitutes a form of sacred ecology in which religion, gender, morality, and environmental sustainability are mutually embedded within ordinary social life. The study contributes to the sociology of religion by expanding understandings of lived religion beyond institutional settings and by demonstrating how indigenous religious systems may function as culturally grounded mechanisms of sustainability governance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fsoc.2026.1902355","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,28]],"date-time":"2026-07-28T04:25:31Z","timestamp":1785212731000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Lived religion and gendered environmental governance: ecofeminism and indigenous cosmology in the Kajang community, Indonesia"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Najamuddin","family":"Najamuddin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sociology - Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, Universitas Negeri Makassar","place":["Makassar, Indonesia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fadhillah Sri","family":"Meutia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Negeri Surabaya","place":["Surabaya, Indonesia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sopian","family":"Tamrin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sociology - Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, Universitas Negeri Makassar","place":["Makassar, Indonesia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abdul","family":"Rahman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sociology - Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, Universitas Negeri Makassar","place":["Makassar, Indonesia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Arisnawawi","family":"Arisnawawi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sociology - Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, Universitas Negeri Makassar","place":["Makassar, Indonesia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Adapting to Climate Change Through Sustainable Integrated Watershed Governance in Indigenous People of Ammatoa Kajang Customary Area in Bulukumba Regency, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Adaptation Fund","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780199569687.001.0001","volume-title":"Gender and Green Governance: The Political Economy of Women\u2019s Presence within and beyond Community Forestry","author":"Agarwal","year":"2010"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"8259","DOI":"10.31004\/innovative.v4i1.8783","article-title":"\u201cPasang Ri Kajang\u201d Di Era Generasi Milenial: Eksistensi dan Resistensi","volume":"4","author":"Alvira","year":"2024","journal-title":"Innov. J. Soc. Sci. Res."},{"key":"ref4","volume-title":"Studying Lived Religion: Contexts and Practices","author":"Ammerman","year":"2021"},{"key":"ref5","volume-title":"Customary forest that returned to the community\u2019s embrace","year":"2017"},{"key":"ref6","volume-title":"DPRD Sulsel menindaklanjuti aspirasi dugaan perampasan tanah adat","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref7","volume-title":"PN Bulukumba tolak gugatan sengketa lahan adat Kajang, penggugat justru dihukum","year":"2026"},{"key":"ref8","author":"Ardilla","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"12035","DOI":"10.54373\/imeij.v6i8.4671","article-title":"Perubahan Struktur Keluarga Kajang Luar Akibat Akses Pendidikan dan Teknologi Digital","volume":"6","author":"Arianti","year":"2025","journal-title":"Indo-MathEdu Intel. J."},{"key":"ref10","author":"Arifin","year":"2011"},{"key":"ref11","volume-title":"Otoritas Ammatoa Dan Kepatuhan Warganya (Studi Kasus pada Komunitas Kajang Dalam di Bulukumba)","author":"Arisnawawi","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.20473\/jsd.v21i1.2026.1-13","article-title":"Cultural resilience of the Kajang Dalam communities: customary law, rituals, and Kamase-masea values in facing change","volume":"21","author":"Arisnawawi","year":"2026","journal-title":"J. Sosiol. Dialektika"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"744","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gloenvcha.2011.01.005","article-title":"Virtue and vulnerability: discourses on women, gender and climate change","volume":"21","author":"Arora-Jonsson","year":"2011","journal-title":"Glob. Environ. Change"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100183","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rmal.2025.100183","article-title":"Embracing temporality: reflexive insights into positionality and relational dynamics in intercultural research","volume":"4","author":"Baily","year":"2025","journal-title":"Res. Methods Appl. Ling."},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4627","DOI":"10.47772\/IJRISS.2025.90400331","article-title":"Qualitative mindset behind phenomenology: implications to qualitative research training","author":"Bantugan","year":"2025","journal-title":"Int. J. Res. Innov. Soc. Sci."},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"219","DOI":"10.1177\/1468794112468475","article-title":"Now I see it, now I don\u2019t: researcher\u2019s position and reflexivity in qualitative research","volume":"15","author":"Berger","year":"2015","journal-title":"Qual. Res."},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315114644","volume-title":"Sacred Ecology","author":"Berkes","year":"2017"},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1191\/1478088706qp063oa","article-title":"Using thematic analysis in psychology","volume":"3","author":"Braun","year":"2006","journal-title":"Qual. Res. Psychol."},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4135\/9781036232078.n9","volume-title":"Thematic Analysis: A Practical guide","author":"Braun","year":"2021"},{"key":"ref20","volume-title":"Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches","author":"Creswell","year":"2016"},{"key":"ref21","volume-title":"Gugatan Ditolak, PN Bulukumba Tegaskan Status Hutan Adat Kajang. Dandapala","year":"2026"},{"key":"ref22","author":"Dandi","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315134543","volume-title":"The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods","author":"Denzin","year":"2017"},{"key":"ref24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226145006.001.0001","volume-title":"Beyond Nature and Culture","author":"Descola","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/hepl\/9780198851745.001.0001","volume-title":"The Politics of the Earth","author":"Dryzek","year":"2021"},{"key":"ref26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226206851.001.0001","volume-title":"Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes","author":"Emerson","year":"1995"},{"key":"ref27","first-page":"31","author":"Erawati","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1215\/9780822371816","volume-title":"Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence, Autonomy, and the Making of Worlds","author":"Escobar","year":"2018"},{"key":"ref29","volume-title":"The approval of the district regulation on confirmation, recognition and protection of Ammatoa Kajang Forests, Trees and Agroforestry","author":"Forests","year":"2018"},{"key":"ref30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"26","DOI":"10.1353\/ff.2011.0017","article-title":"Ecofeminism revisited: rejecting essentialism and re-placing species in a material feminist environmentalism","volume":"23","author":"Gaard","year":"2011","journal-title":"Feminist Form."},{"key":"ref31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wsif.2015.02.004","article-title":"Ecofeminism and climate change","volume":"49","author":"Gaard","year":"2015","journal-title":"Women's Stud. Int. Forum"},{"key":"ref32","volume-title":"Eco-Civic Communities: Ecological Democracy and Multilevel Governance in an Era of Planetary Interdependence","author":"Gali\u00f1anes","year":"2026"},{"key":"ref33","volume-title":"Indigenous Traditions and Ecology: The Interbeing of Cosmology and Community","author":"Grim","year":"2001"},{"key":"ref34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.2307\/jj.41003348","volume-title":"Ecology and Religion","author":"Grim","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1177\/1525822X05279903","article-title":"How many interviews are enough?","volume":"18","author":"Guest","year":"2006","journal-title":"Field Methods"},{"key":"ref36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0232076","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0232076","article-title":"A simple method to assess and report thematic saturation in qualitative research","volume":"15","author":"Guest","year":"2020","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"196","DOI":"10.15408\/mimbar.v41i2.41541","article-title":"Eco-Sufism of Kajang tribe in the tradition of \u201cPasang Rikajang\u201d indigenous community of Sulawesi, Indonesia","volume":"41","author":"Haq","year":"2024","journal-title":"Mimbar Agama Budaya"},{"key":"ref38","volume-title":"Penjatuhan Sanksi Adat Terhadap Pelaku Tindak Pidana Pencurian Di Kawasan Adat Kajang Ammatoa (Studi Kasus Di Kecamatan Kajang, Kabupaten Bulukumba) [Universitas Hasanuddin]","author":"Harsito","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"157","DOI":"10.35329\/jalif.v7i2.3761","article-title":"Konsep kosmologi masyarakat kajang dalam ber-kehidupan dan ber-arsitektur","volume":"7","author":"Hildayanti","year":"2022","journal-title":"J-Alif"},{"key":"ref40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4324\/9781003196679","volume-title":"Being Alive Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description","author":"Ingold","year":"2021"},{"key":"ref41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"283","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9795.2009.00387.x","article-title":"After Lynn White: religious ethics and environmental problems","volume":"37","author":"Jenkins","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Relig. Ethics"},{"key":"ref42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-environ-102017-025855","article-title":"Religion and climate change","volume":"43","author":"Jenkins","year":"2018","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour."},{"key":"ref43","volume-title":"How Forests Think: Toward an Anthropology beyond the Human","author":"Kohn","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1016\/0147-1767(85)90062-8","volume-title":"Naturalistic Inquiry","author":"Lincoln","year":"1985"},{"key":"ref45","first-page":"109","article-title":"The local wisdom of the Kajang community","volume":"15","author":"Lullulangia","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Innov. Creat. Chang."},{"key":"ref46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"173","DOI":"10.21580\/teo.2023.34.2.17961","article-title":"Negotiation between Patuntung and Islam in Kajang, South Sulawesi, Indonesia","volume":"34","author":"Malliongi","year":"2024","journal-title":"Jurnal Theologia"},{"key":"ref47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780195172621.001.0001","volume-title":"Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life","author":"McGuire","year":"2008"},{"key":"ref48","volume-title":"The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology, and the Scientific Revolution","author":"Merchant","year":"1983"},{"key":"ref49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"513","DOI":"10.1086\/508090","article-title":"The scientific revolution and the death of nature","volume":"97","author":"Merchant","year":"2006","journal-title":"Isis"},{"key":"ref50","volume-title":"Decree of the Minister of Environment and Forestry Number SK.6746\/MENLHK-PSKL\/KUM.1\/12\/2016 concerning the Designation of the Ammatoa Kajang Customary Forest","year":"2016"},{"key":"ref51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.29239\/j.agrikan.16.1.21-39","article-title":"Construction of women\u2019s roles in the Andingingi ritual in the Ammatoa customary area, Tana Toa Village, Kajang District, Bulukumba regency","volume":"16","author":"Nurfadillah","year":"2023","journal-title":"Agrikan J. Agribisnis Perikanan"},{"key":"ref52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1812","DOI":"10.55123\/insologi.v4i6.7112","article-title":"Keberlanjutan dari Hutan: Bagaimana Pasang Ri Kajang Mempengaruhi Regulasi Lingkungan Modern","volume":"4","author":"Nurfatimah","year":"2025","journal-title":"INSOLOGI J. Sains Dan Teknol."},{"key":"ref53","volume-title":"Kedudukan Dan Peran Penting Perempuan Sebagai Anrongta Dalam Masyarakat Adat Kajang kabupaten Bulukumba","author":"Nurjayanti","year":"2023"},{"key":"ref54","volume-title":"Ppengembangan Ekowisata Hutan Adat di Ammatoa Kajang Sulawesi Selatan","author":"Nurkhalis","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"260","DOI":"10.1177\/2050303216676529","article-title":"Every question is open: looking for paths beyond the clearing","volume":"4","author":"Orsi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Crit. Res. Relig."},{"key":"ref56","volume-title":"Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice","author":"Patton","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"12939","DOI":"10.6007\/IJARPED\/v11-i2\/12938","article-title":"The interpretivist research paradigm: a subjective notion of a social context","volume":"11","author":"Pervin","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int. J. Acad. Res. Prog. Educ. Dev."},{"key":"ref58","volume-title":"Feminism and the Mastery of Nature","author":"Plumwood","year":"1993"},{"key":"ref59","volume-title":"Siti Nurbaya reviews and holds dialogue with the Ammatoa Kajang customary law community","year":"2016"},{"key":"ref60","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1866","DOI":"10.58578\/yasin.v6i2.9506","article-title":"The strategy of the Kajang Ammatoa traditional community in maintaining the Pasang ri Kajang in the globalization era","volume":"6","author":"Puji","year":"2026","journal-title":"YASIN"},{"key":"ref61","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511814686","volume-title":"Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity","author":"Rappaport","year":"1999"},{"key":"ref62","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"346","DOI":"10.31969\/alq.v31i2.1704","article-title":"Ecotheology of the Kajang people: the encounter between ecology and theology in the indigenous Kajang community of South Sulawesi","volume":"31","author":"Ridhoh","year":"2025","journal-title":"Al-Qalam"},{"key":"ref63","first-page":"6","article-title":"Influence of cosmology in life and architecture: insights from the Kajang people of Indonesia","volume":"10","author":"Sahabuddin","year":"2023","journal-title":"ISVS E-J."},{"key":"ref64","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"54","DOI":"10.24843\/JKB.2026.v16.i01.p03","article-title":"Customary violations and sanctions: a comparative study of two indigenous communities in Bali and South Sulawesi","volume":"16","author":"Sartini","year":"2026","journal-title":"J. Kajian Bali"},{"key":"ref65","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1893","DOI":"10.1007\/s11135-017-0574-8","article-title":"Saturation in qualitative research: exploring its conceptualization and operationalization","volume":"52","author":"Saunders","year":"2018","journal-title":"Qual. Quant."},{"key":"ref66","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1895","DOI":"10.1002\/9781118474396.wbept0533","volume-title":"The Encyclopedia of Political Thought","author":"Schwartz-Shea","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref67","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203854907","volume-title":"Interpretive Research Design: Concepts and Processes","author":"Schwartz-Shea","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref68","volume-title":"Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development","author":"Shiva","year":"1988"},{"key":"ref69","volume-title":"Ecofeminism","author":"Shiva","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref70","volume-title":"Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples","author":"Smith","year":"2012"},{"key":"ref71","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.5040\/9798216017554","volume-title":"Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet Revolution","author":"Sponsel","year":"2012"},{"key":"ref9002","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"214","DOI":"10.20884\/1.jli.2024.15.2.13120","article-title":"Ecocentrism Values in the Pasang Tradition of the Kajang Ethnic Group: A Study of Literary Ecology","volume":"15","author":"Talib","year":"2024","journal-title":"Journal Ilmiah Lingua Idea"},{"key":"ref72","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.56326\/clavia.v22i1.4096","article-title":"Analisis penyelesaian tindak pidana ta\u2019bang kaju pada masyarakat adat kajang","volume":"22","author":"Taufik","year":"2024","journal-title":"Clavia"},{"key":"ref73","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226180458.001.0001","volume-title":"Abductive Analysis: Theorizing Qualitative Research","author":"Tavory","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref74","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1525\/9780520944459","volume-title":"Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future","author":"Taylor","year":"2009"},{"key":"ref75","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1558\/jsrnc.v9i1.26504","article-title":"Religion to the rescue (?) in an age of climate disruption","volume":"9","author":"Taylor","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Study Relig. Nat. Cult."},{"key":"ref76","volume-title":"Hasanuddin University Forestry Team Conducts Ethnobotanical Study in Indigenous Forest of Tanah Towa, Kajang","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref77","first-page":"1","article-title":"Introduction: the emerging alliance of world religions and ecology","volume":"130","author":"Tucker","year":"2001","journal-title":"Daedalus"},{"key":"ref9001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"710","DOI":"10.58218\/kasta.v5i3.3487","article-title":"Ecological Values in Tradition Kajang Community Weaving: Implications for Preservation Culture and Environment","volume":"5","author":"Triadi","year":"2025","journal-title":"KASTA: Journal Ilmu Sosial, Agama, Budaya dan Terapan"},{"key":"ref78","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"19803","DOI":"10.29173\/pandpr19803","article-title":"Phenomenology of practice","volume":"1","author":"van Manen","year":"2007","journal-title":"Phenomenol. Pract."},{"key":"ref79","volume-title":"More Than Belief: A Materialist Theory of Religion","author":"V\u00e1squez","year":"2011"},{"key":"ref80","volume-title":"How the World\u2019s Religions Are Responding to Climate Change: Social Scientific Investigations","author":"Veldman","year":"2014"},{"key":"ref81","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1203","DOI":"10.1126\/science.155.3767.1203","article-title":"The historical roots of our ecologic crisis","volume":"155","author":"White","year":"1967","journal-title":"Science"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Sociology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fsoc.2026.1902355\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,28]],"date-time":"2026-07-28T04:25:41Z","timestamp":1785212741000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fsoc.2026.1902355\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,28]]},"references-count":83,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fsoc.2026.1902355"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fsoc.2026.1902355","relation":{},"ISSN":["2297-7775"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2297-7775","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,28]]},"article-number":"1902355"}}