KETIMPANGAN SOSIAL EKONOMI USAHA PRODUKSI RUMPUT LAUT DI KAWASAN PESISIR KABUPATEN PINRANG, PROVINSI SULAWESI SELATAN - A Nurul Mutmainnah; Muhammad Syukur; Muhammad Yusuf; Muhammad Rizki Citanegara (Buletin Ilmiah Marina Sosial Ekonomi Kelautan dan Perikanan, 2026)
Peningkatan produksi rumput laut di wilayah pesisir Indonesia kerap diposisikan sebagai indikator keberhasilan integrasi pasar global dan pembangunan ekonomi maritim. Namun, pada tingkat komunitas petani kecil, peningkatan tersebut tidak selalu berbanding lurus dengan perbaikan kesejahteraan. Penelitian ini mengkaji bagaimana kapitalisme agraria beroperasi dalam subsektor rumput laut di Kabupaten Pinrang, Sulawesi Selatan, dengan menyoroti relasi patron–klien, ketergantungan utang, diferensiasi kelas, dan subordinasi gender sebagai mekanisme reproduksi ketimpangan sosial-ekonomi. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan wawancara mendalam [RT2.1]di Desa Wiring Tasi dan Desa Watang Suppa pada Juni–September 2025. Data dikumpulkan melalui wawancara semi-terstruktur terhadap 75 informan, observasi partisipatif sepanjang siklus produksi, serta pemetaan partisipatif. Analisis data dilakukan melalui analisis tematik bertahap yang mencakup proses reduksi data, pengkodean, kategorisasi, dan interpretasi teoretik dengan kerangka kapitalisme agraria. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa petani rumput laut terperangkap dalam relasi kekuasaan asimetris yang didominasi oleh patron lokal dan tengkulak, yang menguasai akses modal, sarana produksi, dan pasar. Utang berfungsi bukan sebagai modal produktif, melainkan sebagai mekanisme subsistensi yang mereproduksi kemiskinan struktural dan membatasi otonomi ekonomi petani. Perempuan, yang mendominasi pekerjaan pengikatan bibit dan pascapanen, mengalami subordinasi ganda sebagai pekerja informal berupah rendah dan pekerja domestik tak dibayar. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa integrasi produksi rumput laut ke dalam pasar global justru memperkuat hierarki kelas dan relasi patronase lokal. Oleh karena itu, diperlukan penguatan kelembagaan petani, reformasi pembiayaan mikro yang adil, serta perlindungan kerja bagi perempuan untuk memutus reproduksi ketimpangan dalam kapitalisme agraria pesisir.TITLE: SOCIOECONOMIC INEQUALITY IN SEAWEED PRODUCTION BUSINESSES IN COASTAL AREAS OF PINRANG REGENCY, SOUTH SULAWESI PROVINCEThe increasing production of seaweed in Indonesia’s coastal regions is frequently presented as evidence of successful integration into global markets and maritime economic development. However, at the level of smallholder farming communities, such growth does not necessarily result in improved livelihoods. This study examines the operation of agrarian capitalism within the seaweed subsector in Pinrang Regency, South Sulawesi, by analyzing patron–client relations, debt dependency, class differentiation, and gender subordination as key mechanisms through which socio-economic inequality is reproduced. This research adopts a qualitative approach based on fieldwork conducted in Wiring Tasi Village and Watang Suppa Village between June and September 2025. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 75 informants, participant observation throughout the entire production cycle, and participatory mapping. Data analysis was conducted using a staged thematic approach, encompassing data reduction, coding, categorization, and theoretical interpretation within the framework of agrarian capitalism. The findings reveal that seaweed farmers are embedded in asymmetrical power relations dominated by local patrons and middlemen who control access to capital, means of production, and markets. Debt operates not as productive capital but as a subsistence mechanism that reproduces structural poverty and constrains farmers’ economic autonomy. Women, who are predominantly engaged in seed-tying and post-harvest activities, experience double subordination as low-paid informal workers and as unpaid domestic laborers. This study concludes that the integration of seaweed production into global markets has paradoxically reinforced class hierarchies and local patronage relations. Consequently, strengthening farmer organizations, reforming equitable microfinance schemes, and ensuring labor protection for women are essential measures to disrupt the ongoing reproduction of inequality within coastal agrarian capitalism.