From the Ecology of the Womb to the Earth: Cultivating Pro-Life Awareness
The phenomenon of global chaos, from wars and environmental destruction to violence against women and children, conveys the same message: destruction, even death. This all occurs because humanity has forgotten the most basic lesson from womb ecology, a system that represents the opposite principle, namely pro-life.
Within the womb space, life exists as a relationship: protected, connected, and nurtured within a system that supports its continuity from the beginning. Humanity is entirely dependent on its mother and the habitat inside the womb that sustains its growth and development.
However, today’s dominant paradigm, capitalism, promotes a logic of domination through the principle of survival of the fittest. Relationships turn into competition, nature is reduced to mere resources, and the body becomes an object, even to oneself. In that framework, ecological crises, social inequalities, and humanitarian crises are not aberrations but logical consequences of that oppressive worldview.
SHIFTING UNDERSTANDING
We need to fundamentally shift our understanding. Not just green growth, which is still based on relations of domination, but a paradigm change towards pro-life awareness rooted in equality and harmony, as occurs in the mother’s womb.
Inside the womb, humanity lives in a complete life system. Amniotic fluid protects, blood delivers nutrients and oxygen, the placenta connects, and the umbilical cord serves as the centre of life. In Javanese cosmology, that relationship is known as sedulur papat limo pancer, with four elements working in harmony and mutual cooperation for the growth of the baby.
The deepest meaning of womb ecology is that life is relational. From the start, humanity depends on another body, on the flow of life, and on the system that supports it. Therefore, no life truly stands alone. The womb becomes a space where life is not controlled but cared for and guarded to grow to the next stage.
In the perspective of Pancasila feminism, the exploitation of the body occurs when an individual severs their conscious relationship with life. The right to the body cannot be separated from responsibility towards life, both towards oneself, others, and broader life. Thus, the body is not an object of consumption but an entrusted duty to care for, nurture, and continue life.
The same principle should apply on a larger scale, namely the earth. If the womb is micro-ecology, the earth is macro-ecology that works with similar principles: life can only continue when relationships are maintained. Soil provides food sources, water supports life, air enables survival, and energy drives human activities.
In Javanese cosmology, that balance is reflected in the relationship between Ibu Bumi, representing soil and water, and Bopo Angkoso, representing air and fire. That relationship is not one of domination but of mutual complementation to maintain life’s sustainability. When that relationship is disrupted, life’s continuity is also threatened.
Harmony between womb ecology and earth ecology becomes an important prerequisite for life’s sustainability. In that context, the state has a role as guardian of the trust through policies and institutions to ensure life continues to grow, not halted because it is exhausted. Instruments like AMDAL, for example, need to be expanded with a pro-life test approach, while development strategies need to shift from extractive economics to regenerative economics that restores, rather than damages or kills, life.
This aligns with Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, which states that natural resources must be managed as communal property for the greatest prosperity of the people, including for future generations.
Therefore, Pancasila is not enough to be understood merely as the basis of the state, but needs to be operationalised as development ethics that guide the birth of conscious structures. When Pancasila becomes development ethics, land, water, air, and energy are no longer viewed solely as resources but as parts of a life system that must maintain harmony and sustainability.
AWARENESS TO MAINTAIN RELATIONSHIPS
The key to change lies in the awareness to maintain those relationships. In Javanese local wisdom, that awareness is manifested through harmony between rogo, cipto, roso, and jiwo. Rogo, or the conscious body, understands that life is an entrusted duty that must be in harmony with self, others, nature, and God. A conscious body will not be greedy or destructive because damaging the body is the same as damaging nature, and vice versa.
When cipto, or the mind, is no longer connected to jiwo, it loses its light. When rogo is not guided by roso, it loses direction. There, humanity moves but no longer lives in pro-life awareness.
However, individual awareness alone is not enough if not followed by conscious social structures as well. Humanity lives in family, society, and state as structures that shape collective life. When those structures are not conscious, what emerges is exploitation, inequality, and crisis. Conversely, conscious structures work like the womb, namely protecting, nurturing, and ensuring life’s continuity.
In the perspective of Pancasila feminism, this aligns with the meaning of social justice as envisioned by Bung Karno, namely a system that leaves no room for domination or oppression but allows life to develop fairly. Such structures not only avoid damage but also actively care for life.
In the end, the direction of civilisation is determined by the choices we make in building life systems. Womb ecology has shown that life is only possible