Title:
Accountability Through Merti Dusun Values: Integrating Javanese Local Wisdom Into Social and Environmental Accounting

Authors:
Dewi Puspitasari, Falikhatun, Indonesia

Abstract:

Social and Environmental Accounting (SEA) has evolved to assess the social, ethical, and environmental impacts of organizations. However, critical scholarship suggests that SEA remains largely shaped by Western paradigms that prioritize economic rationality, formal transparency, and corporate reporting, thereby risking the marginalization of spiritual values and local wisdom in developing-country contexts. In rural Javanese communities, the Merti Dusun tradition constitutes a culturally embedded practice that reaffirms the relationship between humans and God, humans and fellow community members, and humans and nature through collective thanksgiving rituals, mutual aid (gotong royong), and communal norms that sustain socio-ecological harmony. This study aims to (1) explore the social, spiritual, and ecological accountability values embedded in the philosophy of Merti Dusun, (2) examine how these values are enacted through community practices of resource stewardship and collective responsibility, and (3) propose a Local Wisdom-Based Accountability conceptual model to enrich the development of SEA in Indonesia. This research adopts an interpretive qualitative case study approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with key informants selected via purposive and snowball sampling, complemented by observations (including documentation of ritual sequences) and the review of relevant documents and cultural artefacts. The data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to identify recurring patterns of accountability as lived and practiced within the community. The findings indicate that Merti Dusun embodies four interrelated clusters of values: spiritual values (gratitude, stewardship, self-restraint), ecological values (ethical care for land, water, and local ecosystems), solidarity and cooperation values (mutual aid and deliberation as evidence of responsibility), and cultural preservation values (the intergenerational transmission of symbols and local identity). Together, these values constitute Spiritual, Communal, Ecological Accountability, articulated through collective action and dialogic cultural spaces, offering a contextual alternative that complements mainstream SEA.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51505/IJEBMR.2026.1017