Kuasa Simbolik dan Asimetri Kekuasaan dalam Collaborative Governance Pengembangan Situs Wisata Religi Makam Sunan Gunung Jati di Kabupaten Cirebon

The development of religious tourism involving cultural and sacred heritage sites is frequently constrained by conflicting stakeholder interests, turning collaborative spaces into imbalanced arenas of contestation. This study aims to analyze the manifestation of symbolic power held by traditional cultural authorities and identify the factors driving power asymmetry within the collaborative governance framework of the Sunan Gunung Jati Religious Tourism Site in Cirebon Regency. Utilizing a qualitative case study approach, data were gathered through observations, document reviews, and in-depth interviews with 10 key informant groups selected via purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The findings reveal that the Kanoman Royal Palace dominates the core site area through the accumulation of cultural, social, and symbolic capital, while the Korem 063/SGJ controls the parking facilities and supporting infrastructure. This monopoly over vital physical and cultural assets degrades the local government's bargaining position from a primary facilitator to a mere subject of collaboration, while systematically marginalizing local communities and MSMEs. The novelty of this research highlights a reverse Asymmetric Hegemony, wherein traditional-cultural authorities successfully neutralize the formal regulatory powers of modern state bureaucracy through symbolic power and private land control, ultimately reducing the governance process to pseudo-collaboration.