Transformation of labor exchange arrangements in an agrarian community of rural Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The study has been focused on the transformation process and the influencing factors of the changing of labor exchange arrangements which have been practiced among agrarian communities in rural Java. Practices of labor exchanges in rural Java have been experiencing the transformation process. In lowland areas, the expansion of off-farm jobs and technological changes in rice cultivation has deteriorated labor exchanges; labor exchanges have been almost totally replaced by hired labor. Meanwhile, in the uplands, with limited job opportunities and the introduction of mixed cropping, which demands collective work, labor exchange practices for various farming operations have strengthened considerably. Under geographical limitations and technological changes of mixed cropping system in upland areas, those have stimulated villagers to intensify traditional collective work arrangements such as sambatan and krubutan, which to some extent has been supplemented by the newly invented institution prayaan for completing farming and non-farming activities. The basic structures of the social relationships among villagers both in the upland and lowland hamlets bring about fewer difficulties in the arrangement of collective work for non-farming activities. However, villagers' division of labor and diversification of income sources may enable well-off households to build modern houses, a process that will likely reduce the need for collective work in the future due to its need for highly skilled labor. Altruistic behavior in house construction is still very common among villagers in the uplands; in contrast, it has gradually disappeared among richer households in the lowland area. © 2009 Asian Network for Scientific Information.