Downward social mobility, prestige and the informal economy in postconflict Ambon
Author: Adam, Jeroen
Source: South East Asia Research, Volume 16, Number 3, November 2008 , pp. 461-479(19)
Publisher: IP Publishing Ltd
Key:
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
Abstract:
This article illustrates how a religious conflict that started in 1999 on the island of Ambon in combination with an overall Indonesian financial crisis brought about the downward social mobility of many autochthonous Ambonese. In particular, the Ambonese employed in formal waged labour were forced to take up income generation strategies in insecure, informal economic sectors, which before the conflict had been dominated by the lower-class Muslim migrant community. This process was further encouraged by the spatial transformation during which these Muslim migrants became locked up in Muslim areas and Christian Ambonese took over their businesses in the Christian parts of the island. In a similar vein, the flight of many ethnic migrants to places outside Ambon stimulated Ambonese Muslims to penetrate these informal economic sectors in the Muslim parts of the island. As autochthonous Ambonese do not want to leave these jobs even since the violence has ended, competition at the lower-class bazaar level of the economy has vigorously intensified.Keywords: CONFLICT; INFORMAL ECONOMY; DOWNWARD SOCIAL MOBILITY; PRESTIGE; AMBON
Document Type: Research article
Key:
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
Click here for Page Help