Migrant traders, social capital, and the politics of local wisdom: A descriptive study of Warung Madura networks in Jakarta, Indonesia
This article examines the factors driving the survival and self-reliance of Madurese migrant traders in Jakarta, Indonesia. Specifically, it aims to refine the long-standing argument that minority migrant groups are forced to adapt, become marginalized, and shed their identities. By combining perspectives on social capital and the politics of local wisdom, this mixed-method study provides an in-depth analysis of how Madurese migrant traders establish and develop networks of small grocery stalls, known as “Warung Madura,” in Jakarta. Our findings reveal that social capital – through strong Madurese ethnic and religious values, norms, networks, and trust among members – is the main driving force behind the success of these traders in Jakarta. Furthermore, strict adherence to local wisdom, specifically Madurese culture and traditional Islamic teachings, significantly contributes to their survival and self-reliance. The results suggest that the survival strategies employed by Madurese migrant traders, based on certain social capital and local wisdom, could serve as a model for the socioeconomic empowerment of urban ethnic migrant groups.
Adedeji, A. (2021). Social capital and migrants’ quality of life: A systematic narrative review. International Migration and Integration, 22(1):87-101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00724-6
Augendra, B., Bernard, T., & Ani, W. (2019). Why micro and small family enterprises do not borrow from microcredit institutions? A case study in East Java, Indonesia. Studies in Business and Economics, 14(3):18-32. https://doi.org/10.2478/sbe-2019-0040
Berry, J.W. (2005). Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(6):697-712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.07.013
Binns, T., & Nel, E. (1999). Beyond the development impasse: The role of local economic development and community self-reliance in rural South Africa. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 37(3):389-408. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X99003067
Booth, A. (2001). The Indonesian Economy in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: A History of Missed Opportunities. United Kingdom: Palgrave.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In: Richardson J. (ed.). Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. United States: Greenwood, p.241-258.
Chan, C., Ramírez, C., & Stefoni, C. (2019). Negotiating precarious labour relations: Dynamics of vulnerability and reciprocity between Chinese employers and their migrant workers in Santiago, Chile. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 42(9):1456-1475. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2019.1579919
Clark, G.L., McGill, S., & Cuñado, J. (2018). Migrant workers, self-reliance, and the propensity to hold income protection insurance by country of residence. Geographical Research, 56(2):139-153. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.12276
Coleman, J.S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. The American Journal of Sociology, 94(1):95-120.
De Jonge, H. (1995). Stereotypes of the Madurese. In: Van Dijk, K., de Jonge, H., & Touwen-Bouwsma, E. (eds.). Across Madura Strait: The Dynamics of an Insular Society. Netherlands: KITLV Press, p.7-24.
Deshingkar, P. (2006). Internal Migration, Poverty, and Development in Asia. ODI Briefing Paper No. 11.
Devika, F., Prajawati, M.I., & Basir. (2020). To’-oto’: The local wisdom of madurese ethnic families and perceptions. Local Wisdom, 12(2):79-87. https://doi.org/10.26905/lw.v12i2.4149
Fatmawati, D. (2020). Islam and local wisdom in Indonesia. Journal of Social Science, 2(1):20-29. https://doi.org/10.46799/jss.v2i1.82
Fonchingong, C.C., & Fonjong, L.N. (2002). The concept of self-reliance in community development initiatives in the Cameroon grassfields. GeoJournal, 57(1-2):83-94 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026042718043
Garip, F. (2008). Social capital and migration: How do similar resources lead to divergent outcomes? Demography, 45(3):591-617. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.0.0016
Gelderblom, D. (2018). The limits to bridging social capital: Power, social context and the theory of Robert Putnam. The Sociological Review, 66(6):1309-1324. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038026118765360
Gregory, C.A. (1997). Savage Money: The Anthropology and Politics of Commodity Exchange. United Kingdom: Harwood Academic.
Hefner, R.W. (1998). Market Cultures: Society and Morality in the New Asian Capitalisms. United States: Westview.
Henley, D., & Boomgaard, P. (eds.). (2009). Credit and Debt in Indonesia, 860-1930: From Peonage to Pawnshop, from Kongsi to Cooperative. Singapore: ISEAS.
Husson, L. (1997). Eight centuries of Madurese migration to East Java. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 6(1):77-102. https://doi.org/10.1177/011719689700600105
Jannah, M., Hermawan, A., & Winarno, A. (2021). Implementation of local wisdom values: Create opportunities and motivation in entrepreneurship of Bugis-Makassar migrant in Malang city. International Journal of Business, Economics and Law, 24(2):118-124.
Kadir, H.A. (2019). Hierarchical reciprocities and tensions between migrants and native Moluccas in the post reformation. Journal of Southeast Asian Human Rights, 3(2):344-359. https://doi.org/10.19184/jseahr.v3i2.8396
Kadir, H.A. (2023). From pengusaha (businessperson) to penguasa (ruler): Migrant traders and the politics of hospitality in Indonesia. Southeast Asian Studies, 12(1):147-168. https://doi.org/10.20495/seas.12.1_147
Kartikawangi, D. (2017). Symbolic convergence of local wisdom in cross-cultural collaborative social responsibility: Indonesian case. Public Relations Review, 43(1):35-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2016.10.012
Kutor, S.K., Raileanu, A., & Simandan, D. (2021). International migration, cross-cultural interaction, and the development of personal wisdom. Migration Studies, 9(3):490-513. https://doi.org/10.1093/migration/mnz049
Landa, J.T. (2018). Economic Success of Chinese Merchants in Southeast Asia: Identity, Ethnic Cooperation and Conflict. Germany: Springer.
Losoncz, I., & Marlowe, J. (2020). Regulating immigrant identities: The role of government and institutions in the identity construction of refugees and other migrants. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 21(1):117-132. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00700-0
Lücking, M. (2017). Working in Mecca: How informal pilgrimage-migration from Madura, Indonesia, to Saudi Arabia challenges state sovereignty. European Journal of East Asian Studies, 16(2):248-274. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700615-01602007
Mas’udah, S. (2020). Remittances and lifestyle changes among Indonesian overseas migrant workers’ families in their hometowns. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 21(2):649-665. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00676-x
Mohanty, S.K., Mohapatra, S.R., Kastor, A., Singh, A.K., & Mahapatra, B. (2016). Does employment-related migration reduce poverty in India? Journal of International Migration and Integration, 17(3):761-784. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-015-0436-y
Mu, Z., & Yeung, W.J. (2018). For money or for a life: A mixed-method study on migration and time use in China. Social Indicators Research, 139(1):347-379. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1698-x
Nel, E., & Binns, T. (2000). Rural self-reliance strategies in South Africa: Community initiatives and external support in the former black homelands. Journal of Rural Studies, 16(3):367-377. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0743-0167(00)00003-6
Noer, K.U. (2012). Land, marriage and social exclusion: The case of Madurese exile widow. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 65:180-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.108
Nonini, D.M. (2015). “Getting by”: Class and State Formation among Chinese in Malaysia. United States: Cornell University Press.
Panggabean, S.R., & Smith, B. (2011). Explaining anti-Chinese riots in late 20th century Indonesia. World Development, 39(2):231-242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2009.11.03
Panjaitan-Drioadisuryo, R.D.M., & Cloud, K. (1999). Gender, self-employment and microcredit programs: An Indonesian case study. The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 39(5):769-779. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1062-9769(99)00028-9
Papastergiadis, N. (2000). The Turbulence of Migration: Globalization, Deterritorialization and Hybridity. United Kingdom: Polity Press.
Phillimore, J., Humphris, R., & Khan, K. (2018). Reciprocity for new migrant integration: Resource conservation, investment and exchange. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 44(2):215-232. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2017.1341709
Pieterse, J.N. (2003). Social capital and migration: Beyond ethnic economies. Ethnicities, 3(1):29-58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468796803003001785
Portes, A., Fernández-Kelly, P., & Haller, W. (2005). Segmented assimilation on the ground: The new second generation in early adulthood. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 28(6):1000-1040. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870500224117
Prayitno, G., Matsushima, K., Jeong, H., & Kobayashi, K. (2014). Social capital and migration in rural area development. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 20:543-552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2014.03.067
Putnam, R.D. (1995). Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. Journal of Democracy, 6(1):64-78. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-62397-6_12
Rini, Africano, F., Rosita, Nugraha, Y.A., Napitupulu, R.A.A., Oktanisa, S., et al. (2023). The role of entrepreneurial mental innovation and local wisdom on organizational resilience. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Business Management, 2(1):19-33. https://doi.org/10.54099/ijebm.v2i1.526
Rochadi, A.S. (2021). Racialized capitalism and anti-Chinese among Indonesian workers. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 8(2):261-275. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/766
Salazar, N.B. (2010). Towards an anthropology of cultural mobilities. Crossings: Journal of Migration and Culture, 1(1):53-68. https://doi.org/10.1386/cjmc.1.53_1
Salazar, N.B. (2016). The (im)mobility of merantau as a sociocultural practice in Indonesia. In: Bon, N.G., & Repič, J. (eds.). Moving Places: Relations, Return and Belonging. New York: Berghahn Books, p.21-42.
Seferiadis, A.A., Cummings, S., Zweekhorst, M.B.M., & Bunders, J.F.G. (2015). Producing social capital as a development strategy: Implications at the micro-level. Progress in Development Studies, 15(2):170-185. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464993414565530
Sørensen, J.F.L. (2016). Rural-urban differences in bonding and bridging social capital. Regional Studies, 50(3):391-410. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2014.918945
Sridhar, K.S., Reddy, A.V., & Srinath, P. (2013). Is it push or pull? Recent evidence from migration into Bangalore, India. International Migration and Integration, 14:287-306. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-012-0241-9
Suyanto, B., Sugihartati, R., Sutinah, & Hidayat, M.A. (2020). Bargaining the future: A descriptive study of the lives of the Indonesian illegal migrant workers. International Migration and Integration, 21(1):185-204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00710-y
Utomo, A.J. (2019). Love in the melting pot: Ethnic intermarriage in Jakarta. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 46(14):2896-2913. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2019.1585008
Wahab, Khairiansyah, H., & Misridah. (2020). Local wisdom-based character values in millennial Madurese community: A study of molothen traditions. Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, 9(1):57-78. https://doi.org/10.14421/jpi.2020.91.57-78
Waters, M.C., Tran, V.C., Kasinitz, P., & Mollenkopf, J.H. (2010). Segmented assimilation revisited: Types of acculturations and socioeconomic mobility in young adulthood. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 33(7):1168-1193. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419871003624076
Weinreich, P. (2009). ‘Enculturation’, not ‘acculturation’: Conceptualising and assessing identity processes in migrant communities. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 33(2):124-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2008.12.006
Wekke, I.S., Ladiqi, L., & Bustami, R. (2019). Bugis and Madura migration in Nusantara: Religiosity, harmony, and identity from Eastern Indonesia. Ulul Albab Jurnal Studi Islam, 20(1):1-24. https://doi.org/10.18860/ua.v20i1.4902