Kamar Bola and Waringin : continuity and change in a Javanese town and its surroundings

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with presenting a rounded picture of the development of a medium-sized town in Java. Pare, a town of some 45,000 people, is located in East Java, where it serves as the administrative, marketing, educational, and cultural centre for a wide rural area. In this study, the history of Pare is traced from its legendary origins through its growth in the Dutch colonial period and its distress in the upheavals of the 1940s to its present status. Changes in Pare's administrative framework, communication system, and connections with its agricultural economic base are all treated. The main perspectives are historical, social and cultural. Attention throughout is given to a distinction between internal and external forces leading to changes, and to the interplay between these two. Though the major approaches in the thesis stem from the social sciences, it is important never to lose sight of the fact that the town under study is a Javanese town, and thus Javanese perceptions of the town, its surroundings and the changes or the readjustments it has undergone are given weight as well.