Social change in the West Sumatran village : 1908-1945

Abstract

This is a study of social change in the West Sumatran village from the introduction of monetary taxation in 1908 to the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945. The study begins with the reconstruction of the pre-Dutch village social structure, characterized as an entity with a high degree of autonomy and a relatively closed society based on subsistence economy and led by lineage heads. The nature of the villages began to be undermined after the introduction of monetary taxation in 1908; the penetration of a monetary economy; the expansion of cash crop cultivation; and the emergence of new Islamic and secular political organizations which challenged the leadership of traditional lineage heads. The deeper penetration of . Dutch administration also accelerated the erosion of the old village social and economic system. The great economic crisis at the end of 1929 and successive world trade depression in the 1930s slowed down the process of social change. The economy largely returned to a subsistence one concentrating on rice on lineage land instead of cash crops on individual land. There was a notable revival of the influence of traditional leadership groups In the 1930s based on the· increased importance of lineage heads for supervising lineage rice fields. However, the development of a nationalist movement after the beginning of the 1930s intensified the challenge to traditional leadership. As a result the conflict between the tradltional leadership and its challengers continued to be heightened towards the end of Dutch rule. During the Japanese occupation, the economy was further pushed to subsistence economy and the lineage heads became the key figures for increasing rice and delivering it to the Japanese who were trying to accumulate as much rice provisions as possible. This situation allowed lineage heads to retain their influence at the village level. The potential for social change was again reduced during the Japanese occupation. Although the rivalry between traditional leadership and its challengers did not appear in a violent form under the Japanese military regime, it erupted violently shortly after the Japanese surrender.