Population mobility in West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the elucidation of the nature, strength and direction of contemporary population movements to, from and within the western third of Java, Indonesia and with the examination of the evolution of those mobility patterns, their causes and some of their effects. Particular attention is focused on population mobility between village and city. In the absence of a comprehensive set of mobility data for Indonesia a wide range of statistical sources have been employed. The most important of these are the 1971 Indonesian census, local population registers and detailedfield surveys of samples of movers and stayers within 14 West Javan village communities. The study consists of three main parts. The first is essentially introductory and outlines the aims and approach of the thesis and the nature of the environment which affects and is affected by the mobility system under study. In Part II aggregate flows of population movement between western Java and other parts of Indonesia as well as within the study area are examined. The evolution of those mobility patterns is reviewed and the extent to which it corresponds to the Mobility Transition hypothesis is assessed. Some of the ecological determinants of in ter-regional population flows are explored and simple aggregate models explaining them are tested. The selectivity of the mobility process is then examined via an analysis of the sex, age and education characteristics of groups of movers and non movers. Part III attempts to add greater depth and realism to the aggregate analysis by focusing on processes of population movement at the level of the individual decision maker and the local community to which he relates. The structure of the totality of population mobility at the community level is described and one important sub-set (vi11age-city interaction) of this system is examined in detail. The dimensions of the process are elucidated by examining the behavioural dynamics of mobility decision making in the village, movers’ experiences in the city and the impact which mobility has on the village. The final chapter summarizes the findings of the study and some of its implications for policy makers as well as for further research are pointed out. The study questions the stereotyping of West Javans as static and immobile and points to the inaccuracies and misconceptions that can result from the indiscriminate transfer of Western derived conceptual frameworks, definitions and data collection procedures for use in mobility research in Third World contexts. It also suggests that population movement is a more widespread response to ecological pressure in West Java than is generally believed but because it frequently takes a circular form it is not detected by conventional migration statistics. Further it is shown that this circular mobility has important social and economic implications for both village and city.