Feeding Precarity Between State and Capital: Women Workers and Breastfeeding in Cakung Manufacturing Industry

Women constitute the vital workforce in Indonesia's economy, particularly in sectors like garment, textile, and footwear. Despite their economic importance, these industries are characterised by excessive control, pressure, and violence, transforming women into cheap labour and limiting their lives both in the production and social reproduction realm. This study analyses how the discipline of factory work has implications for women workers in their care work, specifically in breastfeeding. Through a qualitative approach, this study uses focus group discussions (FGD) and interviews with women garment and textile industry workers in Kawasan Berikat Nusantara, North Jakarta. The study also analyses the state's response and position in child-feeding matters. The study shows how the regimented nature of factory work, which controls the energy, time, and bodies of women workers, coupled with the absence of job security and protection from the state, limit workers’ capacity to care for their families, particularly to breastfeed their children. Consequently, women workers have to switch to formula milk. I argue that the workers’ reliance on formula milk illustrates a form of neoliberalism in which the state subjugates women workers to the capitalist economy both in the realms of production and social reproduction, forcing them to live in a precarious condition. This potentially will cause health, nutrition, and other quality of life problems for mothers and children in the future

Cup, Cup, Jangan Nangis! Language Socialization Study of How Parents Respond to Their Children Cry

Burdelski & Cook (2012) and Santrock (2011) theorized that parents socialize with their children through actions and speech, even when responding to the cries of their children. This paper intends to investigate the actions and speech of parents when responding to their cries. This paper also aims to understand how parents socialize with their children in those activities. The researcher conducted this qualitative research by distributing questionnaires via Google Forms. WhatsApp groups and Twitter are the media the researcher chose to distribute the form. After receiving 98 answers, the researcher interviewed 24 families—picking two for further observations. The result shows that parents convey their responses through one, two, or more speech acts that include assertive in the forms of an affirmation; directives in the forms of prohibition, advice, encouragement, asking (general question, assurance, investigation, rhetorical); expressive in the forms of an expression of getting surprised, teasing, showing caring expression, calming down, and blaming; and commissive in the forms of promising. Meanwhile, there are various socialization functions contained in these speech acts, such as affective socialization (in the form of caring or concern and reassurance), self-knowledge socialization (in the form of self-confidence, prudence), socialization of gender identity (maturity and gender), religiosity, shame, causal logic or the consequences, and even logical fallacy for blaming something that has nothing to do with the cause of the child falling

Women’s Motivation in Utilizing Culture for Sustainable Economic Improvement at Desa Pesanggrahan

Women play a crucial role in driving advancements in the local economy in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals. This research seeks to offer an unbiased understanding of women’s motivational levels, perspectives, and roles in Desa Pesanggrahan, Mojokerto, East Java, contributing to the development of their cultural landscape. This descriptive qualitative study utilized data collected from August to September 2023 through document reviews, interviews, and observations with female members of the Family Welfare Development (Pembinaan Kesejahteraan Keluarga [PKK]) in Desa Pesanggrahan organization in Desa Pesanggrahan. We employed Abraham Maslow's theory on the hierarchy of needs as a base for the analysis of this paper. The result of interviews with the locals, documentation, and observation carried out in the data collection of this research found that women in Desa Pesanggrahan still have low motivation based on Maslow’s theory. This affects their ability to generate innovative ideas and make independent decisions in the development of local culture. Women tend to select men as their leaders, as they often lack the confidence to assume leadership roles in the village. Their role in developing their cultural products in the village is overshadowed by the men of the village

The Philosophy of Ethnobotany and the Transformation of Jamasan Pusaka Tradition in the Pendopo of Batang District

The tradition of jamasan pusaka (heirloom washing), or simply jamasan,  in Batang District involves various types of plants initsrituals. Plants, as part of the local cultural heritage, play an important role in maintaining the balance of parallelism and interrelationship between macrocosm and microcosm. Over time, this tradition has evolved, and this article aims to explorethe relationship and changes in ethnobotanical knowledge within the jamasan practice. It also analyzeshow the immanent and the transcendental functions of plantsare interpreted. Using a qualitative research method with an ethnographic approach, data were collected through observation, interview, and visual documentation. The study identified 19 types of plants involved in the jamasan tradition. These plants , based on local knowledge, hold immanent and transcendental functions that are important for the continuity of the practice. The plants are categorized into mandatory elementsbased on immanent meaning, symbolic meaning, and non-mandatory elements. Jamasan is not merely the washing of heirlooms, butalso serves as a life guide for living meaningfully. Over time,the tradition has undergone transformations, with shifts from sacred to profane functions and from immanent to transcendental meanings. These changes have reconstructed the practice of jamasan in the present day

Discourse of Khakot Lampung Dance as A Political Technology of The Body to Make Individuals Obedient

This article examines the role of traditional Khakot dance in Lampung as a discourse of political technology that influences the body to make individuals obedient to the values and social cultural norms of Lampung. This research focused on three issues. First, the form of representation of the body that complies with the social values and norms of Lampung culture in Khakot dance. Second, the process of forming a body that abides by the social values and norms of Lampung culture in Khakot dance. Third, identifying factors that influence individual compliance with sociocultural values and norms in the context of Khakot dance. This study used a critical discourse analysis paradigm and utilized primary and secondary data. Analysis of all obtained data was carried out textually and contextually using Michel Foucault's body discipline theory which is presented in a qualitative descriptive form. The results showed that the representation of the body that obeys the social values and norms of Lampung culture is reflected in aspects of Khakot dance performances, including the selection of costume forms and choreographic forms such as movement and floor pattern composition. The process of forming the body to be obedient to the social values and norms of Lampung culture in the context of Khakot dance involves formal and non-formal education, as well as through sociocultural activities in Lampung society. Factors that influence individual compliance are social control, normalization, and panopticon

Entrusting Children to Grandmothers: Exploring Care Dynamics through Multiple Roles of Women in Eastern Indonesia

This paper investigates the practice of entrusting children to relatives in Alor Tengah Utara, Alor Regency. It highlights the socio-economic factors compelling parents to work away from home. Often, this leads to parents leaving their children in the care of their grandparents. Despite the stagnant economic growth in Alor regency, many young individuals migrate in search of better opportunities, creating a dynamic where women, particularly grandmothers, become “double mothers” by caring for both their own and entrusted children. Conducted from June 2021 to July 2022, this ethnographic study reveals the challenges and economic vulnerabilities these households face, exacerbated by the inadequate intergenerational care provided by ageing grandmothers or inexperienced young female relatives. The findings highlight the need for more equitable caregiving arrangements and support for these families, shedding light on a practice deeply rooted in being a cultural responsibility yet fraught with economic and emotional complexities

Saparuik and Moknehi: Kinship-based Tensions in Care for Older People

This article provides information on a comparison of elderly care systems in two regions in Indonesia with different ethnicities and cultures, namely the Minangkabau in West Sumatra and the Abui of Alor. This article shows how the saparuik kinship in the Minangkabau community which is matrilineal with different customary constellations and how the patrilineal moknehi kinship in the Abui community takes care of elderly women. This paper explains the influence of caregivers’ life journey on their burdens of life. The burden of life perceived by caregivers arises from various factors. Among the various influencing factors are emotions, economy, knowledge, kinship and the right to manage inheritance. Kinship is a form of reciprocal relationship between various elements in both Minangkabau and Abui societies. In the Minangkabau ethnic group, the smallest kinship system in society is called saparuik kinship (Minang language), while the smallest kinship system in Abui is called moknehi (Abui language) which means “brother”. Paruik can be interpreted as “stomach”. While the word moknehi, which has variants in Abui such as muknehi, mokneng and motneng, likely derives from words moku “child” and neng “male”, whose meaning is equivalent to “brother, sibling”. Literally, saparuik are people who come from the same stomach or mother, while moknehi refers to people who come from the same mother and or father. People who are in saparuik are people who come from the same grandmother, while moknehi are male brothers who come from the same grandfather, who then develop into several extended families. Both extended families in paruik or moknehi consist of several nuclear families. Likewise, saparuik and moknehi consist of several extended families. The extended family in saparuik is formed in one grandmother (not a literal grandmother, the grandmother in this case is the mother of the grandmother or the grandmother of the grandmother), in one “rumah gadang”, and sharing inheritance. Otherwise, moknehi are not only formed in one grandfather, but also male great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather (male great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather in this case are father of grandfather and grandfather of grandfather), in one clan, and sharing inheritanc

Social Unrest and Distrust

Shadow Play provides an insight into urban studies in Indonesia by showing Yogyakarta as a space of interaction with research on relocation among development discourses. Relocation was often under the unilateral regulatory power of the state (government) in the new order era. Gibbings offers a new perspective in which the relocation of traders is not solely focused on the displacement of a group of people but shows the tug-of-war in drafting agreements after the authoritarian regime's collapse through the 1998 reform agenda. In this book, Gibbings includes two introductory arguments to evoke the reader. First, the study of politics and information control is a subject relation that can change at any time, along with the involvement of stakeholders daily. Second, by focusing on the politics of information, Gibbings exposes the relationship between the state and its citizens, particularly in post-authoritarian situations

When Childcare is Commodified: An Autoethnography of Urban Mothering in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The research explores how motherhood constructs parenting spaces in urban contexts and, conversely, how urban spaces construct urban motherhood. This autoethnographic research uses Edward Soja’s concept of third space. The results of this study show that working mothers’ routines position them in terms of categorizing time, namely time for work and time for parenting, with a preference for parenting space outside the home. This practice simultaneously constructs temporal (time of care) and spatial (space of care) understandings for children and parents. Social media accelerates the spread of information about leisure centers, including the segmentation of care spaces. The creation of these new care spaces shows that the commodification of urban mothering is slowly shifting the role of care from the home to the public sphere. On the other hand, this domestication of the caring space can involve men in caring practices and change the stigma that caring is not only a woman’s role. Despite thearticulation of parenting as a lifestyle, the infrastructure of parenting spaces and playgrounds for children is still far from meeting the criteria of public space, as the majority are commodified, especially in the context of this research, Yogyakarta

The Crisis of Care: State, Family, and Shifting Caring Space in Contemporary Indonesia

This special issue on the Crisis of Care is the result of extensive collaborative research, discussions, and interactions among contributors. In 2022, with colleagues from the University of Southampton, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia in Jakarta, and Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, we co-organised a conference entitled ‘Care Dynamics in Contemporary Indonesia’. Ciptaningrat Larastiti was part of a two-year research collaboration between the University of Southampton (United Kingdom) and Atma Jaya Catholic University (Jakarta), titled ‘Care Network in Later Life’. Her research focuses on care for landless older people with a state of dependency in rural Yogyakarta. Elan Lazuardi, having completed her PhD on HIV care, co-organised the conference as the representative of the Department of Anthropology, Universitas Gadjah Mada