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