Pattern of Center Periphery Relationship in Small Islands: A Case Study in Karimunjawa Islands, Indonesia

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to analyze the dynamic patterns of hegemonic centre-periphery relationship in a remote islands (in this respect is Karimunjawa Islands) located at the Java Sea, Indonesia. Besides, this article also intends to study the extent to which the advance of communication, information, and transportation technologies play the significance role in reducing hegemonic relationships between the center and periphery. To study these issues, qualitative methods with socio-political and eco-geographical approaches were applied. The research results suggest that a center-periphery relationship pattern exists in the small island community of Karimunjawa Islands in which Karimunjawa island (the biggest island) has become a center and the smaller islands such as Kemojan, Parang, Nyamuk and Genting Islands as the peripheral area. The formation of such a kind of relationship pattern can be traced back to geographical characteristics and socio-historical events where political and economical domination as well as cultural hegemony created an unequal relationship between the two. Meanwhile, the center-periphery relationship pattern has been reduced after the peripheral community gained access to contemporary communication, information, and sea transportation technologies. Conversely this situation has strengthened the integration among ethnic groups in the Karimunjawa Islands.