Sociocultural and Economic Conditions as Causes of the Weakened Social Cohesion in Landless Peasants

Abstract

Conversion of agricultural land to non-agriculture is one of the main reasons that causes peasants to lose productive jobs and create poverty. However, the flow of land conversion turned out to be difficult to control, so the number of peasants continued to decrease over time. The location of this study was set intentionally in the villages of Purbalingga Wetan Subdistrict, Purbalingga Regency and Baturaden, Banyumas Regency, Central Java Province, Indonesia. The research method is an intrinsic case study. The results of the study show that the weakening of social cohesion in peasant begins with the process of fragmentation. Social cohesion weakens at the level of individuals, communities and institutions. The sociocultural conditions that underlie the weakening of landless peasants' social cohesion are weak motivation, waning work values and norms, self perception as individuals who are a little strong, depleted collectivity, stretching social interaction, weak trust, micro motivated cooperation network, sense of belonging , self-exploitation and risk aversion. The underlying economic conditions include economic urgency, commercial labor relations, wage systems, subsistence economic morals, global market penetration and rising costs of living needs. Weak social cohesion facilitates peasant participation in various participatory empowerment programs. Therefore, strengthening social cohesion in community peasants is urgent and important in order to build solidarity and generate ownership empowerment programs.