Technological and social change in a Madurese fishing village (1978-2004)

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This article is about recent changes in Pasean, a fishing village on the north coast of the island of Madura, Indonesia (see maps). The village has been described in detail in several publications based on research carried out in the area during 1977-1979, and a short visit in 1982. In May-August 2004, we did fieldwork for a restudy. In this article we report our findings on the changes in Pasean during the past 26 years. The article starts with a description of general changes. The second part deals more specifically with changes in Pasean’s fishing economy. Attention is paid to technological innovations, fishing methods, and trading patterns both within and outside fishery. A number of socio-economic changes, such as those in the division of labour and catches, are demonstrably related to the introduction of new technologies in fishery, but other social changes are less clearly technology-driven. An example of the latter is the klotok, a new type of perahu, the introduction of which was facilitated by the altered social circumstances and individualistic life-style of Pasean fishermen.