Work and Cosmopolitanism at the Border: Indonesian Women Labour Migrants

Abstract

Crossing borders for work is commonly recognised as an important opportunity to enhance cross-cultural skills. Implicit here is the assumption that labour migration entails a level of cross-cultural receptivity as the basis for learning new skills etc.; a trait that in its expanded sense is also central to the discussion of cosmopolitanism. This paper explores the relationship between work and cosmopolitanism, enquiring into the influence of the concrete conditions of cross-border work on the potential for cosmopolitan engagement. The analysis focuses on four categories of cross-border work undertaken by Indonesian women from Sambas in West Kalimantan. The findings illuminate three work-related factors that shaped these women's engagement with cross-border cultural and social differences that are arguably relevant to other cross-border workers: the type of work, the nature of workplace relations and women's access to independent social spaces outside of work. These findings support the argument that our understanding of cosmopolitanism could be enriched by further study into the conditioning of cultural openness and critical reflexivity at work.