Indonesia

Cultural and Family Networks

Different cultures have different networks and associations. Jambi on Sumatra is tropical forest, an agricultural frontier only recently settled. Population density is low, and socioeconomic indicators approximate those of all Indonesia. It has a relatively low inequality of household expenditure. Jawa Tengah is on Java, 310 miles from Jakarta. With a population density of 867 people per square kilometer, it is relatively urbanized, with high levels of income, education, health services, and housing. Both areas have a 99 percent Muslim population. Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) is two time zones from Jambi (1,500 miles) in east Indonesia and is relatively poor and highly rural. Less than 5 percent of its work force has wage-earning jobs, and agriculture dominates. The population is virtually all Christian, split evenly between Protestant and Catholic. Ethnic Chinese are largely excluded and have their own networks. With 87 percent of the overall population Muslim and predominantly limited-hierarchy Sunni, religion marks life events either through Muslim, Christian, or animist rites. Some Muslims and Christians use traditional or shamanic rituals for birth, death, or times of honoring the dead. Medical care may also rely on the traditional healers in the absence of national medical facilities.

Jambi has the lowest average associational membership, with the other two having nearly the same, half again the Jambi household total. Catholic households tend to belong to twice as many groups as members of other religions. On a heterogeneity scale that measures kin, neighborhood, occupation, religion, gender, education, age, and economic status, Jambi associations are more homogeneous, with Protestant associations being most heterogeneous. Education and income promote heterogeneity. Jambi is more likely to have homegrown associations than the other two, and overall the memberships are more than half in homegrown associations. Female-headed households are more likely to join the locally formed groups than are male-headed households.

The nuclear family predominates, but elders and unmarried siblings may occasionally be in the same domestic unit. Clans are patrilineal, but a rare few are matrilineal. For those with no lineal descent group, such as the Javanese, social status predisposes toward arranged marriages or familial veto of an inappropriate marriage. Most Indonesians agree that marriage is a critical method of elevating or lowering individual and family status. Wife-giving and wife-taking clans establish lifelong obligations regarding exchange of goods and services. Polygamy and interethnic marriages are rare, but the latter may be increasing in urban areas and among the more well-educated citizenry. Urbanites have a better chance of marrying for love or compatibility of education, wealth, and occupation.

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