Political Implications Of Social Change In Rural Java PDF Download

Climate change increases weather unpredictability, threatens communities whose livelihoods depend on natural resources, such as rural communities. Utilizing a Community Capital Framework (Flora and Flora, 2013) and Governance of Complex Adaptive Systems (Duit and Galaz, 2008), this study concentrated on the role of cultural and political capital in supporting rural communities’ resilience to climate change. Specifically, this study inquires: 1) Does staple food diversification as traditional knowledge support community resilience to climate change?; 2) How does a government institution, i.e. via rice subsidy policy, facilitate the practice of staple food diversification as traditional knowledge?; 3) How does political capital play a role in facilitating community resilience to climate change?; and 4) What is the effect of social and human capital on political capital? Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from three rural communities in Java, Indonesia. Results indicate that cultural and political capital exhibit positive roles in mitigating rural communities’ resilience to climate change. However, there remains a lack of realization of climate change’s long-term effect and the need for adaptation action, even when communities have noticed changes in climate and the environment. Also, government institutions, in this case via rice subsidies, can go hand in hand with traditional knowledge on local staples to enhance communities’ resilience. Moreover, human capital, especially level of education, plays a substantial role in the exercise of political capital in rural communities. Low education level in the studied communities creates a reluctance to participate in policy discourse and a reliance on community leaders in policy-making processes, despite the ongoing decentralization policy that provides broader opportunities for rural communities to participate in development and policy-making.