Gender and Trust in Indonesia

Gender and Trust
in Indonesia
Jutta Berninghausen
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
Jutta Berninghausen
• 1986 -1988 research on
Indonesian self help
organisations for women
• 1989 -1996 Consultant in ILO
and UNDP training projects
• 1997 - 2002 Consultant for
various development
cooperation projects
• Since 2002 Prof for
Intercultural Management at
Hochschule Bremen
• 2005-2007 Visit of former
research area
• Interviews on “What has
changed"
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
• Berninghausen / Soeprapto /
Kerstan: Schleier Sarong
Minirock, Frauen im kulturellen
Wandel Indonesiens, 2008
Two different concepts of Trust
In Germany :
In Indonesia :
• An emotional term
• Strong belief in the goodness
strength, reliability of
somebody or sth without proof,
• Trust is an emotional gift to
somebody
• Trust is something you give to
somebody on credit
• A rational consequence
• Trust = Believe (no direct
translation possible)
• Trust is stupidity
• Trust in somebody only
because of good reasons
• Trust has to be earned =
Trustworthy
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
Some Facts about Indonesia
Religions:
• 6 th to 15th century
Hindu - Buddhist kingdoms
• 15th century Islam
• Since 17th century Dutch
colonialisation
• Today 88% Islam, (biggest
Muslim population worldwide)
• 9% Christians
• 3% Hindu
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
• strong Islamisation over the
last 20 years
Some more Facts about Indonesia
• Independent since 1949
• 1947 -1965 Soekarno
• 1965 -1996 Soeharto
„guided Democracy“
Javanisation of Indonesia
• Since 1996 Democratisation
and Decentralisation process
• Actual President since 2004:
Yudhoyono (SBY)
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
• 230 million inhabitants
(18 Million in Jakarta)
• 17.000 Islands
• 300 Ethnies and languages
(47% Javanese)
The concept of trust can not be understood
without Franz von Magnis Suseno
•
•
•
•
•
Born 1936
Jesuit Missionary
Philosopher and Theologian
Since 1977 Indonesian Citizen
Former President of the
University of Philosophy in
Jakarta
• As an Intelectual, well known
in Indonesia for promoting the
interreligious dialogue
• Very present in official Media
as a consultant to recent social
developments
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
Publications i.a.:
• Javanische Weisheit und Ethik
München·Wien 1981
• Neue Schwingen für Garuda Indonesien zwischen Tradition
und Moderne. München 1989
Javanese Wisdom and Ethics
• A person is not assessed
according to his moral intent
but according to his actual
behaviour.
• Not „good and bad“ But „right
and wrong“.
• „good“ and „evil“ are equally
necessary forces to ensure the
balance of social harmony.
• It is normal to have animalistic
emotions and passions and
egoistical interests.
• Therefore they have to be
controlled by society.
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
• Egoistical, lower drives and
selfish intentions are not
condemned but rather
assumed as a natural
condition. It is not about
fighting them, but controlling
them.
It is not about fighting the desires,
- but controlling them
• „If the man leaves through the
front door, his wife leaves
through the back door“
(Javanese saying)
• „It`s normal for men to be
unfaithful anyway. I don`t mind
either if my husband has
affairs with other women, as
long as he drops them right
afterwards, just like you throw
away the banana leaf after
you`ve finished eating your
rice from it.“ (Field notes)
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
• Partinah had become pregnant
by one of the married men of
the village. Marriage was out of
question. Eventually P´s
parents found an impoverished
man who married her for
30.000 Rps. (Field notes)
Javanese Wisdom and Ethics
Everybody has two parts:
Lahir (Body)
= kasar (rough, unclean)
Batin (Soul)
= halus (noble, fine)
• The aim is to achieve spiritual
control over oneself and of the
environment
• To achieve social harmony
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
Means are:
• Avoidance of conflict
• Empathy (rasa)
• Respect
• Humility (shame)
• To find once place on earth
Trust = trustworthy
• People do not trust each other
due to a diffuse feeling of
friendship, but after careful
assessment of the
circumstances.
• „My first husband was really
too stupid for words. Whenever
I wanted to go anywhere, he
always demanded that Pak
Masri go with me. As time went
by I gave my heart to Pak
Masri and fell in love with him.
It was my husbands fault: he
trusted Pak Masri because he
was so quiet“ (field notes)
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
• Reasons to trust one another
could be interdependency and
respective responsibilities,
• The deceived is not awarded
emotional sympathies, but if
anything the deceiver.
With whom to best make business in
Indonesia?
Question:
Is there a difference in
trustworthyness of men and
women in Indonesia in respect
to business relations?
Assumption:
In business, women are more
reliable than men.
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
Men = halus(noble) / Women = kasar (rough)
Men = batin (Soul) / Women = lahir (Body)
• Qualities like self control and
asceticism are halus and batin
and more attributed to men.
• Women are considered to be
by nature more emotional and
constrained within social and
material dictates.
• Trade and financial matters
belong to the kasar and lahir
and are therefore attributed to
women.
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
• „He considered himself to be
the soul of the family, I was his
body. He was the great artist
who dutifully mastered every
difficulty, while my role
consisted of taking care of
business to put food on the
table“ (interv. by Niels Mulder)
Women are more trustworthy in handling
money
• „What impressed me most
about my grandmother was the
story of how she once asked
my grandfather how much he
earned as an administrative
official, and then cooly offered
him double that amount if he
wanted to work for her!“ (Nena)
• „I´m the one who can deal with
everything and make all the
decisions. My husband doesn`t
have the slightest idea about
anything. I´m very satisfied
with this, because I am the
dominant one in the family“
(Ibu Darko, field notes)
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
• „Whenever a man wants to go
into town or go shopping for
something here, he has to go
to his wife, explain what he
wants and ask her for some
money. She may either refuse
or not give him enough“
(Javanese farmer quoted by Jay)
Javanese women are better in handling
money than men
• In our study women had the
most important voice in
decisions regarding household
finances in more than 80% of
all families.
Nevertheless men profit more
from the household budget
adminstered by their wifes than
the wifes themselves.
(confirmed by all other studies)
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
• Most Javanese Women do
work to earn an income
• Javanese women dominate
the market trade (50 men to
100 women)
Women in SMEs
• While we still find a high
percentage of female-headed
enterprises in the micro and
home industry sector, the share
of women owners decreases
drastically as enterprises grow
in scale and capital intensity
According to National statistics:
Micro enterprises = 44%
Small enterprises = 12%
"Micro" = 1 to 5 employeres,
“Small” = 5 to 19 employees,
“Medium” = 20 to 99 workers
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
• Percentage of women headed
enterprises by sector:
Food production = 34%
Textile industry = 27%.
(BPS, 1998)
ADB Development Project 2001-2002
Survey on SMEs
• Project provided inputs for policy
formulation concerning Small
and Medium Enterprise
Development to the Indonesian
Government
• Quantitative survey in the cities
of Semarang and Medan
• 482 small and medium
enterprises.
• Sectoral mix comprising
manufacturing and processing
(121 enterprises), services (120
enterprises), wholesale, retail,
restaurants and accommodation
(120 enterprises), transport,
storage and communication
(121 enterprises).
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
Size of enterprise by gender
Small
Medium
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Female
50%
Male
60%
70%
80%
90%
ADB Development Project 2001-2002
Survey on SMEs
• In 22% of the male owned
enterprises surveyed,
however, the wives also work
in the firm.
• SME s in which women are
involved as entrepreneurs
more than 30%.
• The survey strongly supports
the traditional stereotype
saying that women are better
in handling money
• Most of the helping wives
(36%) were responsible for
finances, while husbands were
more used for marketing.
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
all
finance
production
marketing
management
cooking for employees
assist in production
administration without decision
cashier
komisaris
supervisor
0%
10%
20%
30%
Husband, n=16
40%
50%
60%
50%
60%
Wife, n=78
Management
Marketing
Production
Financial
All decisions
0%
10%
20%
30%
Husband, n=16
40%
Wife, n=78
ADB Development Project 2001-2002
Survey on SMEs
• Survey results indicate that
enterprises managed by a
woman or by a woman and a
man together are more
successful than male-led
enterprises.
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
Development of business
Improved
No change
Worsened
0%
10%
20%
30%
Female
40%
Male
50%
60%
ADB Development Project 2001-2002
Survey on SMEs
• Female entrepreneurs are
more realistic and cautious.
Women would know exactly
about risks and challenges
before starting a new
investment.
• Women entrepreneurs are
more hesitant to apply for bank
loans.
• Female entrepreneurs report
fewer problems with business
licenses, tax officials or illegal
levies than their male
counterparts.
Duration of operation by gender
more than 10 years
6 - 10 years
2 - 5 years
Less than 2 years
0%
10%
20%
30%
Female
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
40%
Male
50%
60%
A polarizing generalisation
• Men are striving for wisdom, power and status
• Women are striving for material wellbeing
• Men are granted higher official status and power but
women are the more reliable business partners
Gender and Trust in Indonesia
Thank You
for your attention
Gender and Trust in Indonesia