Poverty Culture of Community in Bengawan Solo River Bank in

Surakarta, Indonesia

Dita Agnes Dekasari

, Ahmad Zuber

and Yulius Slamet

Postgraduate of Sociology Study Program, Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta

Department of Sociology, Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta

Keywords: Poverty Culture, Riverbank, Poor People.

Abstract: Riverbank is one of population-dense settlements and slum areas dwelled by many poor people. Bengawan

Solo River bank is the settlement area for poor people in Surakarta City. This research aims to find out the

manifestation of poverty culture in Bengawan Solo River bank community. This qualitative research with

explanatory case study was taken place in Surakarta with the poor people living in Bengawan Solo River

bank area as the unit of analysis. This study employed Oscar Lewis’ poverty culture theory and informants

were selected using purposive sampling technique. Data collection was carried out through in-depth

interview, observation, and documentation of activities related to the manifestation of poverty culture in

Bengawan Solo River bank community. Validity test was conducted using data source and method

triangulations while data analysis using explanation development. The result showed that they realized the

legality of their living-land but they did not desire to move to the flat due to their fear of losing their

occupations as well as they had been living there for a long time. They were dependent on collecting-

rubbish job for their livelihood because they have no other occupation choice due to their low level of

education. In addition, they were not afraid of flood disaster from river water overflowing and considered it

as calamity because it had occurred usually and frequently.

1 INTRODUCTION

In Surakarta, there are many people living below the

poverty standard who occupy population-dense

areas. Poverty, according to Suparlan (1993), is a

people’s life with low standard, inadequate material

in some groups of people compared with the

standard enacted in surrounding society. The poverty

occurs widely in urban areas, including in Surakarta

Area in which poverty is found widely in slum area

such as in riverbank area. Slum area (poor people

settlement) can be found in Surakarta area, for

example in Bengawan Solo River bank exactly in

Kelurahan Semanggi, Pasar Kliwon, Surakarta.

Polantolo (Putra, 2016) defines riverbank as an area

on two sides along river trough calculated from the

edge to the inner dike foot.

Recent data shows that there are about 160,000

poor people in Surakarta (http://solo.tribunnews.com

retrieved on May 29, 2018). Pasar Kliwon sub

District, exactly in Kelurahan Semanggi, is one of

sub districts with largest number of poor people in

Surakarta City. Large number of poor people in

Surakarta is due to the unbalance between

population number and their increasing need for

residence, and the limited space available in urban

area leading to a population-dense settlement.

Settlement density and high population number of

course decrease the comfort level of a dwelling area,

so many people remain to occupy riverbank area as

their dwelling. People in Kelurahan Semanggi reside

illegal land constituting the bank of Bengawan Solo

River, which is vulnerable to flood disaster. In

addition, poor people settlement seems to be dirty,

decrepit, unlivable, and narrow. The majority people

have low education level, so they are dependent on

informal occupation only, such as laborer and waste

picker.

The reality above shows similar characteristics to

the Oscar Lewis’s Poverty Culture concept. The

habit of poverty categorizes by those living in slum

area and having informal occupation. They have

poverty culture when their participation level is low,

physical condition of house is decrepit, childhood

period is short, and feeling of worthlessness is high

(Suparlan, 1993: 5).

782

Dekasari, D., Zuber, A. and Slamet, Y.

Poverty Culture of Community in Bengawan Solo River Bank in Surakarta, IndonesiaÂ .

DOI: 10.5220/0007551307820785

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference Postgraduate School (ICPS 2018), pages 782-785

ISBN: 978-989-758-348-3

Previous studies have been conducted by Yuniar

Christy Aryani and Ahmad Zuber (2017) entitled

“Poverty Culture in Surakarta City: Ethnography

Study in the railway crossing edge of Joglo (Palang

Joglo), Kadipiro occupying illegal land. Basically,

the people in the railway edge are the urban. Since

they cannot afford house, they stand in poverty

culture due to low income so they find more

difficulty to make vertical mobility and hold out in

poverty. This research is different with the current

study conducted by author, entitled Poverty Culture

of Community in Bengawan Solo River bank in

Surakarta, Indonesia as current study focuses on

discussing the poverty culture arising in poor people

in slum areas in Bengawan Solo River bank in

Kelurahan Semanggi. Meanwhile, previous research

studied poverty culture in railway crossing edge of

Joglo (Palang Joglo), Kadipiro, Surakarta due to

urbanization. This research applied habitus theory to

analyze the problems mentioned with ethnography

method.

Another study has been conducted by Heny Budi

Setyorini (2013), which entitled “Fisherman Poverty

Culture in Mangunharjo Semarang”. This research

aims to find out in-depth the poverty culture

including social, economic, and cultural dimensions

as well as fisherman institution in Mangunharjo

coastal area. This research also aims to find out the

effect of fisherman poverty culture in Mangunharjo

coastal area. The methods employed in this research

were survey and library study. This used survey

method was visiting the location of research

repeatedly to interview and observe the fishermen

community in-depth. This study found out that

Mangunharjo community has high work ethos, but it

is inversely proportional to the fishermen’s welfare

level belonging to low economy. It is because

fishermen poverty culture is affected by such factors

as natural condition, technology (fish capturing

tool), fishermen’s low education level, lifestyle, and

fish catch marketing instead marginalizing the

Mangunharjo fishermen.

This research aims to study more in-depth the

form of poverty culture in Bengawan Solo River

bank. This research used theoretical foundation to

analyze the data collection during the research. The

used theory was Poverty Culture from Oscar Lewis.

Poverty culture, according to Lewis (Suparlan, 1993:

5), is the poor people’s adaptation and reaction all at

once to their marginal position in stratified society

that is individualistic and capitalistic. The low-strata

society is also more presumably having poverty

culture. Poverty culture has the following

characteristics (Suparlan, 1993): (1) less effective

participation and integration of poor people in

society’s main institutions; (2) dirty, population-

dense houses and settlement; (3) short period of

childhood; (4) strong feeling of worthlessness,

helplessness, and dependency; (5) high level of

misery due to mothers’ anguish, weak personal

structure, less self-control and passion impulse, and

strong present orientation; (6) creating the group’s

narrow orientation, the members which only know

difficulties, local condition, neighbor environment

and their own lifestyle, but have no class-

consciousness although they are very sensitive to

status difference. They usually have no competence

to see the similarity of their encounter problem to

the one encountered by the same group of their

dwelling. This poverty culture tends to perpetuate

itself from one generation to the next through

socialization impacting directly on family like

children as the next generation.

Considering the characteristics mentioned by

Oscar Lewis above and the previous explanation

about poverty culture condition, it is relevant for the

author to examine the condition of community in

Kelurahan Semanggi area as this community

belongs to poor area and has dirty (slum)

environment, particularly those living in Bengawan

Solo River bank, Kelurahan Semanggi, Pasar

Kliwon Surakarta.

2 METHODS

This research was taken place in Kelurahan

Semanggi, Pasar Kliwon, Surakarta, exactly in poor

people living in Bengawan Solo River bank. The

author decided this location because the riverbank

area considers as poor people settlement, and the

majority work as laborer and waste-picker which

creating dirty and population-dense environment.

The method employed in this study was qualitative

research method using explanatory type of case

study approach. Informants were selected using

purposive sampling with poor people living in

Bengawan Solo River bank area, Kelurahan

Semanggi, as the unit of analysis. Data collection

was carried out through in-depth interview,

observation, and documentation on activities related

to the form of poverty culture in the community of

Bengawan Solo River bank. Data validation was

carried out using data source and method

triangulation. Data analysis was conducted using

explanation development.

Poverty Culture of Community in Bengawan Solo River Bank in Surakarta, IndonesiaÂ

783

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

This research tries to observe community culture in

dirty and population-dense village (slum area)

located in Bengawan Solo River bank, Kelurahan

Semanggi, Pasar Kliwon Sub District, Surakarta,

Central Java, Indonesia. Kelurahan Semanggi is

located in Pasar Kliwon Sub District, the southeast

of Surakarta City, adjacent directly to Sukoharjo

Regency characterized with the presence of

Bengawan Solo River. In Kelurahan Semanggi,

many poor people live in filthy and population-dense

settlement, exactly in Bengawan Solo River bank.

The phenomenon occurred in this area is very

relevant to the characteristics of poverty culture as

suggested by Oscar Lewis, as explained below.

Some people inhabit an illegal land as riverbank

area categorized as an illegal area in which people’s

houses are constructed. This fact widely happens in

Kelurahan Semanggi people, but they admit that

they had been living there for a long time and there

is no desire to move to other safe areas although

flood disaster occurred frequently. The reason why

the stand to remain there is because they cannot

afford land or house in other areas due to limited

income. Meanwhile, they live in Bengawan Solo

River bank area with the right to build only and they

realize that they reside the illegal land. Surakarta

Government actually has evicted them firmly and

prohibited them from constructing houses again on

the land. It was the beginning of government’s plan

to construct embankment along Bengawan Solo

River to minimize water overflowing from

Bengawan Solo River. In that eviction, government

was also responsible for the activity by providing

flats near the location. Government has also

provided flats used to relocate the people in order to

occupy the livable places and to leave the riverbank

area. However, they do not desire to move because

they admit that they have lived there for along time

even though some people reconstruct their houses

after the eviction. In addition, surrounding people

also has some other reason: they are highly

dependent on the job as laborer and waste-picker so

they are afraid of losing their job and have not

substitute job once they move to new residence.

Riverbank area becomes a slum and population-

dense settlement area. The area is also utilized by

local people as the place to collect wastes and used

products. It is because majority local people, in

addition to working as laborer, are also dependent on

waste-picker. Informal occupation, such as laborer

and waste-picker, was done by riverbank people

because the majority of surrounding people have low

education level. Data collected by the author through

interviewing some people in riverbank area shows

that the majority people have low education level

(elementary school, on average). They admit that

they could not continue their study to the higher

level due to limited fund and their obligation to help

their family by working. These reasons create them

in having improper job and less ability of fulfilling

their need.

Local people’s dependency on their job as

laborer and waste-picker causes them entrapped in

poor life. They realize that their dependency on their

jobs obstruct the improvement of their family’s life.

However, they also realize that they have no

adequate education level to seek other better jobs

with better income. Therefore, they remain working

as laborer and waste picker as long as they can fulfill

their daily need. They do not believe of the job

improvement for their life in the future, they only

believe of the current need for the family.

The income received from the job is very

inadequate to suffice their family’s need. In addition,

its impacts on children’s education, in which their

children cannot finally get high education. Some

people even recognize that they unnecessarily have

children with high education; the most important

thing is that their children are able to work and help

their family earning money to meet their daily life.

In addition to impacting on the minimum income

and low education of children, waste-picker

profession also impact on surrounding

neighborhood. Because waste picker is collecting

used product, it creates slum area with piled used

products and wastes. As they have long lived in

riverbank area, they feel comfortable and not

disrupted with the dirty environment condition even

though some people admit that they have been

accustomed with the scenery of used product and

waste collection.

People have adapted to flood disaster as well and

considered that living in Bengawan Solo River bank

is not always comfortable. It is not only dirty and

population-dense settlement, but also often affected

by flood disaster due to Bengawan Solo River

overflowing. In rainy season, Bengawan Solo has

swift stream and receiving the delivered water from

Wonogiri and Sukoharjo Regency. Therefore, in

rainy season, Surakarta City is often befallen with

flood disaster deriving from Bengawan Solo River

water overflowing. Thus, the people living in

Bengawan Solo River bank area, Kelurahan

Semanggi can not escape from flood disaster as well.

However, from the result of interview with some

people living around the riverbank, the author found

out that the people admit that they have been

accustomed with such condition. Local people have

been accustomed with flood disaster befalling their

residence and not consider it as a calamity. Local

people’s adaptation to flood disaster deriving from

ICPS 2018 - 2nd International Conference Postgraduate School

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the river set out from their accustomedness with

flood disaster in their residence. In addition, poverty

culture also arises due to the local people’s habit of

admitting that the riverbank area is their residence,

so they remain to stay and ignore to move to other

places even in flood disaster.

4. CONCLUSIONS

This research found out some forms of poverty

culture in the people of Bengawan Solo riverbank,

Kelurahan Semanggi, Pasar Kliwon, Surakarta,

Indonesia: firstly, riverbank’s people realized that

they occupy illegal land, but they did not desire to

move to other places as their admition of living there

for a long time as well as their fear of losing job

when they move to new residence. Secondly, they

were highly dependent on their profession as laborer

and waste picker for earning money. Their

dependency on its jobs was due to their low

education level which cause of the lack

improvement of their life. In addition, it also impacts

directly on low education level of their children due

to the limited income. Thirdly, people have adapted

to flood disaster. Bengawan Solo River bank people

did not consider flood as a calamity because of their

accustomedness with flood disaster which creating a

comfort feeling despite flood disaster in their

residence. It did not lead them to move to other

place as they have admitted the dong duration of

their living and did not desire to move to new

residence.

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