Papuan Mama-Mama's Layered Resilience Strategy in The Informal Sector: Social Capital, Silent Leadership, And Governance Failures in The Remu Central Market, Sorong City

Willyan Sahetapy; Daniel D. Kameo; Titi Susilowati Prabawa

doi:10.59261/inkubis.v8i3.400

Authors

Willyan Sahetapy Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana
Daniel D. Kameo Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana
Titi Susilowati Prabawa Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59261/inkubis.v8i3.400

Keywords:

Active Acceptance, Adaptive Wisdom, Customary Kinship Networks, Economic Resilience, Governance Failure, Informal Sector

Abstract

Background: Papuan mothers are indigenous Papuan women traders have constituted the backbone of Sorong City's informal food economy for over three decades. Despite operating without institutional support, they demonstrate remarkable resilience that has neither been adequately documented academically nor addressed through relevant policy.

Objective: This study aims to: (1) document the layered resilience architecture of Mama-Mama Papua; (2) analyze economic agency mechanisms operating beneath patriarchal public displays; (3) diagnose systemic sources of repeated program failure; and (4) formulate evidence-based policy implications.

Methods: Critical ethnography was conducted over six months (November 2025–May 2026) at Pasar Sentral Remu, Kota Sorong. Data were collected through participant observation, eleven in-depth interviews with six primary informants and five complementary informants, and field notes. Thematic analysis with NVivo software produced five inductively emergent themes.

Results: Five resilience pillars were identified: (1) garden-based economic independence; (2) customary kinship networks functioning as informal insurance; (3) adaptive wisdom ('tomorrow morning will come back again'); (4) spirituality as a functional economic mechanism; and (5) intergenerational education investment. Three original concepts emerged: silent leadership, daily identity dissonance, and active acceptance. Four government program failures were documented, all acknowledged directly by the relevant institutional actors.

Conclusion: The resilience of Mama-Mama Papua is endogenous, culturally-embedded, and structurally unrecognized. Policy intervention must depart from recognizing existing strengths rather than assumed deficits, and must address the governance gap that has persisted for over two decades.

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