Mobility, Capital and Youth Transitions in Indonesia

Abstract

This chapter draws from a study of young Indonesian musicians to challenge the domination of time-honoured Global North frameworks for thinking about youth transitions to work and adulthood. As a new form of work in Indonesia, gaining income in the precarious sector of contemporary music exemplifies the need for mobility, achieved in part through the accumulation of network capital. Analysis of ethnographic data on Indonesian music scenes and cultural production reveals diverse pathways for young people who want to make a living from playing music. We depict their struggles as they move between different music scenes in Indonesia. We do so by looking at their individual and collective practices of livelihood in three different places: Jogjakarta, a small, traditional city of universities on the island of Java; Jakarta, the national capital; and the tourist island of Bali. Each place is treated as a separate field which offers some opportunities, but also challenges and limitations, to the young musicians. Notably, they identified mobility between the three places as a key strategy through which to gain income advantages. This operates as a form of network capital, accumulated not so much individually, but collectively, among friends and associates who help each other find income opportunities.