Thirteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Indonesia is a multiethnic country. Different interests of each ethnic group often produces tensions and social conflict. One of massive social conflicts occurred in Poso Regency, Central Sulawesi Province. The social conflict was claimed as a religious conflict, although a political contestation also contributed. An uneasy relationship between Muslim and Christians had already been forming since 1992 and it exploded into a social conflict in 1998 and 2000. It pushed people of both religions to flee Poso for safety. When peace eventually returned to Poso, some villagers refused to return to their previous villages because of the trauma they had experienced. They preferred to build a new life in other villages. Typical in post-conflict areas, women of displaced communities in Poso have had to work harder to meet their basic needs compared to the situation before the conflict. In the new village, land ownership is limited and the displaced families depend more on non-agricultural work performed by women than on agriculture. Displaced families commonly abandon or sell their agricultural land in the previous village but are rarely able to buy land in their new village. This research uses a mixed-method approach in an IDP village with 80 participants. The data collection methods include structured interviews, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions. Results of the increasing role of women to support the economy as a change of tradition among the indigenous ethnic group in Poso is discussed.