Santri-Entrepreurs and Development of Community-Based Batik Industry at Laweyan, Solo, Indonesia

Abstract

Though studies on the relationship between worldly asceticism and economic progress is an old thing, this study presents a re-visit of Boeke’s Indonesia dual economy as a result of the presence of a mixture of such a duality performed by Santri-entrepreneurs at Laweyan, Solo, Indonesia.   Industrialism as a way of life is commonly linked to the transformation from agricultural societies into industrial in modern West nations, with the crucial roles of industrial entrepreneurs who were among the few in the respective societies having distinctive personal qualities. The most well-known thesis was Weber’s thesis on the relationship between the Protestant ethic and economic development by the few entrepreneurs possessing worldly asceticism—homo economicus who were working hard for achieving material well-being but at the same time develop religious ascetic life. The paper makes an account of Islam-based Santri-entrepreneurs in Kampung Batik Laweyan (KBL), Solo, Indonesia, employing a critically theoretical perspective of Max Weber and Boeke; the study takes into account political context and socio-cultural setting. It is our findings that Santri-entrepreneurs at KBL developed worldly asceticism, but political context has made the unstable growth of the business; contemporary steady growth has been made possible by the provision of the concept KBL as Cultural Heritage and facilitation by the local government, especially the establishment of deliberation forum among several parties that gives ample room for their steady growth.