On February 5, 2015, Atsushi Ota (Hiroshima University), who is a member of this project (GHC), gave the following report at the regular weekly seminar hosted by the Centre Asie du Sud-Est (CASE) in France. The seminar, held in a building called the Maison de l’Asie in the center of Paris, was attended by a dozen or so researchers from CASE, EHESS (École des hautes études en sciences sociales), other institutions, as well as graduate students.  

OTA Atsushi: “Social Transformation of Early-Modern Banten, West Java: Internal Move to Modernity”

In his presentation, Atsushi Ota examined the transformation of Banten society in West Java in the latter half of the 18th century. Ota began by explaining that research up to this point on the Banten Sultanate focuses on the period before 1682 when the sultanate came under the influence of the Dutch East India Company and focuses on the port city and coastal areas while largely ignoring inland areas. In contrast, Ota argued that, in the latter half of the 18th century, the entire Southeast Asian region enjoyed numerous economic opportunities thanks to increased activity of Chinese trade, and that Banten was no exception. To illustrate this point, Ota explained how the local elite of inland areas of Banten expanded their influence through expansion of pepper production and how local farmers participated in Chinese trade through transactions with external merchants. Ota went on to conclude that this strengthening of the local residents’ market orientation comprised a bottom-up globalization and modernization.    

In response, numerous questions were raised by the audience regarding the definition of “modernization,” including why the trade and residents’ response in the 18th century could be called “modernization,” given that Banten had been engaged in vigorous external trade since the 16th century and what circumstances in the 18th century differed from those in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was further pointed out that the activities of producers seeking compensation have existed throughout human history. Ota responded to these questions and comments by explaining that, while the majority of goods exported from Southeast Asia in the 16th and 17th century were luxury items such as high-value spices and sandalwood whose production and distribution was, in most cases, monopolized by the king, in the 18th century, this shifted to marine products (sea cucumber, shark fin, etc.), forest products (rattan, etc.), and swallow’s nests, which were inexpensive but considered luxury items and whet the consumer appetite of China’s middle class. Such goods were difficult for the king to monopolize, and numerous producers and merchants became involved in their trade, strengthening the market-orientation among local residents. Ota went on to explain that, whereas there are records indicating that farmers sought imported cotton in exchange for peppers up to the 17th century, farmers in the latter half of the 18th century consistently sought silver coins and were sensitive to even small price margins and that individuals seeking cash incomes began to migrate. Ota argued that these were also manifestations of the strengthening market-orientation. A question was also raised by a specialist in Indonesian regional community regarding the degree of penetration of Islam and the mixing of Islam with indigenous beliefs. The discussions resulting from questions of this type seemed to drive home the need to discuss globalization from multiple angles and not just from an economic standpoint.

(Atsushi OTA)