Gotong Royongand the Transformation of Kampung Ledok Code, Yogyakarta

This article focuses on Kampung Ledok Code, a small riverside community in Yogyakarta that was less exposed to outside influence and in the beginning had tenuous bonds among the population. It aims to understand how this marginalized society articulated and made use of gotong royong to engineer the kampung’s transformation. Challenging the traditional perception of gotong royong as a collective spirit that has long been an important element of Indonesian national culture, some critics argue that gotong royong is a political construction for manpower mobilization. Yet people also attempt to make use of gotong royong for their own purposes. This article argues that gotong royong is historically constructed, but that the Ledok Code community employed the concept toward a variety of ends. It began with a communal spirit that bonded the population. It became a popular strategy to gain recognition, then a kampung ritual to generate neighborhood improvement. Eventually, gotong royong was institutionalized as a social norm to regulate the community.