FOR APAC Guest Lecture: „Foremen, Labor Scout, and Overseas Worker Agent, Java 1870s – 2020s“

In Cooperation with the Department of Sociology and Social Geography
Prof. Dr. Pujo SEMEDI | Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia) | Faculty of Cultural Sciences | Department of Anthropology

Dienstag, 16. Juni 2026 | 17:15-19:45 Uhr | Forum Asia Pacific | Sigmund-Haffner-Gasse 18, 3. Stock, HS 888 | 5020 Salzburg | Austria |
Online via Microsoft Teams | Meeting-ID: 339 730 244 998 567 | Passcode: uR3vK2id

Over the past century and a half, laborers from rural Java, Indonesia, have moved to various regions, near and far. Beginning with local migration in the mid-19th century to expand coffee cultivation, this evolved into overseas migration to all corners of the world. This migration was facilitated by middlemen known as mandor, werek, and migrant worker agents. Without those middlemen, the entire labor recruitment structure in and from Java would be impossible. Yet their role in labor governance remains underexplored. This research aims to uncover empirical evidence regarding the role of these intermediaries in labor migration governance in Java from the 1870s to the 2020s, and subsequently to develop a theoretical framework on intermediaries in labor migration governance, to offer a better understanding within scholarly debates on labor migration. On this occasion, I will present a discussion on mandor, drawing on archival data and participatory observations from tea plantations in the uplands of Central Java.

Mehr Informationen zur Veranstaltung.