Garment industry-led urbanization and women workers: factory- and home-based work in Indonesia

ABSTRACT

Utilizing the case of factory- and home-based women workers in an enclave-shaped area within Pringapus, a suburb of the Semarang Metropolitan Region in Indonesia, this study endeavors to empirically investigate the intricate connections between the evolution of garment industries, urbanization, and the roles of women workers within households. Employing descriptive statistics, data from 200 respondents who participated in a questionnaire survey were analyzed. The findings suggest that beyond contributing to urban sprawl, large garment factories serve as magnets for rural migrant women and catalyze the growth of ancillary businesses and services. This includes the establishment of home-based garment industries, which offer additional employment opportunities for local married women. Both factory-based and home-based women workers expressed satisfaction with their current employment, reflecting an alignment between their workplace and individual characteristics. Moreover, both groups exhibited a positive level of bargaining power within their households, encountering minimal resistance from family or community members. This is particularly noteworthy given the prevailing patriarchal norms prevalent within Java Island. This study raises awareness about the need for pro-women policies in industries like the garment sector, where women make up the majority of the workforce.

KEYWORDS:

• Urbanization
• suburbs
• women worker
• household
• factory
• home-based industry

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia for funding this research in the scheme of Basic Research Grant (257-33/UN7.6.1/PP/2021). The authors also would like to thank Dr. Eric C Thompson for the English proofreading and Ms. Desita Fatima Azziz and Ms. Puspita Dhian Nusa for their help in data compilation and analysis. Any flaw or weakness is the responsibility of the authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Credit authorship contribution statement

Buchori: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Project administration, Funding acquisition; Zaki: Writing – original draft, Resources, Data curation; Pangi: Investigation, Visualization; Sejati: Methodology, Writing – review & editing; Pramitasari: Data curation, Visualization.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia for funding this research in the scheme of Basic Research Grant (257-33/UN7.6.1/PP/2021).

Notes on contributors

Imam Buchori

Prof. Dr.rer.nat. Imam Buchori is a lecturer at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Diponegoro in Semarang, Indonesia. His expertise is geomatics' applications for urban and regional planning. He graduated from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Indonesia in 1993, got a doctoral degree in Geomatics for Spatial Planning from the University of Vechta, Germany in 2005, and was inaugurated as a professor at Universitas Diponegoro on June 1, 2014. He served as Chairman of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in 2008–2012, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs of the Faculty of Engineering in 2011–2015, and Dean of the Vocational School at Universitas Diponegoro in 2016. As a researcher, he has published many articles in both journals and conferences (SCOPUS ID: 54986165700 and Google Scholar ID: TrO3Nc0AAAAJ).

Abdurrahman Zaki

Abdurrahman Zaki is a junior researcher at CEGAS (Centre of Geomatics Application for Sustainable Development) Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang, Indonesia. He graduated from the Department Urban and Regional Planning, Universitas Diponegoro in 2020 and now he is studying a master's degree in the same field at Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy w Poznaniu (SCOPUS ID: 57482744000).

Pangi Pangi

Pangi Pangi, MT. is a lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering and Planning, Faculty of Vocational School, Universitas Diponegoro in Semarang, Indonesia. He teaches courses in computer planning, remote sensing, geographic information systems, spatial planning practice, location analysis. His expertise is GIS applications for spatial planning and land administration. He graduated from the Urban and Regional Planning, Universitas Diponegoro. Now he served as Secretary of the bachelor's degree program in Spatial Planning and Land Administration at the Department of Civil Engineering and Planning, Vocational School, Universitas Diponegoro. As a researcher, he has published articles in both journals and conferences (SCOPUS ID: 57209027118).

Anang Wahyu Sejati

Dr. Anang Wahyu Sejati is a lecturer at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Diponegoro in Semarang, Indonesia. His expertise is spatial modelling for urban and regional planning. He got a doctoral degree in Urban Science from the Diponegoro University in 2019. He served as head of Geomatics and Planning Laboratory, and as a researcher, he has published many articles in both journals and conferences (SCOPUS ID: 57201116275)

Angrenggani Pramitasari

Angrenggani Pramitasari, MT. graduated from Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang. Besides being a lecturer at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, she is recently serving as the secretary of research and community service institution in Universitas Agung Podomoro, Jakarta, Indonesia. She is interested in exploring spatial planning, urban economic, regional management and community development. As a researcher, she has published many articles in both journals and conferences (SCOPUS ID: 57195552055).