Politik Jejaring Saudagar Bugis

Anshar , Nur Azizah

2016 | Tesis | Politik dan Pemerintahan

ABSTRACT This study is aimed to describe the networking politics of Bugis tradesmen especially in Wajo regency. The reason for choosing Bugis tradesmen in this research are: 1) the political discourse of the elites particularly in South Sulawesi is dominated by the noblemen with the result that the other groups out of it including Bugis tradesmen are rarely found, 2) the Bugis tradesmen group is considered strong and the elites should be treated in the political dynamics since the representation of the South Sulawesi actors in politics at national level is still dominated by the tradesmen, while in fact, in the political dynamics at local level especially in Wajo regency, the tradesmen have shown their domination in the general election of legislative in 2009. Seeing this fact, the research offers to depict the networking practices of the tradesmen. This research focuses on answering the question of how Bugis tradesmen utilize strategies and networking in optimizing their opportunities in the general election of legislative of Wajo regency in 2009. The researcher employs the concept of Pierre Bourdieu to answer the question. That concept helps to analyze the capital, habitus, field, and practice performed by the Bugis tradesmen in networking. Based on the observation result, the emergence of the Bugis tradesmen as a group with capital is maintained and developed through trading habitus early socialized in the family. The big amount of the economic capital also develops to the other fields out of the trading. The volume of the economic capital of the Bugis tradesmen has become a power of forming a social capital characterized by a hierarchical networking in each sector. The ability to converse their economic capital to symbolic capital in form of a status impressed through a parade of entities (things) and behaviors has set the tradesmen to a special position and has assigned their cultural capital and symbolic capital in the society. The capital accumulation in a various structure and in a bigger volume has made the tradesmen easier to an up-leveled mobility. The conversion of the economic capital to the other forms of capital has differentiated the tradesmen from the other groups in the society, and at once has created gaps ending with their domination to the practices of those followers of the networking. That domination is then materialized in the same attitude performed by the followers in the political field including the general election. The chosenness of the Bugis tradesmen in the general election of legislative in Wajo regency is a depiction of the Bugis tradesmen’s power through their domination to the followers in the networking, and at a time as a symbolic parade through the practices of the followers as confirmed in the result of their votes for legislative in the general election in Wajo regency. Keywords: tradesmen, capital, habitus, practice, general election

Kata Kunci : Pemilu