Perhaps until now, the issue of work relations is still an important and inseparable issue in society. In terms of meaning and types, we will find very diverse definitions and models of work relations in society, and will even continue to develop and change as the times change. However, the system that really influences work relations in society to date, especially in industrial society, is the capitalist system. Karl Marx explained that the work model influenced by the capitalist system will give rise to a class system.
The class system in question is a division into two groups, namely the bourgeoisie (capital owners) and the proletariat (workers). The working relationship between the two groups actually requires each other. However, according to Franz Magniz Suseno in Karl Marx's Thoughts: From Utopian Socialism to Disputing Revisionism (2010) explains that although the relationship between workers and capital owners requires each other, this relationship is not fair. There are groups that dominate and there are groups that are exploited.
The exploitation of the capitalist work system can simply be seen when, for example, workers who make a product are the ones who get the least amount. This model of work relations actually only creates a gap between small groups and those in power. Creating a group that will continue to be poor. From this, I tried to reflect on the results of my encounters with the Talang Mamak indigenous community in a series of internships for more than three months.
Views on Commodities
In modern society that adheres to a capitalist system, commodities are often understood in extreme ways. The extreme that I mean here is that every object is understood to have economic value and can be used as a commodity to be bought and sold. However, this is different from traditional communities, especially the Talang Mamak indigenous community. In the view of the Talang Mamak indigenous community, not all objects or places can be used as commodities or places to carry out economic activities.
For example, the Talang Mamak indigenous people actually use the forest and its contents to survive and carry out economic activities. However, they have signs that they must obey. For example, using trees, the Talang Mamak indigenous people are not prohibited from cutting down trees as long as they are for personal needs or community needs. Through customary law, trees are limited to needs and not for economic activities that require more value or profit. People who cut down trees for commercial needs will receive customary sanctions.
Likewise, for example, food plants. Not all food plants can be bought and sold. For example, rice, the Talang Mamak indigenous people fulfill their carbohydrate needs by growing rice (baumah). However, the rice planting activity is aimed at family needs, not for economic turnover.
Sudir, one of the traditional leaders of the Talang Mamak indigenous community, explained that the Talang Mamak indigenous community interprets and believes that rice is a brother who gives life to humans. Therefore, it cannot be sold. This is also supported by the view of one of the rice shamans, namely Bukhori, that selling rice is the same as selling your life.
This view of commodities is important, because this will greatly influence the work relations that will be built in the Talang Mamak indigenous community. The way a capitalist society views commodities will see labor relations based on economic interests.
Work Relations in the Style of the Talang Mamak Community
Almost all activities of the Talang Mamak indigenous community are carried out and carried out in mutual cooperation. Farming, building houses, and even utilizing nature are not done individually. In farming, for example, the Talang Mamak indigenous community actually has several concepts in building working relationships with the community.
The Talang Mamak indigenous people understand the concept of politics as a concept of mutual cooperation. Those who practice farming have a collective responsibility to help fellow farmers.
In concept indigenous religious paradigm from Samsul Maarif, this concept is actually understood as a form reciprocal relations or reciprocal relationship. In concept pollorien, there are several forms of work relations that are carried out, such as replacing people or remuneration for services, as well as goods for goods.
This concept of mutual cooperation is carried out based on the interests of the community. Apart from that, in their farming system, the farm owner is also generally open to being involved in helping or even looking for rice. The Talang Mamak indigenous people know this concept with the term menari.
Mengari this is when someone comes to someone else's farm to help and expects something in return. Those who do the fishing will be paid based on the results of their work. For example, when someone helps make a container for storing rice, they will be rewarded according to the size of the rice container they made.
In simple terms, wages will be assessed according to the amount of work they do. However, apart from this wage system, the Talang Mamak indigenous community actually built their work system based on community solidarity. What a family does is understood to be in the interests of the community.
Considering Traditional Work Relations
In simple terms, this article attempts to respond to the phenomenon of labor relations in industrial society which is highly exploitative. The gap between the poor and the rich created by an economic system that emphasizes individual interests only creates social problems. The class that is formed will actually create people who will oppress smaller classes.
In the context of indigenous communities, especially the Talang Mamak indigenous community, the working relationships that have been built are important to consider. Indigenous communities, who are often the targets of development and empowerment, are often forced into a logic or ideology that is different from the paradigm they have maintained since their ancestors. The system or work relationships they have built have certainly been carried out for a long time with the aim of community sustainability.
Programs that prioritize economic interests that are not based on communal interests only create small kings in the communal itself and ultimately create conflict and social classes as per the logic of capitalism. People who want to be involved and interact with indigenous communities, be it the government or other parties and are trying to carry out programs, of course it is important to consider the values that have been internalized in indigenous communities.
*This article was written by: Miftah Khalil Muflih, CRCS UGM
