A contrast among farmers’ ethnic groups: is this a social polarization tendency?

Abstract

The aim of the study was to capture the differences between Tolaki, Javanese, and Bugis ethnic in relation to their livelihoods in paddy upland farming activity. The study uses the post-positivism paradigm. In our research setting in Sulawesi drylands ecology, Tolaki local farmer, inhabit most areas of dry land, tend to be sub-subsistence and subsistence-oriented, their planting system is shifting cultivation, or the swidden farming, which was the legacy of their ancestors. Javanese tend to be subsistence and supra-subsistence oriented, while the Bugis farmer is expansive and supra-subsistence oriented. Another important message showed the symptoms of social polarization between the Tolaki and the Bugis as ethnic immigrants. The climax conditions will lead to social conflicts between Tolaki local farmer, Javanese, and Bugis migrants as a result of the emergence of social polarization.