Colonial Mechanism on Plantation Organization: Case Study of Women Worker Marginalization in West Java Plantation

摘要

This paper engages in a controversy that colonialism does not end although the colony had been declared their freedom; it still exists across time. The residual effect of colonial domination in Indonesian culture can be proved in plantation areas. The victim from this colonial mechanism is women labor. Colonial culture imposed on them constitutes a large portion of the field of study for postcolonial critics. This paper examines colonial mechanism as part of the organization communication and tries to reveal women labor experience in postcolonial paradigm. Using Deetz' Corporate Colonization Theory this research pays attention to political relationship to women, using historical background and social constructionist view. Deetz's theory proposed that the development of more participatory conceptions and practices of communications is a core in the working environment and is based on tie meaning in religion, family and community. As a qualitative research with phenomenological perspective, the primary data were collected through field observations and in-depth interviews with twelve tea picker women in a West Java plantation area. For six months the researcher constructed the meaning of working in the colonial mechanism. In the constructivism paradigm of communication, data validation is gained from source triangulation technique. For the conclusion, the researcher finds that colonial mechanism constructed through corporate culture is special in daily conversations and corporate norms. Historically, oppression on tea picker women's life has been inherited since the Dutch colonial era. This research reveals that women never had a chance to pursue their choices. Their life is only in the tea plantation area, working and raising their family there. It is recommended that future research could help tea picker women to be more independent to see and choose the best for them.