Gotong Royong of Civil Society: The Identity Struggle in Handling the Palu Valley Disaster Response

Abstract

The defined social phenomenon in this study is about the collaboration of the civil society movement through the public community as social cultural and religious movements and non-governmental organizations with their various visions on disaster response of the Palu Valley. The heterogeneous characteristics of the people of Palu and the existence of diverse social and cultural identities become the big capital in gaining support in responding to the disaster after the tectonic earthquake, tsunami, and liquefaction phenomena on September 28, 2018. Through this qualitative study, in-depth interviews were conducted on the actors involved in the disaster response in Palu. The interesting empirical reality was the strong involvement of ethnic or religious-based communities and organizations outside the government which has enabled the process of the emergency response phase to be passed with the government’s minimal role at the beginning of the biggest disaster that has ever occurred in the Palu Valley. The regional, ethnic, and religious community and non-governmental organizations or social institutions through their internal mechanisms took part in helping as the identity and vision of their organization. The movement with the basis of mutual cooperation provides the ability to survive for the affected people in the emergency response phase by building relationships with local governments through mutual support and mutual trust.