Socioeconomic Conditions and the Resilience of Coastal Communities: Reassessing Local Development from the Social Margins of Bira Bulukumba Regency
Keywords:
Coastal Communities, Local Development, Resilience, Social EconomyAbstract
Coastal areas play a strategic role in driving economic growth through fisheries and tourism, yet they also face unevenly distributed socio-ecological vulnerabilities. In Bira, Bulukumba Regency, the rapid expansion of marine tourism, service activities, and small-scale fisheries has shaped a local development landscape that is both dynamic and complex. However, development priorities have not fully positioned vulnerable groups as central actors, leaving segments of the coastal population on the social margins. This study revisits local development from the perspective of social marginality by emphasizing the contribution of the social economy to strengthening coastal community resilience. The research adopts a qualitative case study approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with fishers, tourism workers, micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) actors, coastal women, and local stakeholders; focus group discussions; field observations; and a review of development documents. The analysis integrates a social economy framework (mutual aid practices, trust-based networks, cooperatives, and community institutions) with a resilience framework (coping, adaptive, and transformative capacities). The social economy in Bira operates through informal networks such as rotating savings groups, kinship-based solidarity, market information sharing, and reciprocal support, which strengthen income diversification and the management of seasonal risks. However, these practices are still constrained by unequal access to formal capital and policies that prioritize physical investment, making the integration of the social economy into coastal policies essential for more inclusive and resilient development.
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