Negotiating Cultural Identity and Social Capital in a Multiethnic Marketplace: Insights from Community-Based Traders in Indonesia

Abstract

Traditional marketplaces function not only as sites of economic exchange but also as social and cultural arenas where diverse communities negotiate identity and build relationships. This study examines how community-based traders negotiate cultural identity in a multiethnic marketplace and how such processes generate social capital for interethnic cooperation and socioeconomic resilience. An interpretive qualitative case study with ethnographic elements was conducted at Mardika Market in Ambon, Indonesia, involving traders from the Amarima Hatuhaha community and other ethnic and social groups. Data were collected through repeated observations, semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, and documentation and analyzed using reflexive thematic and abductive approaches. The findings demonstrate that cultural identity operates not only as a social boundary but also as a relational resource for building cross-group trust and reciprocity. Cultural values, kinship ties, shared reputations, and norms of mutual assistance provide an initial foundation for trust, which is subsequently extended through everyday practices such as information sharing, deferred payments, lending, safeguarding stalls, assistance with goods, customer referrals, and conflict negotiation. The study reveals that bonding social capital can be transformed into bridging social capital through the ongoing negotiation of cultural boundaries. It advances social capital scholarship by conceptualizing social capital as a relational capacity actively produced through culturally embedded identity negotiation.