2009

Rural Dynamics
Methodological Framework
An Existentialists Point of View
By Hidajat Nataatmadja

PUSAT KAJIAN DAN DOKUMENTASI

KARYA HIDAYAT NATAATMADJA

www.hidayat-nataatmadja.blogspot.com
email: kajian.nataatmadja.blogspot.com

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RURAL DYNAMICS METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK:

AN EXISTENTIALISTS POINT OF VIEW
By Hidajat Nataatmadja
Introduction
In the Desember 1973 issue of this journal Alan M. Strout presented
Rural Dynamics: Research on Rural Changes, which has been made part of
the Rural Dynamics research proposal (Agro Economic Survey). For
completeness the author wishes to present basic methodolagical aspects of
the same research; part of it can be found in the original research proposal.
Many of the subjects dealt with are basic epistemological prablems that
may invite strong controversial issues.
The presentatian should not be assessed from its completeness and rigor,
but from the paint of view of arousing keen intelligent responses.
Essentially this paper conveys the message of establishing general
coordinate system of reference, instead of using the rigid framework of the
non-existent impartial observer. We need to proceed in the direction paved
by Eintein in his General Theory of Relativity replacing the non-existent
inertial system in Newtonian mechanics by the general non-Euclidean system
of reference.
Mans Existential1 World
The existential self is that part of human conscience that motivates,
evaluates, and identifes the reflected self and the world around him.
Existential realities are those conceptualized images of the inaccessible
world around him in a systematic and categorial ordering. He recognizes his
parents, his colleagues from the images and the associated world events
stored somewhere within the gray substance of his thinking machine.
The ordering of the images, process recognition and interpretation is
essentially part of the socialization process. Man is not born human; he has to
learn from his fellow beings how to order images, how interpret processes,
how ta evaluate and make decisions beyond those innate psychophysiological
propensities that tell him how to act and react to given stimuli with his
thinking machine short-circuited.
These existential realities serve to determine the relationship between
the existential self and the speculative word realities around him, his
existential bases. The existential self and the associated world images are
1

For the meanings of the term existential the author made indirect use of some references.
See: (1) Ph. Kohnstamm, Mensch en Wereld: Een PersonaIistiscbe Inleiding in de Wijsbegeerte
(Amsterdam: Scheltema en Holkemas Boekhandel, 1954); (2) Robert K. Merton, Sociology of
Knowledg, in G. Gurvitch and W.E. Moore, eds., Twentieth Century Sociology (New York:
Philosophical Library, 1945); and (3) Karl Mannheim, Ideology and Utopia, trans by Louis Worth
and Edward Shils (New York: Harcourt, 1936).

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inseperable, establishing a coherent psychosocial personality as observed,

recognized, and interpreted by others and reflectively by the self.
The existential reality depends qualitatively on the technique and
mastery of the existential self in the manipulation of the electrocolloidal
neuro-encephalogical thinking machine. The invention of scientific ordering
of events is essentially the invention of a powerful technique in the mastery
of the apparatus.
Scientific method of thinking breaks up the limiting constraint of
tradition, that prevents full utilization of its capacity. Invention is a product of
the socialization process whereby errors are identified, fresh ideas are
communicated and tested for coherence, relevance, validity, and operational
significance.
Modern and Traditional Man Contrasted
Existential world is essentially unique, though it would be meaningless
unless it shows uniformities and coherencies among population of the
existential worlds of individuals.
To be able to compare several possible constructs of the existential
world, e.g. modern versus traditional, some heuristic conceptualizations are
needed.
Overly simplified in rarefied abstraction, the existential universe can be
thought of to consist of three parts:2
(1) The motivating, evaluating and identifying existential self.
(2) The existential images of the speculative world realities in a
systematic ordering.
(3) The world of perception which functions as the essential linkages
between the two components of the existential world and the
speculative world realities outside, assumed to exist independent
from the perceiving self.
The ordering of the existential images is of paramount importance, as it
is only by ordering that informations can be intelligibly stored, recognized,
traced, and processed. There are essentially three major types of ordering
that the human mind is capable to perform, namely:
(a) Telic ordering, whereby the existential images are ordered for
intelligibility, economy of space, ease of reference, and coherency for
identification and operation.
(b) Affective ordering, whereby the image are ordered according to the
degree of affect and emotional relevance.
(c) Teleological ordering, whereby the images are ordered according to
the degree of necessity and needs.
2

The author failed to consider basic psychological, philosophical, and epistemological works to
substantiate the idea presented. Similarity with the established works may be coincidental or of
indirect influence.

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If the existential world of modern man be contrasted to the traditional

one it is expected that the two will differ in content, quality, and ordering.
Modern man has achieved a high degree or perfection in the mastery of the
thinking machine, whereby valid causal, functional, and correlational
interdependencies of world events are continuously invented followed by
innovations. The invention of causal, functional, and correlational nexus of
events must have a profound effect on telic ordering, and consequently on
affective and teleological ordering as well.
Modern man has also been able to disclose partly the mysterious veil of
time, having relatively cogent images of what will happen in the future. These
future images have been able to enrich the content of the existential world
and revolutionize the quality and ordering of the existential images.
As a no less telic being traditional man is equally well equipped with
similar existential constituent, and differs only in existential contention.
Instead of having a well tested image of causal, functional, and correlational
nexus of events traditional man is equipped with poorly tested premises
whereby worldly processes are seen as being constantly interfered by
personified images of the unseen demons and deities.
For modern man demons and deities are merely pseudo-images offering
pseudo-explanation to the causal nexus of events. For traditional man
demons and deities are no less real than aeroplanes, and existentially
speaking they are indistinguishable from other complexes of real images.
Modern man perceives his existential universe as a transient construct
that is liable to change adjusted to new informations and ideas offered by the
thinking machine. Traditional people regard the content as well as ordering
as something immutably given by the divine Sovereign. Hence its tenacity,
inflexibility, and imperviousness to change.3
Traditional people feel themselves under direct control and protection
by of the Divinity. It helps to enhance the sense of security by following the
well-trodden traditional path. Such a stable sense if security is lacking in
modern society being replaced by formal security devices. So security feeling
in a traditional society may not be inferior with respect to modern society,
even in cases frequently inflicted by natural disasters.
The differences in the quality of the existential make-up between modern
and traditional people is the source for misunderstanding and
communication gap. Better and fuller understanding has to be gained
through the investigation of the existential dimensions. It needs a different
method and approach than hitherto currently devised for rural
socio-economic studies.

It is does not mean that divinity, God, and the belief in afterlfe have no place in the existential
world of modern man. Categorically they are part of the existential realities, whether they are
ignored, refured, or accepted.

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Evil in Disguised Bliss

Traditional socities have proven themselves to be able to survive for
probably hundreds of thousands of years. Can modern societies survive
one-tenth this length of time? Primordials of modern societies emerged and
died. Would modern society destroy itself through the mobilization of billions
of megawatthours of energy, some of it in the form of lethal weaponry and
birth?
The bliss provided by better health care has enable mankind to multiply
in unabated geometric progression. The pressure is particularly felt by the
developing countries where technological advance has been only partially
developed. Overcrowded societies give rise to grave survival problems of
food supply, social control, and environmental deterioration.
Can modern science keep pace with the rising demand and expanding
problems it has created? Probably it is a wrong question to ask, as we all
agree that no meaningful answer to that question exists, except for
speculative exercises.
What is true is that mankind is not in a position to resist the advance of
science. Science seems to be able to offer the best and only solution for the
pressing problems of today and creates a multiplicity of problems for
tomorrow. It appears to be a sequence of problems without end. Science
changes mans existential world and through this very act changes man, the
process that seems to be thermodynamically irreversible and irresistable.
As Adam had to make the decision in the Garden of Eve, so we have too.
Surprisingly we are in similar circumstances as he was. We know what he
decided, and so we know almost for sure (existentially) what we have to
decide.
The Implication for the Rural Dynamics study
The study of rural societies is a voyage into a fascinating strange land.
Modern man cannot fully appreciate the human aspects of what he observes
using the conventional instruments of the impartial observer alone. Unless
the researcher is able to dive deep into the existential realities of the people,
they are prone to make existential biases, irrelevant conclusions, and
unwarranted premises. He would be much like Alice in her Wonderland.
Remember the early argument pertaining to the question of whether
traditional farmers are rational people or not, or that colored people are
inferior human race. Analogous argument of a less conspicuous nature also
exist. Such arguments are manifestly generated by an apparent existential
gap between the opposing parties.
Myrdals assertion that we have to be explicit with the value premises4
is in reality part of the existential assertion posited in this paper. Here it is
4

Gunnar Myrdal, Asian Drama (New York: Pantheon, 1970), Vol. I, p. 49. In the Prologue his
discussions apparently merge into a single conclusion: the need for an existential approach.

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asserted further that the researcher should also be able to perceive the
existential realities and the value premises of the observed subjects.
This is not only meaningful in terms of the depth of understanding, but
also in terms of operational relevance. As we come across the question of
how to transform traditional society into modern society, then it is necessary
to know their existential framework, what they like or dislike, their
emotional and motivational structure.
Efforts to bring in existential conceptualization into the methodological
framework should be reflected in the terminology to convey the idea;
terminological concepts should be redefined and fortified.
Socio-anthropological sciences revolve around some crucial concepts
such as group, institution, status, role, society, class, and organization. Here
below an attempt is provisionally made to redefine the meaning of these
terms.5
Role
Status
Group
Class
Society
Organization
Institution

Existentially perceived proper functions of individuals in

a given hierarchy of a social system
Existentially perceived proper privileges and rights of
individuals performing proper functions in a given
hierarchy of a social system
Any collection of individuals whose mutual
interrelationship demand particular attention
Any collection of individuals having similar
characteristics with or without mutual interrelationships
among them
A combination of groups wherein practically all
existential requirements are accomodated or derived
A formal system of function and the associated
hierarchical positions in a given social system, or a
personified image of such a formal system
A system of statuses and the associated roles a the
personified image of such a system perceived by the
individuals as he existential sovereign for determining
proper conducts and social relations among individuals
in a social system, equipped with the necessary control
and executive power

Thus the term such as role, status, and institution are fortified with
existential meaning, implying that these concepts can only be fully
understood in relation to the existential framework.
5

For basic references concerning the conventional meaning of the terms, see Florian Znaniecki,
Social Organization and Institutions, and Logan Wilson, Sociography of Groups, in Georges
Gurvitch and Wilbert E. Moore, eds., Twentieth Century Sociology (New York: Philosophical
Library, 1945).

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The Crucial Issue in Social Causation and Change

Lasting social change implies the change in the existential make-up,
which may be manifested by a gradual evolutionary process or by a sudden
revolutionary upheaval.
The crucial problem of the day is the effort to introduce technological
changes in rural society. The success of such program should be regarded as
a matter of survival in this neo-Malthusian era and the world of mounting
competition.
For the developing nations to survive they have to induce technological
innovation fast and successfully. It poses new problems which have no
precedent in history involving a colosal number of people. It might be called
the great mission of the century and its masive success the first World
Wonder.
First of all it requires huge capital and human investment. Given the
limited resources it is essential that man should proceed economizingly,
which in turn requires realistic and accurate blue-prints for program
implementation and control. It is primarily the task of the research workers
to provide the necessary and sufficient information for that purposes.
The Rural Dynamics Research Program should be geared to serve
primarily that goal. All information collected should be selected
economizingly to achieve that objective.
What kind of basic information do we need most? To be able to answer
this question some exploratory theoretical conceptualization is needed.
Adoption of technological innovation depends on mans existential
conception. Teleological ordering of economic opportunities makes itself
manifests as felt needs or imperatives for action. New teleological ordering
means new motive structures, that motivates people to do something new. It
is the quality of the motive structure that determines the ease of adoption,
not simply the change in ordering. When traditional practices cease to be
regarded as being sufficient to shoulder the increasing population, it does not
imply the creation of qualitatiively new motive structure, but perhaps only a
simple reordering of priorities.
The existence of a new motive structure does not necessarily mean
decision for action. An imperative is only a potential motive force. For its
realization it depends further on what man perceives about its economic
feasibility and social acceptance.
If someone feels the imperative to marry a girl he may still be afraid to
ask her for wedding. His decision will depend on the existential supporting
bases, that is the environmental factor complexes and endowments.
Supporting existential bases may be in the form of technical factor complexes
and services, or they may be manifested as institutional constraints.

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Moshers idea of Progressive Rural Structure6 essentially refers to the

supporting existential bases in the form of technical factor complexes and
services, but he does not write very much about institutional constraints.
Institutional constraints manifest themselves through various kinds of
forces such as:
(a) Institutional
approval,
disapproval;
encouragement
and
discouragement. Man is supposed to live and act in accord to the
expectation of his fellow beings. Non-conformity means social
disapprobation.
(b) The lack of strong organizational capacity to mobilize local resources
to achieve certain new objectives.
(c) The lack of viable social control for particular social activity, such as
cooperative movement. Traditional social control may be quite
effective for traditional purposes, but useless for modern
enterprises.
(d) Traditional hierarchical order may be felt as an excessive constraint
preventing individual mobility and inhibiting entrepreneurs to
allocate resources optimally.
(e) Traditional hierarchical order may also manifest itself as an
imperfection in the communication system. Social distance may be
large enough to ensure observable communication gap between
social strata.
We should make a clear distinction between the formal concept of
organization and the existential concept of institution. Organization can be
regarded as the formal aspects of an institution. It would not be feasible to
establish an organization that has no relevance to the existing institutional
base.
To organize people implies building institutions upon which formal
organization can be created and nourished. It means that to organize
traditional people in a traditional way is a simple matter. But to organize
traditional people in a modern way is a great exercise.
Probably the tenacity of traditional way of life to the stresses of
modernization is not without legitimate causes.
Suppose we have an experiment using an unknown device to change the
existential constituent of the traditional people to be replaced by the
existential constituent of the modern man without changing their existential
bases and endowments. What will then happen is not a sudden economic
development but sheer frustation, chaos and disaster.7
Social existence is the reflection of the existential bases and it would be
meaningless to change only one of them. To warrant social continuity and
orderly functioning of the old as well as new institutions, the change must be
6

A.T. Mosher, Creating a Progressive Rural Structure (New York: A.D.C., 1970).
Hidajat Nataatmadja, Factors Affecting Adoption of Improved Farm Practices by Rice Farmers
In Indramayu, West Java. Thesis draft, University of Hawaii, 1973.
7

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effected gradually. Material investment should go hand in hand with human

investment.
Second and higher generation problems of technological innovation are
the great concern for many social thinkers and policy makers. Clear
expositions have been presented elsewhere.8
Preliminary Mapping of the Problem Area
As the research will be conducted using a multidisciplinary approach
preliminary mapping of the problem area is necessary to arrive at the
essential consensus of the kind of problems to be solved and the kind of
approach to be followed and to avoid the danger of being lost in details.
The general interplay of factors and forces is presented in a schematic
diagram on page 85 and 86. The diagram shows four bipolar problem areas
which are not mutually exclusive and between which, therefore, the
boundaries cannot be precisely determined.
The polarity of the problem areas reflects, to some extent, the broad
subdivision of economic versus non-economic social sciences. As rural
development is usually equated to rural economic development and the f act
that economic variables are, relatively speaking, easily measured, observed
and controlled (used as instrument variables), it would seem only natural
that economic considerations should become the guiding tool in this multidisciplinary research project.
Some research subjects belong to more than one problem area.
Leadership is as much a subject in the diffusion of innovation as it is in any
other three problem areas. Such research subjects are presented in the
middle part of the diagram on page 86.
The systematic listing of problem areas with the corollary research
subjects is not meant to be exhaustive and nor does it imply that the research
would actually cover all these subjects. It is only a crude inventory of
problems likely to become the foci of the inquiry. Such listing will be of some
importance as a basis for the selection of problems and focusing without
danger of being lost in details.
Not all subjects can be treated with equal case. Inquiries on subtle
adjustment processes should perhaps be carried out at a later stage of the
research waiting for more basic information to come up. Even though the
research is oriented on changes, some basic information are indispensible.
Change in something cannot be observed unless we have adequate
knowledge of what it was prior to the change.
Basic ideas upon which the diagram on pages 85 and 86 is based have
been presented elsewhere and are summarized below.9

8
9

See also Alan M. Strout, Rural Dynamics in the last December issue of this Journal.
See also Strout, op.cit.

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Oversimplified Diagram of the Interplay of Factors and Forces

in Rural Change
THE FLUX OF TECHNO-CULTURAL IDEAS,
GOODS AND SERVICES
PROGRESIVE RURAL STRUCTURE
COMMUNICATION
RESOURCE
ACQUISITION

SOCIAL STATUS & ROLE

SOCIAL
CONTROL

SOCIAL GROUPS AND BEHAVIORAL RELATIONS

PSYCHO-SOCIAL CONTINUUM
SUPPORTING ECO-SYSTEM
DEMOGRAPHIC
AND ECOLOGICAL PRESSURE

PERCEIVED FEASIBLE OPPORTUNITIES

FOUR BI-POLAR PROBLEM AREAS

DIFFUSION
OF INOVATION

RESOURCE UTILIZATION
AND EXCHANGE

1. Identification of inovators,
adopters, opinion leaders,
change agent: their rule and
status.

1 . Re s o urc e al l o cat i o n,
particularly land use and
labor use pattern
(employment).
2. Efficiency of resource
utilization: income effect of
agricultural inovations.
3. Tenure and labor systems.
4. Exchange and agrisupport
industry.

2. Identification of the nature

of communication contact.

INCOME DISTRIBUTION

ADJUSTMENT

1. Income distribution by
sectors and by social groups.
2. Relatives share and wages.

1. Economic organizations and

de ci si on ma ki ng (e .g .
consumption, saving, and
investmentpattern).
2 . R e s o u r c e m o b i l i t y,
par ticularly labor
(migration).
3. Externalities.
4. Resorce m obi li zati on
thro ug h mo de rn ru ra
institutions.

3. Income transfer.
4. Innovation and income
distribution.

1. Leadership and rural elite.

3. Public policy: planned and unplanned effects.

2. Rural-Urban interface.

4. Patron-Client relation.

1. Identification of economic
factors and the existing
progressive rural structure:
the relationships between
man and the ecosystem.
2. Identification of social
groups, group relation, and
strutural qualifications
within groups: role and
status description.
STRUCTURAL AND ECOLOGICAL
CAPACITY OF CHANGE

1 . Re so urce owne rshi p,

particularly distribution on
of land.

1. Laborer-Employer relations.

2. Rural power structure:

pressure group and political
factions.

3. Leader-Follower relations.

2. Tenant-Owner relations.

4. The institution of mutual

help (gotong royong).

5. Shared poverty versus

competition.
6. Social norms and values.

1. Relative effectiveness of
means of social control.
2. The growth of modern rural
institution: participation of
people and chai n of
reactions.
3. The rise of entrepreneurial
class: chain of reactions.

5. The relation between the

rich and the poor.
RESOURCE ACQUISITION AND
RURAL POWER STRUCTURE

EQUITY
OF SOCIAL RELATIONS

CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND

MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL

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Table 1. Three Behavioral Dimensions

and Their Distinguishing Characteristic
Behavioral
Dimensions*)

The
ObservedObserver
Relations

The Nature of
Data

The Nature of
Understanding
Gained

I. PERIPHERAL
(over dimension)

Imparsial
observer
Contact not
essential

Positive
Reproducible
Homogenous

Recognition

II. PERCEPTUAL

Sympathetic
yet impartial
observer
Contact
essential

Partly
positive
Partly
reproducible
Partly
homogenous
Reciprocal
Confidential
Normative

Appreciation

Method of Data
Collection

Observation at a
distance
Interview using
direct, single
meaning question
Individual
records
Experimentation
Interview using
pretested battery
of question
Experimentation

Validation
and
Inferences
Syllogistic

Syllogistic

III. EXISTENTIAL

Existentially
Apprehension
In-living
Categorial
involved yet
experience
conscious
Social
observer
participation
Intimate
Open-ended
relationship
discussion
essential
*) The distinction is different yet it shows some similarity o the more familiar distinction between
cognitive, affective and conative dimensions, which is based on the level of consciousness of the
observed behavioral subject. Our distinction is based more on the observers frame of reference with
respect to the observed behavioral object.

The prime mover in a traditional society is the flux of technocultural

ideas, goods, and services flowing from external sources (urban centers) to
rural areas through various communication channels and media.
Constrained and conditioned by the existing ecosystem and sociostructural qualifications the intensity of the incedent flux of communication
would differ from man to man and from place to place. There would also be
differences in the receptiveness of people to new information and ideas
which partly depends on resource ownership, social status and role, and
socio-structural capacity of the existing social groups within rural
communities.
The impact of communication can be seen from the differential adoption
of innovation, which is the source for the generation of further changes in
rural community. Innovation is here considered in the broadest sense. For
those who are used to practice shifting cultivation, the shift to permanent
farming is in itself an innovation. Innovation will not be limited to
agricultural reduction processes, but also to other areas of economic and
non-economic endeavor.

P a g e | 12

Changes in the nature of interrelationships between man and the

supporting ecosystem can be regarded as an internal source for change,
represented in the diagram as demographic and ecological pressure.
Finally the interplay of factors and forces can be considered to be
manifested in the four bipolar problem areas namely:
1. Diffusion of innovation/Structural and ecological capacity for
change.
2. Resource utilization and exchange/Resource acquisition and rural
power structure.
3. Income distribution/Equity of social relations.
4. Adjustment/Conflict resolution and means of social control.
Detailed and intelligent selection of problems is needed as it is obvious
that no research can be implemented to cover all these problem areas and
research subjects at the same time.
Three Behavioral Dimensions in Socio-anthropological Studies
A prerequisite for the smooth functioning of a multidisciplinary research
project where specialists from various disciplines work together to pursue
common goals is mutual understanding among people cooperating in the
research endeavor. Understanding means consensus on explicitly delineated
goals and problems and familiarity with the approaches used by partners.
In the previous section a crude mapping of the problem area has been
presented and in this section some ideas will be outlined concerning three
behavioral dimensions in socio-anthropological studies, with the sole
objective to be able ,to appreciate methods and approaches made by
researches in various disciplines. The following table shows the outline of the
ideas to be discussed.
The central position of the impartial observer concept can be traced to
the effort to keep science positive, while by positive is meant complete
transferability of ideas. Implicitly it is based on the categorical assumption
that truth must be independent on coordinate transformation, i.e. it must
be transform invariant.10
But could social sciences be kept within the borderline of a positive
universe? Modern science seems to have a negative answer. Can a Marxian
economist be called a positive thinker? And for that matter can a British
economist claim for the same plight? Within the very core of scientific
thinking all social scientists are existentialists. Man is a normative being. The
application of scientific principles in planning, administration, and what not,
are all norm-gauging activities which we cannot help commending.
*) Source: Journal of Economics and Finance in Indonesia (EKI), Vol. XXII/No. 1, March 1974,
page 75-88.
10

Existentialists will refuse to accept this statement, because truth is an existential concept, i.e.
it does not belong to the positive universe. Positivists can only claim for tautological truism.