Page 123 - IJPS-11-6

International Journal of
Population Studies Internal migration in Indonesia

is common. However, does this linear portrayal still hold? Dual Economy, E. Lee’s (1966) Push–Pull Theory, Todaro’s
Do migrants settle permanently after reaching the city? (1969) Neoclassical Framework, and Mabogunje’s
This study is motivated by the need to revisit this (1970) Systems Approach, have largely conceptualized
oversimplified narrative. As Indonesia undergoes rapid migration as a one-time, unidirectional shift from origin
spatial transformation, emerging empirical evidence to destination. This prevailing orientation reflects both
suggests that internal migration is far more dynamic an underlying assumption of permanent settlement and
(Hugo, 1982; Randolph & Naik, 2017). Migrants often the historical absence of detailed data to trace individual
move repeatedly throughout their lives (Widaryoko migration histories (Cattaneo & Robinson, 2020; King &
et al., 2023, 2025), calling into question the adequacy of Skeldon, 2010; Paul & Yeoh, 2021).
unidirectional rural-urban migration. However, since the early 2000s, migration studies
The mobility turn (Sheller & Urry, 2006) urges us to have undergone a paradigmatic shift. Driven by growing
rethink migration not as a single event, but as a recursive, recognition of dynamic life trajectories and advancements
life-course process, an insight echoed in both international in mobility-enabling technologies, scholars have
(e.g., Bernard [2022a,b]; Takenaka [2007]) and internal increasingly examined migration as a recursive, rather
migration studies (e.g., Chen et al. [2021]; Pardede et al. than one-way, process (Sheller & Urry, 2006; Zufferey et al.,
[2016]; Sugiyarto et al. [2019]; Widaryoko et al. [2023]; 2021). This shift also corresponds with the emergence
Yang et al. [2020]). However, within the Indonesian of more granular longitudinal datasets and analytical
context, especially concerning rural-urban mobility, such techniques, enabling scholars to trace individual migration
dynamic patterns remain underexplored. histories over time and space. Building on this shift, a
reconfiguration of theoretical approaches is necessary
The novelty of this study lies in its reconstruction of to better capture the complexities and temporalities
lifetime internal migration trajectories using five waves of contemporary migration. In response, the present
of nationally representative longitudinal data from the study adopts an integrative theoretical framework that
Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS). Departing from synthesizes five complementary perspectives: Life Cycle
static origin-destination classifications, the study employs Theory, Livelihood Theory, Institutional Theory, the
sequence analysis, a method rarely applied in Indonesian Mobility Turn, and Translocal Migration.
migration research, to identify typologies of migration
trajectories. These typologies are then examined through Institutional Theory (North, 1990) underscored the
multinomial logistic regression to explore their associations significance of both formal and informal institutions,
with demographic, spatial, and motivational factors. including legal frameworks, labor markets, bureaucratic
systems, and cultural norms, in shaping mobility. It
This integrated approach offers several key contributions. emphasized how institutions govern who can move, under
Empirically, it challenges the dominant linear paradigm by what conditions, and with what consequences. Around the
showing the diversity of migration experiences over time. same time, Chambers and Conway (1991) introduced the
Methodologically, it introduces a life-course perspective ivelihoods Framework, which reconceptualized migration
and dynamic techniques to study internal mobility in as a proactive, strategic response to economic vulnerability
Indonesia. Theoretically, it bridges Indonesian migration and livelihood insecurity. Rather than a singular act of
scholarship with broader international debates on relocation, migration was considered as part of a broader
mobility. By doing so, the study provides a more nuanced household strategy involving income diversification, risk
understanding of how and why people move throughout management, and the use of social capital through circular
their lives. Guided by this framework, the study addresses or seasonal migration.
two central research questions: (i) How prevalent are rural-
to-urban migration trajectories in Indonesia? and (ii) To Extending the analysis temporally, Elder (1998) and
what extent are different migration trajectories shaped by Mulder (1993) developed Life Cycle Theory, offering a
individual, household, and geographic characteristics? dynamic understanding of how migration decisions are
patterned across the life course. Migration is linked to
1.1. Theoretical framework predictable transitions, education, employment, marriage,
The phenomenon of migrants persistently on the move and caregiving, revealing that spatial mobility is not
is not entirely new (Wee & Yeoh, 2021). As early as the random but often follows life-stage contingencies shaped
19 century, Ravenstein (1885) introduced the concept by shifting responsibilities and aspirations.
th
of stepwise migration, wherein individuals relocate Meanwhile, the Mobility Turn (Sheller & Urry, 2006)
incrementally from rural to urban centers. Nevertheless, reoriented the analytical lens from migration as a bounded
subsequent migration theories, such as Lewis’s (1954) event to mobility as a continuous and multi-layered

Volume 11 Issue 6 (2025) 117 https://doi.org/10.36922/IJPS025190084