Displacement, coping mechanisms anD the emergence of new markets in ambon

Starting from the question how IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) in the conflict-ridden city of Ambon (East Indonesia) adapted their income generation strategies during and after a high-intensity conflict, this working paper will illustrate how informal market activities became a strategy to cope with insecurity and economic hardship for internally displaced. This process indicates that IDPs, and in this case especially women, tried to deal with their displacement in a proactive way. Nevertheless, this study will equally demonstrate that fully understanding the success and/or failure of these strategies requires that two notions have to be kept in mind. First, one cannot solely focus on the agency of the actors themselves as the success of their coping strategies is seriously limited by structural opportunities in the broader political-economy of the region. Secondly, our data will prove that these strategies in the informal economy cannot be labelled as ‘durable livelihood strategies’ but should be termed as ‘coping mechanisms’ by which we mean short-term strategies reacting to sudden disturbances in the livelihoods system. In the end, these coping mechanisms caused a deep impoverishment of the household. conflict research groUp