Structuration in Learning Societies: A Study of Traditional Dance Studios’ Transition into Business Ecosystems in Klaten
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14421/manageria.2026.111-01Keywords:
Structuration, Credentialing, Traditional Dance Studios, Cultural Governance, Learning Society, Business EcosystemAbstract
Traditional dance studios (sanggar tari) serve as organic pillars of the learning society in Indonesia, yet they face increasing exogenous state interventions. This study examines how bureaucratic structuration transforms these cultural institutions and the actors within them. Utilizing a multi-case qualitative ethnography conducted between 2023 and 2025, this research investigates 25 traditional dance studios in Klaten Regency, Central Java. Applying Giddens' Structuration Theory and Moore’s Business Ecosystem paradigm, the findings reveal an emerging structural differentiation. State interventions—specifically mandatory competency certifications and formal legal entity requirements (such as the Business Identification Number)—compel studios to transition from informal communal learning spaces into corporatized business entities. The study highlights the phenomenon of "credentialing as weaponization," wherein formal certificates function dualistically: as protective bureaucratic capital for formalized actors, and as exclusionary instruments that systematically marginalize traditional maestros operating outside formal administrative structures. Ultimately, while state structuration aims to professionalize the arts sector, it inadvertently risks distorting organic cultural autonomy. The study recommends affirmative, non-commercial cultural governance policies to protect unstructured maestros and sustain authentic community learning without enforcing bureaucratic dependency
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