Empowering women weavers through tenun ikat pawn services

Abstract

Background: Female ikat weaving artisans in East Nusa Tenggara face systemic financial exclusion due to their inability to provide conventional collateral required by formal banking institutions, constraining their capacity to access working capital essential for business development. PT Pegadaian (Persero) introduced an innovative Traditional Sarong Pawn service that recognizes woven cloth as legitimate collateral, representing a significant departure from conventional pawn systems. Previous studies on financial inclusion have predominantly focused on mainstream collateral mechanisms while overlooking culturally embedded assets. This study aims to analyze the role of cloth pawn services in empowering female traditional artisans economically and strengthening the people's economy in East Nusa Tenggara. Methods: This research employs a qualitative approach utilizing systematic literature review methodology. Analysis integrates three theoretical frameworks: Kabeer's Women's Empowerment Theory, Financial Inclusion Theory, and People's Economy Theory grounded in Article 33 of Indonesia's 1945 Constitution. Data synthesis employs thematic categorization and triangulation across scholarly journals, policy documents, and institutional publications. Findings: The study establishes that cloth pawn services operate through four sequential phases: resource access and mobilization, productive capacity enhancement and bargaining power transformation, consolidation of local economic networks, and structural transformation toward people's economy strengthening. Each phase generates multiplier effects cascading through local value chains. The service fundamentally alters power dynamics within household economies, enhancing women's economic autonomy while preserving intangible cultural heritage. Conclusion: Cloth pawn services represent transformative interventions when integrated within comprehensive empowerment strategies. Locally contextualized financial innovations grounded in indigenous cultural assets possess superior transformative potential compared to standardized financial inclusion programs. Novelty/Originality of this article: This study pioneers an integrative analytical framework explicating causal pathways connecting micro-level financing interventions with macro-level structural transformation, demonstrating that women's economic empowerment and people's economy strengthening constitute unified transformation processes.