CAPITALISM AND ECONOMIC CHANGE IN COLONIAL SABAH: THE ECONOMIC TRANSITION OF INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES IN NORTH BORNEO, 1881-1963 (Special Issue)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51200/manu.v36i2.6823Keywords:
Indigenous communities, Economic change, Capitalism, Sabah, North BorneoAbstract
Abstract This article presents the general view on the economic transition of indigenous communities in Colonial Sabah (1881-1963). Its objective is to examine the evolution of the indigenous economy and its transition to modern economy as a result of the advent of capitalism and its economic change during this period. The method employed is content analysis, derived from the secondary literature complemented by archival documents. Based on the findings, since the general pattern of economic development was based on the framework and orientation shaped by capitalism, the extent of the indigenous communities in facing economic change during the period was highly dependent on their ability to adapt themselves to the increasing penetration of money economy in economic transactions. It is based on the premise that the community who were exposed earlier in money economy had more advantage compared to the community who were less exposed to this phenomenon. The fundamental concept of economic change during the period is applied to the change from subsistence to commercialism, the increasing penetration of money economy into the indigenous communities and the change from external economy, which was highly dependent on external trade, to internal economy based on inland economic development. Therefore, the indigenous communities were left far behind other immigrant communities because of their slow pace in adapting to the orientation of commercialism. Consequently, it is a crucial to provide indigenous communities with intensive entrepreneurial knowledge and skills before granting them business capitals, to assist them in pursuing commercial activities.
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