Strategi Bertahan Hidup Pedagang Kaki Lima di Pasar Oesapa

Abstract

This research is motivated by the strategic role of the informal sector as an economic buffer for society, yet street vendors as its main actors are often in a vulnerable position due to limited capital, income uncertainty, and pressures from an unequal economic structure. This phenomenon requires deeper investigation to understand how lower economic groups survive within a system that tends to favor capital owners. This study aims to describe and analyze the survival strategies implemented by street vendors at Oesapa Market, Kupang City, and examine these conditions through the perspective of Karl Marx’s theory. The study employs a qualitative method with a descriptive approach, while data collection was carried out through in-depth interviews, direct observation, and documentation studies involving vendors and related parties. The results indicate that vendors apply three main types of strategies: active strategies such as extending working hours and product diversification, passive strategies through household expenditure efficiency, and network strategies by utilizing social relations and solidarity among fellow traders. From Marx’s perspective, these strategies represent forms of adaptation and struggle by the lower class who do not own means of production, striving to survive and fulfill daily needs despite facing unequal access and capital dominance within the capitalist economic system. This study concludes that the survival strategies undertaken are concrete responses to socioeconomic structural pressures that limit the space of marginalized groups, as well as evidence of the resilience of small communities in maintaining their livelihoods.