IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/lpadxx/v48y2025i7p474-484.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When Trust Coexists with Mistrust: An Ethnographic Account of the Consequences of Digitalization Project

Author

Listed:
  • Arif Budy Pratama

Abstract

Recently, local governments utilize digital technology to improve transparency and achieve public trust. Drawing from the e-retribusi project, a digitalization enabling small-scale merchants to pay their levies in a cashless manner, this study investigates how the digitalization project shapes trust (and mistrust) between actors. My ethnographic fieldwork in Kebon Polo traditional market, Magelang City, Indonesia, reveals dual trust-building realities. Civil servants and auditors perceived greater trust, while small-scale merchants encountered diminished trust. This finding suggests the importance of transparency for all actors and critically reflects the exaggerated expectation of digitalization in enhancing transparency and public trust.

Suggested Citation

  • Arif Budy Pratama, 2025. "When Trust Coexists with Mistrust: An Ethnographic Account of the Consequences of Digitalization Project," International Journal of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(7), pages 474-484, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:lpadxx:v:48:y:2025:i:7:p:474-484
    DOI: 10.1080/01900692.2024.2368253
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/01900692.2024.2368253
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/01900692.2024.2368253?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:lpadxx:v:48:y:2025:i:7:p:474-484. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/lpad .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.