Educated young people and un(der)employment in rural Flores, Indonesia

In rural Flores, Indonesia, young people who return to their natal communities upon graduating from tertiary education institutions face a dysfunctional labour market and become un(der)employed. These educated young people feel and act ambivalently towards their communities. They remain optimistic and active- due to strong community backing, enabling them to act as 'good community members'- but struggle to conform to dominant (gender) norms. They are proud or community-wide practices of sharing, yet also critique these practices. Un(der)employed educated young people's ambivalence towards their communities challenges the reproduction of community networks of interdependence on which many rural people rely.