The Narrative of "Foreign Exchange Hero" in Hermeneutics and Spiritual Accounting Perspective: A Case Study of Timor-Leste 2015–2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59261/jbt.v7i3.714Keywords:
Foreign Exchange Hero, Hermeneutics, Migration, Spiritual Accounting, Timor-Leste Unskilled LaborAbstract
Background: Labor migration from Timor-Leste increased substantially during 2015–2025, driven by limited domestic employment opportunities and low industrial capacity. The resulting remittance inflows have given rise to the “foreign exchange hero” (pahlawan devisa) narrative, which frames migrant workers as national economic contributors while potentially obscuring the exploitation, family separation, and weak legal protections they experience.
Objective: This study examines narrative surrounding low-skilled labor and the “foreign exchange hero” (pahlawan devisa) label attached to Timorese migrant workers during the 2015–2025 period through the perspectives of social hermeneutics and spiritual accounting.
Methods: Using a qualitative-interpretive approach and a literature review, this research analyzes secondary data from SEFOPE, ILO, World Bank, BCTL, and academic journals published between 2015 and 2025. The hermeneutic analysis follows Gadamer’s concept of the fusion of horizons and Ricoeur’s narrative interpretation framework, complemented by Habermas’s theory of communicative action.
Results: The findings indicate that: (1) the term “foreign exchange hero” is a symbolic construction that carries ideological meaning and reflects economic power relations; (2) such heroic narratives risk concealing the realities of suffering, exploitation, and injustice experienced by low-skilled migrant workers; and (3) the spiritual accounting perspective affirms that a nation’s economic success cannot be measured solely by remittance volume, but also by the state’s capacity to protect the welfare, rights, and dignity of its citizens.
Conclusion: This study recommends national development strategies that are not dependent on the export of cheap labor but are instead oriented toward domestic job creation, educational strengthening, and humane labor policies.
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