The Divergent Nation of Indonesia: Heterogeneous Imaginings in Jakarta, Kupang, and Banda Aceh PDF
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Asia in Transition 9 Stefani Nugroho The Divergent Nation of Indonesia Heterogeneous Imaginings in Jakarta, Kupang, and Banda Aceh Asia in Transition Volume 9 Series Editor Bruno Jetin, Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Gadong, Brunei Darussalam Editorial Board Jonathan Rigg, Asia Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore Victor T. King, Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Gadong, Brunei Darussalam LianKwenFee,InstituteofAsianStudies,UniversitiBruneiDarussalam,Gadong, Brunei Darussalam Zawawi Ibrahim, The Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Gadong, Brunei Darussalam Noor Hasharina Haji Hassan, Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam This book series, indexed in Scopus, is an initiative in conjunction with Springer undertheauspicesoftheUniversitiBruneiDarussalam–InstituteofAsianStudies (http://ias.ubd.edu.bn/). It addresses the interplay of local, national, regional and globalinfluencesinSoutheast,SouthandEastAsiaandtheprocessesoftranslation and exchange across boundaries and borders. The series explores a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. Submission and Peer Review: Proposal submissions are to be sent to the Series Editor, Dr Bruno Jetin: [email protected] and Springer Publishing Editor Alex Westcott Campbell: [email protected] using the Book Proposal Form available in the sidebar. All proposals will undergo peer review by the editorial board members. If accepted, the final manuscript will be peer reviewed internally by the editorial boardaswellasexternally(singleblind)bySpringeraheadofacceptance and publication. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13611 Stefani Nugroho The Divergent Nation of Indonesia Heterogeneous Imaginings in Jakarta, Kupang, and Banda Aceh 123 Stefani Nugroho AtmaJayaCatholic University ofIndonesia Jakarta, Indonesia ISSN 2364-8252 ISSN 2364-8260 (electronic) Asiain Transition ISBN978-981-15-4241-1 ISBN978-981-15-4242-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4242-8 ©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNatureSingapore PteLtd.2020 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher,whether thewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseof illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmissionorinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilar ordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfrom therelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained hereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregard tojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations. ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSingaporePteLtd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Foreword NicholasTarling,inhis“NationsandStatesinSoutheastAsia”(1998)anddrawing onDuiker’sworkonVietnam,describesnationalismasaprocessbywhichpeople becomewillingtotransfer theirprimaryloyaltyfromthevillageorthemonarchto the nation-state. Such loyalties, he continues, are likely to shift, their articulation varyfromelitetomasses,thatnationalismisdiscriminatingfromonecommunityto anotherinthesamestate,andnationalistsaspiretoindependence.Indistinguishing mainland from insular Southeast Asia, Tarling comments that the presence of historical and political continuity in such states as Vietnam, Burma, and Thailand facilitates nation-building. Its absence, as in Indonesia—where boundaries have been imposed by colonial powers—has been a major obstacle to nationhood. Indonesia, as Adam Schwarz titles his book, is “A Nation in Waiting” (1994). Stefani’s book is the product of her Ph.D. thesis she submitted in 2014 at the NationalUniversityofSingapore,forwhichshewasawardedthebestthesisinthe same year.Shewas Fulbright Scholar in2015before joining theInstituteofAsian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam as Postdoctoral Fellow in 2016, where she beganrevisingherthesisforpublication.Herworkisasignificantcontributionand adeparturefromthemanyinthepastthathaveattemptedtocometogripswithone of the most perplexing and ethnically pluralistic societies in the region. Previous worksonIndonesiannationhoodhavebeendominatedbytheperspectiveofelites, influenced by the knowledge that Indonesian nationalism was precipitated by a common opposition against Dutch colonial rule and oppression, and therefore framed within the narratives of colonial history. Stefani’s contribution is remarkable for several reasons. First, she examines Indonesiaasapostcolonialnationbutatthesametime,sheismindfulofitscolonial origins.Secondly,sheisdeterminedtomoveawayfromtheessentialistandunitary conception of the nation that has dominated previous scholars. She does this by methodologically disaggregating the nation-state. Thirdly, she interrogates the nation from below: how do ordinary people who are usually not consciously engaged in the nation project articulate their notions and aspirations of what it means to be Indonesian. Selecting youth from three diverse research sites, namely MuslimAchehinthewesternperiphery,Jakartainthecenter,andChristianKupang v vi Foreword intheeasternperiphery,sheusesphoto-elicitationtoencourageyoungIndonesians toexploretheirviewsonwhatotherwiseisanabstracttopicofconversation.Inher own words, she “engages with the heterogeneity of the construction of the nation and in so doing disrupts the hegemonic notions of Indonesia”. Theoriginalityofherworkbecomesfullblownassheuncoversthenarrativesof her informants. For young residents living in the periphery, Kupang is invisible to the Indonesian nation-state; yet they prefer integration for the perceived benefits whichtheywouldbedeprivedofbeingindependent.Incontrast,Acheh’shistorical independence marks its antagonism toward the nation, yet her informants accept reconciliation as necessary for prosperity. At the center in Jakarta, the nation is indeed an imagined community closest to the official discourse, and in the project erases the rest of Indonesia by essentializing cultural diversity and naturalizing inequality. These narratives reveal the fractures and fragility of Indonesia as a postcolonial nation, so succinctly characterized by Nicholas Tarling. This is a refreshing and fine piece of scholarship that the Institute of Asian Studies is proud to be associated with. Lian Kwen Fee Professor of Sociology, Institute of Asian Studies Universiti Brunei Darussalam Gadong, Brunei Acknowledgments This book would not have been written if not for the intellectual and emotional support of so many people. I am indebted first and foremost to Prof. Eric Thompson,whoseguidanceledmetowritemydissertation,theinitialformofthis book. I wish to thank Profs. Gavin Jones and Maribeth Erb at the National University of Singapore who have provided various suggestions during the course of my doctoral research. The fieldwork itself was made possible by the Graduate Research Scheme provided by the National University of Singapore. The metamorphosis from dissertation to book transpired while I was a post- doctoralfellow attheInstituteofAsianStudies,UniversitiBruneiDarussalam.Iam grateful to have been provided the mentorship and the collegiality of Profs. Lian Kwen Fee, Bruno Jetin, Jeremy Jammes, Paul Carnegie, Sin Yee Koh, and CY Hoon. Thank you for the continuous support and encouragement. Tothereviewersofthedissertationaswellasthemanuscript,yoursuggestionsand critiqueshavecontributedto thecourseofthisbook.IamespeciallythankfulforProf. R.Elson,notonlyforhisroleastheexternalexaminerofmydissertation,butalsofor havingwritten“TheIdeaofIndonesia”thateventuallyinspiredthisentireproject. I wish to extend my special appreciation to the many people I talked to in Jakarta, Kupang, and Banda Aceh, who have been kind enough to share their comments on the photographs with me. To some of you, I am glad our conver- sations did not end after the fieldwork, and that our relationship evolved into long-lasting friendship. I would also like to thank my colleagues at Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia for their support, particularly Christiany Suwartono, Syanesti Adishesa, and Rosa Delima. To Kim Ji Youn, Wu-Ling Chong, Amritorupa Sen, Minushree Sharma, Ta-Wei Chu, Ron Humayun and so many others I cannot name one by one for it wouldhavetakenthespaceof anentirechapter,thanksforaccompanyingmethrough thisjourney.Itwouldhavebeenalonelyoneifitwerenotforyourcompany. Lastly, I reserve my gratitude to my parents, my sister, and my little family, Anton and Christian for providing the much-needed balance in life. vii Contents 1 On Imagining a Nation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1 Emphasis on Homogeneity and Elites in the Study of Nationhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.2 Prevalence of Homogeneous Elite Point of Views in Indonesian Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.3 Toward Heterogeneous Constructions of Everyday Nationhood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.3.1 The Construction of the Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1.3.2 Standpoint Theory and Situated Imagining . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 1.4 Organization of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 2 Nationalism and the Making of Indonesian Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 2.1 Precursors to Independence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2.2 Independent Indonesia as a Unitary State. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 2.2.1 Nation-BuildingNarratives:Majapahit,theYouthPledge, and Pancasila . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 2.2.2 Indonesia’s Mythical Past. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 2.2.3 Early Challenges in Nation-Building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 2.2.4 Guided Democracy and the End of the Sukarno’s Administration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 2.3 The New Order: Stabilization and Homogenization . . . . . . . . . . . 32 2.3.1 Military Style Homogenization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 2.3.2 Education as the Site of Indoctrination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 2.3.3 Building the National Cultural Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 2.3.4 Uneven Belongingness to Indonesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 2.3.5 The Beginning of the End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 2.4 The Reform Period. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 2.4.1 Decentralization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 ix x Contents 2.4.2 Gus Dur, Megawati, and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. . . . 43 2.5 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 3 Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 3.1 The Research Sites: Jakarta, Kupang, and Banda Aceh. . . . . . . . . 49 3.2 Methodological Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 3.3 The Photo-Elicitation Interview Method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 3.4 Selection of Photographs and the Interview Process . . . . . . . . . . . 55 3.4.1 Photographs Used in the Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 3.5 Note on Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 4 Imagining “Indonesia” from Jakarta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 4.1 The Socio-Historical Context of Jakarta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 4.2 The Inward Gaze: Building a Chain of Equivalence from Diversity and Disparity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 4.2.1 The Nationalization and Essentialization of Regional Cultures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 4.2.2 Politically and Economically Dependent Periphery . . . . . . 73 4.2.3 The Regions as Negative Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 4.3 The Outward Gaze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 4.3.1 The Antagonistic Other: Malaysia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 4.3.2 The Desirable Other: Affluent and Developed Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 4.4 Summary and Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 5 Indonesia from the Periphery: Imagining “Indonesia” in Kupang. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 5.1 The Socio-Historical Context of Kupang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 5.2 The Inward Gaze: Coexistence of Hegemonic and Counter-Hegemonic Discourses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 5.2.1 Reproductions of Hegemonic Narratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 5.2.2 Inhabiting the Negative Space: Do You Know Where Kupang Is?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 5.2.3 Questioning Hegemonic Meanings of “Culture” and “Diversity” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 5.2.4 A Pragmatic Belongingness to the Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 5.3 The Outward Gaze: The Absence of the International World as the Other. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 5.4 Summary and Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
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