Post-New Order Indonesia Research Articles

Kuasa Rakyat Analisis Tentang Perilaku Memilih dalam Pemilihan Legislatif dan Presiden Indonesia Pasca Orde Baru by Saiful Mujani, William R. Liddle, and Kuskridho Ambardi

People Power Analysis of Voting Behavior in Legislative and Presidential Elections in Post-New Order Indonesia

A Few Poorly Organized Men: Interreligious Violence in Poso, Indonesia by Dave McRae

Reviewed by: A Few Poorly Organized Men: Interreligious Violence in Poso, Indonesia by Dave McRae Muhamad Haripin (bio) Dave McRae. A Few Poorly Organized Men: Interreligious Violence in Poso, Indonesia. Leiden: Brill, 2013 (brill.com/few-poorly-organized-men, pre-print version). 152 pp. The result of a decade of research, Dave McRae’s A Few Poorly Organized Men offers vivid accounts of and interesting insights about the Poso violence in post-New Order Indonesia. By analyzing the organization of violence, the book is a valuable contribution to answering the fundamental question of how interreligious violence took place in Poso, a remote and relatively unknown town during the New Order era. McRae’s analysis is built on the notion that behind the violent event was Poso’s economic disparity as a result of the religious division between Muslims and Christians in the local government. However, after close examination of Poso’s violent events, the book finds that focusing on the leaders’ “goals, motivations, and actions” (p. 10) is more revealing than economic inequality to trace the contour of violence in Poso. The leaders of both rival religious groups were main actors behind the violence, which became an end in itself to preserve one’s religious identity. The conflict in Poso had become spiritual in nature, a holy war. What can be inferred from this book is McRae’s effort to shape the body of knowledge regarding the Poso conflict. He seems neither to agree nor disagree with existing literature on Poso, although he claims that A Few Poorly Organized Men is “the first comprehensive history of the years of violent conflict in Poso” (p. 11). However, I believe A Few Poorly Organized Men is not the first of its kind, and I wonder why McRae didn’t mention the other studies, albeit there are differences in the time frames of the studies, particularly the research reports published by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, LIPI).1 In general, McRae applies a comparative approach eclectically to use relevant information and theoretical elaboration from other studies, as well as data triangulation with news-media accounts and in-depth interviews with key informants. Both McRae and researchers from LIPI treat the Poso violence as interreligious in nature and share similar details regarding the same violent episodes. A Few Poorly Organized Men adds to the current—and immense—discussion on conflict in post-New Order Indonesia by taking into account the specificity of local conditions and local elites’ ability to generate violence. It also considers the role of rising militant Islamist groups—which, after Suharto’s resignation in May 1998, began openly to enter national politics—in accelerating the scope and pace of violence. The Poso conflict, marked by horrendous violence, occured over a period of nine years. Nonetheless, a majority of the Indonesian population were only made aware of [End Page 157] the conflict through the news. In general, Indonesians regard it as one of the “typical” conflicts that occurred during the early Reformasi period, a conflict with no distinctive feature whatsoever, compared to some other violence that occurred in Ambon and Sambas. Indeed, violence has marked many episodes of Indonesian history since 1945.2 In that sense, the Poso conflict, regretfully, seems to be seen as just another episode of Indonesia’s violence historiography. However, through McRae’s study, we see the Poso conflict in a different way. Though Poso shared similar features with other violent conflict areas in Indonesia, e.g., religious strife and the rise of local elites, McRae argues that the Poso conflict should be seen as the manifestations of an “evolving ‘division of labor’ in perpetrating violence between leaders and core combatants on the one hand, and ordinary community members on the other” (p. 9). This stance, however, criticizes the view that socio-cultural anomie in societies as a result of disputes based on ethnic or religious identity, and over old territorial disputes, is the basic tool of analysis for explaining the dynamics of violence. If there is such a socio-cultural factor inherently embedded within Poso that contributes to violence there, then we might want to ask why conflict only began to mount when...

Contesting Almsgiving in Post-New Order Indonesia

This article explores the origin and development of the ideas and practice of zakat (Islamic tax) on salary and identifies how it affects the nature of zakat practice in contemporary Indonesia. The recent trend suggests that Indonesian Muslims are attempting to translate and reinterpret the Islamic concept of social justice by utilizing zakat on salary (zakat profesi) as a discursive center. Despite the fact that this has been the subject of heated debate among Muslim scholars since the 1980s, the Indonesian state has attempted to make its payment mandatory by enacting zakat regulations at both the provincial and district levels. This new phenomenon is stimulating new debates among the country’s Islamic scholars over the legality, from a jurisprudential aspect, of imposing zakat regulations on civil servants. Some believe that zakat practice has been precisely prescribed in the Qur’an and Sunnah and thus such an “innovation” is not necessary; others consider zakat to belong to that part of the Islamic ethical and economic system that is open to reinterpretation and innovation. Disagreement among Islamic scholars, competition between civil society organizations and state agencies, and tension between the government (political authorities) as a policymaker and people at the grassroots level are indications of how almsgiving is contested in democratic Indonesia.

‘This is Not a Trivialization of the Past’

This article examines the revitalization of Jakarta’s colonial district, Kota Tua, as tourist site and lieux de memoire. After long neglect due to postcolonial silencing of colonial history, Kota Tua’s metamorphosis into a place of leisure represents a burgeoning tempo doeloe trend in post-New Order Indonesia. Yet Kota Tua is also a locus of clashing modalities of memory. While government tourism promotions produce a consumable spectacle of colonial aesthetics, a new generation of history enthusiasts intervenes with alternative, playful memory practices, in which the suppressed memories of the colonial past become a resource for critical awareness.

Contesting Almsgiving in Post-New Order Indonesia

This article explores the origin and development of the ideas and practice of zakat (Islamic tax) on salary and identifies how it affects the nature of zakat practice in contemporary Indonesia. The recent trend suggests that Indonesian Muslims are attempting to translate and reinterpret the Islamic concept of social justice by utilizing zakat on salary (zakat profesi) as a discursive center. Despite the fact that this has been the subject of heated debate among Muslim scholars since the 1980s, the Indonesian state has attempted to make its payment mandatory by enacting zakat regulations at both the provincial and district levels. This new phenomenon is stimulating new debates among the country’s Islamic scholars over the legality, from a jurisprudential aspect, of imposing zakat regulations on civil servants. Some believe that zakat practice has been precisely prescribed in the Qur’an and Sunnah and thus such an “innovation” is not necessary; others consider zakat to belong to that part of the Islamic ethical and economic system that is open to reinterpretation and innovation. Disagreement among Islamic scholars, competition between civil society organizations and state agencies, and tension between the government (political authorities) as a policymaker and people at the grassroots level are indications of how almsgiving is contested in democratic Indonesia.

Identitas Tionghoa Muslim Indonesia Pasca-Orde Baru: Melampaui Batas-Batas Kategori Peranakan dan Totok

The dramatic change in some important aspects of this country after the collapse of New Order Regime, primarily in the political aspect, provided larger opportunity to Indonesian Chinese in constructing their real identity, included to the Indonesian Chinese Muslim. In one hand, Indonesian Chinese Muslim tended to re-strengthen their cultural identity shown by articulating some features of their ethnic identity, and they show more the involvement in developing discourse of national building and the life of majority group by using their Islamic identity in the other hand. At this point, they then could not be categorized as ‘peranakan’ and ‘totok’, the binary category which is often used to refer to the asimilated and unasimilated Chinese into the cultural system practized by the native majority. After the state launched the new regulation of citizenship No. 12/2006, they were then positioned by the state as the ‘real’ citizen who had the same civil rights before the law as well as the other groups. The implication of this legacy in the social and cultural context is that they then developed the inclusive identity, such as absorbing the categories and features of identity of other group, involved in the activities of majority group, and occupied the same kind of majority group profession, until they felt that those had become part of their own identity. By sharing their identity with non-Muslim Chinese and majority group, they could take a strategic role as cultural mediators, political brokers and bridge builders. Keywords: Chinese Muslim, Identity, Peranakan, Totok, Hibridity, Post-New Order Indonesia.

Towards a Political Economy of Human Rights Violations in Post-New Order Indonesia

This article reviews the literature on human rights violations in Indonesia during the post-New Order period, evaluates the explanations it provides, and suggests avenues for future inquiry drawing on insights from Richard Robison's Indonesia: The Rise of Capital and his subsequent book with Vedi Hadiz, Reorganising Power in Indonesia: The Politics of Oligarchy in an Age of Markets. It is argued that this literature either gives insufficient attention to the nature of the Indonesian state or does so in a way that obscures the interests of the country's powerful politico-business oligarchy. Future research thus needs to examine the role of these factors, taking into account the way in which the oligarchy's interests vis-à-vis human rights are mediated by the type of right and the structure of the economy.

CULTURE CLASH

International media training has become popular in post-New Order Indonesia. Educational organizations have focused on training radio journalists, reflecting the accessibility of radio stations across the nation. This study investigated the training effectiveness and consequent adoption of Western journalism practices in the context of Indonesian radio journalism. Five focus groups were conducted in five Indonesian cities with distinctive media markets, populations, and city sizes. Findings illustrate that the adoption and dissemination of training materials were made more difficult by the widely differing values and backgrounds of journalists as well as a lack of funding from radio stations.

Laskar Jihad: Islam, Militancy, and the Quest for Identity in Post‐New Order Indonesia – By N. Hasan

Laskar Jihad: Islam, Militancy, and the Quest for Identity in Post‐New Order Indonesia – By N. Hasan

Identifying Patterns in the Accumulation and Exercise of Power in post-New Order Indonesia

Identifying Patterns in the Accumulation and Exercise of Power in post-New Order Indonesia

Flouting the law: vigilante justice and regional autonomy on the Indonesian border

After the Asian Economic Crisis in 1997 and the fall of president Suharto’s authoritarian regime in 1998, rural and urban Indonesia experienced a surge in vigilante killings and the rise of non-state forms of authorities working within the twilight of legality and illegality, assuming the role of the state. Institutional uncertainty, large-scale decentralisation reforms and the deterioration of formal legal authority in post-New Order Indonesia encouraged these processes. This apparent ‘lawlessness’ became especially evident along the fringes of the Indonesian state where state authority has continuously been contested and in a state of fl ux. This paper argues that observing these processes of lawlessness and vigilantism from the borderlands provides us with an exceptional window to understand the ambiguous relationship between law and order in post-New Order Indonesia.

Ethnicity and the performance of identity

This essay looks into the novels of two Indonesian women writers, Perempuan Kembang Jepun (Lan Fang 2009) and Dimsum terakhir (Clara Ng 2006), which depict the struggles of the major female characters in negotiating their ”hybrid” identities amidst the pulls from various opposing forces that try to impose and define their identities. Both works were published in the post-New Order Indonesia, where identity politics seems to dominate the political and cultural realms. Both Lan Fang and Clara Ng try to problematize the rigid and monolithic sense of cultural identity that had been inculcated by the previous regime through its aggressive assimilation policy and imposition of the state ideology of unity. The essay aims at examining different strategies employed by both authors in redefining identity through approaches that see identity as a fluid, non-essentialist, and on-going process rather than a given entity or label that can be simply inscribed on individuals.

Living with difference in rural Indonesia: What can be learned for national and regional political agendas?

Much research has sought to understand why mixed communities in Indonesia have been torn apart by violent conflict. By contrast, little is known about how people live together successfully in the mixed, low-conflict communities that exist in abundance throughout the Indonesian archipelago. This paper explores the inter-communal relations in the multiethnic, Christian-Muslim coastal village of Oelua in Roti, Nusa Tenggara Timur province. Mechanisms of agreement across ethnic, religious and livelihood differences have shaped and reproduced a low-conflict community — including transfers of land, labour, technology and surplus; use of customary law and conflict management; and social mixing and interpersonal relations. The findings suggest that there are lessons to be learned from communities like Oelua about how to foster social and economic inclusion, which could inform national and regional political agendas concerned with governing difference in a post-New Order Indonesia.

MANUFACTURING THE “ONTOLOGICAL ENEMY”: Socio-Political Construction of anti-Democracy Discourses among HTI Activists in Post-New Order Indonesia

The Indonesian Islamists’ rejection of demo­cracy, as this paper will demonstrate, is not monolithic; it is complex and multifaceted that is accompanied by a long process of argument building. This paper focuses its scope of analysis on Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), a Middle Eastern-derived “transnational” Islamist movement that seeks to unite all Muslim nations all over the world under a Caliphate system. This paper argues that, in developing counter-discourses on democracy, the HTI activists employ both theological approach and modern socio-political narratives. It is also argued that the concept of enemy constructed by the HTI activists serves only as an ontological venture, and not existential one, for the purpose of self-fulfilling prophecy. The process of construction of the enemy follows the mode of binary opposition between the “authentic self” and the “corrupted other.” This paper borrows much of its theoretical framework from Saphiro, Foucault, Berger and Luckmann, and still many others.

Indonesia's Religious Political Parties: Democratic Consolidation and Security in Post-New Order Indonesia

The Indonesian democratic transition of the late 1990s led to the formation of numerous political parties many of which are religious. Only the Islamic parties are politically significant. It is possible to distinguish two basic types of religious parties. Some are based on explicitly religious principles; others are nominally secular but are led by religious figures or appeal to particular religious communities. While Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, Islamic parties have had only limited appeal. The openness of the political system and the ability of minor parties to enter coalitions has provided their leaders access to office and patronage. Even the Islamist Justice and Prosperity Party that resembles the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has chosen political participation instead of confrontation.

Challenges of Political Rehabilitation in Post-New Order Indonesia

Due to the strong stigma associated with Gerwani (the Indonesian Women's Movement), very few women imprisoned in connection with the 1965 coup attempt have published their memoirs, despite the demise of the Suharto regime. Through an analysis of the memoirs of two Gerwani women, this article analyses how these authors re-evaluate Indonesian history. It assesses how they have negotiated dramatic changes since the time when they were politically active. In the last 40 years, Indonesia has largely rejected socialism and embraced capitalism. Religion has also become more prominent, thereby making it imperative for these women to rebut allegations of immorality.

Political Transitions in Southeast Asia

One could easily be pessimistic about Southeast Asia's prospects given the series of crises that hit the region in 2004. These include the onset of avian flu (coming on the heels of SARS) and the looming pandemic threat, the persistence of terrorist-related incidents, and the devastating earthquake and tsunami that caused massive loss of lives, property and livelihood. Yet, if there is something to be optimistic about it is in the number of general elections that took place in many ASEAN countries within a span of one year. It began in March 2004 with the holding of Malaysia's general elections, followed by elections in Indonesia in April that were spread over six months, and then the elections held in the Philippines in May. This was soon followed by the elections in Thailand in February 2005. This series of elections is significant for many reasons. First, we see the emergence of new political actors who have taken over the mantle of leadership from long-serving leaders in the region. In Malaysia, Abdullah Badawi replaced long-time Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamed; and while there was no election in Singapore in 2004, there was nevertheless a changing of the guard in August 2004 with the installation of a new prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, who succeeded Goh Chok Tong. Second, despite having come after three short-lived presidents who had succeeded long-time Indonesian leader Suharto, the country's new president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was the first directly elected president of post-New Order Indonesia. The direct presidential elections have capped the six year process of political transition in the country toward a democratic political system. And third, the two incumbent leaders, Philippines' Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Thailand's Thaksin Shinawatra, who could still be considered as relatively new players in the region, are serving their second terms in office after their

Political Transitions in Southeast Asia

One could easily be pessimistic about Southeast Asia's prospects given the series of crises that hit the region in 2004. These include the onset of avian flu (coming on the heels of SARS) and the looming pandemic threat, the persistence of terrorist-related incidents, and the devastating earthquake and tsunami that caused massive loss of lives, property and livelihood. Yet, if there is something to be optimistic about it is in the number of general elections that took place in many ASEAN countries within a span of one year. It began in March 2004 with the holding of Malaysia's general elections, followed by elections in Indonesia in April that were spread over six months, and then the elections held in the Philippines in May. This was soon followed by the elections in Thailand in February 2005. This series of elections is significant for many reasons. First, we see the emergence of new political actors who have taken over the mantle of leadership from long-serving leaders in the region. In Malaysia, Abdullah Badawi replaced long-time Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamed; and while there was no election in Singapore in 2004, there was nevertheless a changing of the guard in August 2004 with the installation of a new prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, who succeeded Goh Chok Tong. Second, despite having come after three short-lived presidents who had succeeded long-time Indonesian leader Suharto, the country's new president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was the first directly elected president of post-New Order Indonesia. The direct presidential elections have capped the six year process of political transition in the country toward a democratic political system. And third, the two incumbent leaders, Philippines' Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Thailand's Thaksin Shinawatra, who could still be considered as relatively new players in the region, are serving their second terms in office after their

Describing kekerasan; Some observations on writing about violence in Indonesia after the New Order

The authoritarian regime and its leader are gone and the structures that main tained his power are weakened, but in post-New Order Indonesia violent conflict has become more frequent and more varied.1 It is no longer sufficient to explain the violence in the terms used by the regime and others during its rule. Scholars, human rights workers, and victims increasingly recognize the plurality of truths about violent conflict (Stoler 2002). State truths, 'media reality', and the 'factual' and 'moral' truths told by human rights organiza tions are all in tension (Sai Siew Min forthcoming; Ignatieff 1996). The contin uing and escalating violence after the end of the New Order indicates that the 'roots' of the violence also lie outside the New Order (Schulte Nordholt 2002). During the New Order, explanations could be located within an authoritarian system that sponsored violence as a problem-solving method. Today, links between the actors involved in the conflicts in Ambon, West Kalimantan, and even Aceh, and the state elite in Jakarta cannot be made so easily. In a

Chinese Press after the New Order: Caught Between the Continuity of Idealism and the Logic of the Market 1

After the fall of Suharto, in cities throughout Indonesia, dozens of Chinese Indonesians, motivated by a diversity of interests, began to establish Chinese media. After a time, the idealism of that fragmented Chinese press encountered various stumbling blocks, the main one being the problem of finding the right fit between idealism, media management practices and reader tastes. This article sets out to examine the continuity--or lack of it--of idealism from the Chinese press of colonial times to that established in post-New Order Indonesia, notwithstanding the period of more than 30 years in which the Chinese press was buried. The analysis begins with an overview of the Chinese press in Indonesia, followed by an examination of case studies of post-New Order publications. The aim of this analysis is to reveal the diversity of offerings of the various publications as they interpret both their own particular agenda and the demands of the market. The article concludes with a discussion of the dynamics of the Chinese press in its approach to the market and its potential readership.