yudilatifspeech

Cultural Environment

Yudi Latif, Ph.D

Reform Institute

CULTURE CONCEPT

Our concept of culture is intended to be interactively ‘constitutional’ one. Such an approach assumes that rather than being a sphere apart from economics, politics, and society, culture is a meaning-making medium that interacts with other forces to influence all spheres, including politics and economics

(Giddens, 1984)

Our model of culture is a pluralized or ‘distributional’ one. It assumes that culture is not ‘the undivided property of the whole society’, but is instead subject to contestation and divergent interpretation. As a result, rather than being homogenous, patterns of culture meaning tend to vary across society in interesting ways

(Bourdieu 1977)

Human subjectivity is now seen as constituted by the interaction of cultural symbolism, individual biography, biological dispositions, embodied social habits, and deliberative thought. In this view, culture is not a finished social fact ‘internalized’ by passive cultural subjects

(Hefner, 1998)

Globalization

Globalization is the intensivication of world-wide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa (Anthony Giddens, 1990).

Globalization needs tighter definition not just in terms of scope (global-) but of motive (-ize)—not just in the how much and where but also the who and why.

The spice trade is an early manifestation of global scope and global intent coming together.

Indonesia as a prime mover of globalization

World history is the history of long-run trends, but at times the globe contracted dramatically.

Adam Smith (1776) noted: “The discovery of America, and that of a passage to the East Indies (Indonesia) by the Cape of Good Hope, in 1492, are the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind.”

Many historians have taken his lead, seeing 1942 as the starting date for globalization.

Impacts of Globalization

lGlobalization ‘pulls away’ power or influence from local communities and nations into the global arena.

Nation-state becomes too small to solve big problems.

The melting of national boundaries becomes a catalyst for the globalization of mass culture manifested in the form of food, fashion, fun and F….k.

Globalization also ‘pushes downwards’, creating new demands and new possibilities for regenerating local identities.

Nation-state becomes too large to solve small problems.

This becomes the catalyst for resurgences of local traditions, arts and identities.

The tension between the pressure of globalization and localization may lead to synthesis in the form of “glocalization” (global vision with local wisdom).

Indonesia as a plural society

lIndonesia is a plural society par excellence

Indonesia is the biggest archipelagic country in the world, stretching almost 5,000 kilometers from west to east and consists of over 16,000 islands (about 6,000 of which are inhabited) with a 2008 population of over 225 million. It incorporates ethnic and cultural diversity of over 250 ethnic groups and languages.

(Remarkably, that a population of such widely differing cultural and ethnic backgrounds adopted the Malay-Indonesian language as its lingua franca)

In addition, people range in their levels of development and sophistication from the Stone Age inhabitants in the inland mountainous areas of Papua to the most modern and cosmopolitan urban dwellers of the major cities.

People of the archipelago, especially those in the coastal area, has a long standing tradition of openness towards foreign cultural penetration with a visible influence of Arabo-Persian, Hindu, Chinese and Western-European cultures.

Deculturalization

lFrom the late Soekarno era up to the end of the Suharto regime, the diversity of the nation had been denied as a story fabricated by colonialism. Under the taboo of so called SARA (ethnic group, religion, race, inter-group relations), it was forbidden to talk openly issues related to the problem of multiculturalism. Thus a way the political establishment managed to create ‘a near anarchic politics of meaning’ with its arbitrary imposition of political and cultural homogeneity.

lSuch a policy has become a serious barrier for cross-cultural fertilization. As a result, Indonesia as a plural society can be depicted in terms of plural-monoculturalism rather than multiculturalism

Political Opportunity Structure

lIn the United State and in Western Europe—where the tradition of welfare state has taken over intellectual public responsibility, to be an artist (writer) means, generally first (and usually only) to assume a personal responsibility. That is, the responsibility to achieve in the most authentic way, a work which, for its artistic values and originality, enriches the language and culture of the country.

lIn most developing countries, on the contrary, to be an artist (writer) meant, until very recently, to assume a social responsibility: at the same time you developed a personal artistic (literary) work, you were supposed to act, through your work but also through your deeds, as a participant in the solution of the economic, political, and cultural problems of your society.

Democracy = Mediocracy

lThe shift from authoritarian to democratic political system in Indonesia has given opportunities for the artist to reclaim their freedom of expression.

But such freedom has been exercised to say very little, and even that seemed to be useless rhetoric—since democracy has not come along with meritocracy but rather with mediocracy.

Marginalization of intellectual and artistic passion has been the unintended consequence of new vocationalism and managerialism that dominates intellectual and cultural life. Individual scholar and artist pursuing their passionate interest increasingly risk labels such as ‘irrelevant’, ‘elitist’, ‘out of touch’ and ‘marginal’.

This phenomena has even been worsened by the rapid spread of the banality prevailing in the media program, generally domesticated by the imposition of a rating system.

Freedom of expression with the absence of meritocracy and asceticism produces abundance of ‘waste’ arts, echoing the pessimistic dictum of André Gide—who said once that with good sentiments you have bad literature.

The Challenge

l“If modernity is not only a culture of efficiency, and if democracy is not to be only the preservation of a State of Law and the ritualization of political competence, there will always be an artist-intellectual on the other side of the power structure—and against those who seek power—beyond state or academic institutionalization. There will always be the artist-intellectual asking seemingly facetious questions, reinterpreting controversy by making it reappear, in order to show that the questioning of that which might not be a part of the public agenda, or might be subtly suppressed by the media is still legitimate” (Richard 1992).


	Cultural Environment Yudi Latif, Ph.D Reform Institute CULTURE CONCEPT Our concept of culture is intended to be interactively ‘constitutional’ one. Such an approach assumes that rather than being a sphere apart from economics, politics, and society, culture is a meaning-making medium that interacts with other forces to influence all spheres, including politics and economics (Giddens, 1984) Our model of culture is a pluralized or ‘distributional’ one. It assumes that culture is not ‘the undivided property of the whole society’, but is instead subject to contestation and divergent interpretation. As a result, rather than being homogenous, patterns of culture meaning tend to vary across society in interesting ways (Bourdieu 1977) Human subjectivity is now seen as constituted by the interaction of cultural symbolism, individual biography, biological dispositions, embodied social habits, and deliberative thought. In this view, culture is not a finished social fact ‘internalized’ by passive cultural subjects (Hefner, 1998) Globalization Globalization is the intensivication of world-wide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa (Anthony Giddens, 1990). Globalization needs tighter definition not just in terms of scope (global-) but of motive (-ize)—not just in the how much and where but also the who and why. The spice trade is an early manifestation of global scope and global intent coming together. Indonesia as a prime mover of globalization World history is the history of long-run trends, but at times the globe contracted dramatically. Adam Smith (1776) noted: “The discovery of America, and that of a passage to the East Indies (Indonesia) by the Cape of Good Hope, in 1492, are the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind.” Many historians have taken his lead, seeing 1942 as the starting date for globalization. Impacts of Globalization lGlobalization ‘pulls away’ power or influence from local communities and nations into the global arena. Nation-state becomes too small to solve big problems. The melting of national boundaries becomes a catalyst for the globalization of mass culture manifested in the form of food, fashion, fun and F….k. Globalization also ‘pushes downwards’, creating new demands and new possibilities for regenerating local identities. Nation-state becomes too large to solve small problems. This becomes the catalyst for resurgences of local traditions, arts and identities. The tension between the pressure of globalization and localization may lead to synthesis in the form of “glocalization” (global vision with local wisdom). Indonesia as a plural society lIndonesia is a plural society par excellence Indonesia is the biggest archipelagic country in the world, stretching almost 5,000 kilometers from west to east and consists of over 16,000 islands (about 6,000 of which are inhabited) with a 2008 population of over 225 million. It incorporates ethnic and cultural diversity of over 250 ethnic groups and languages. (Remarkably, that a population of such widely differing cultural and ethnic backgrounds adopted the Malay-Indonesian language as its lingua franca) In addition, people range in their levels of development and sophistication from the Stone Age inhabitants in the inland mountainous areas of Papua to the most modern and cosmopolitan urban dwellers of the major cities. People of the archipelago, especially those in the coastal area, has a long standing tradition of openness towards foreign cultural penetration with a visible influence of Arabo-Persian, Hindu, Chinese and Western-European cultures. Deculturalization lFrom the late Soekarno era up to the end of the Suharto regime, the diversity of the nation had been denied as a story fabricated by colonialism. Under the taboo of so called SARA (ethnic group, religion, race, inter-group relations), it was forbidden to talk openly issues related to the problem of multiculturalism. Thus a way the political establishment managed to create ‘a near anarchic politics of meaning’ with its arbitrary imposition of political and cultural homogeneity. lSuch a policy has become a serious barrier for cross-cultural fertilization. As a result, Indonesia as a plural society can be depicted in terms of plural-monoculturalism rather than multiculturalism Political Opportunity Structure lIn the United State and in Western Europe—where the tradition of welfare state has taken over intellectual public responsibility, to be an artist (writer) means, generally first (and usually only) to assume a personal responsibility. That is, the responsibility to achieve in the most authentic way, a work which, for its artistic values and originality, enriches the language and culture of the country. l lIn most developing countries, on the contrary, to be an artist (writer) meant, until very recently, to assume a social responsibility: at the same time you developed a personal artistic (literary) work, you were supposed to act, through your work but also through your deeds, as a participant in the solution of the economic, political, and cultural problems of your society. Democracy = Mediocracy lThe shift from authoritarian to democratic political system in Indonesia has given opportunities for the artist to reclaim their freedom of expression. But such freedom has been exercised to say very little, and even that seemed to be useless rhetoric—since democracy has not come along with meritocracy but rather with mediocracy. Marginalization of intellectual and artistic passion has been the unintended consequence of new vocationalism and managerialism that dominates intellectual and cultural life. Individual scholar and artist pursuing their passionate interest increasingly risk labels such as ‘irrelevant’, ‘elitist’, ‘out of touch’ and ‘marginal’. This phenomena has even been worsened by the rapid spread of the banality prevailing in the media program, generally domesticated by the imposition of a rating system. Freedom of expression with the absence of meritocracy and asceticism produces abundance of ‘waste’ arts, echoing the pessimistic dictum of André Gide—who said once that with good sentiments you have bad literature. The Challenge l“If modernity is not only a culture of efficiency, and if democracy is not to be only the preservation of a State of Law and the ritualization of political competence, there will always be an artist-intellectual on the other side of the power structure—and against those who seek power—beyond state or academic institutionalization. There will always be the artist-intellectual asking seemingly facetious questions, reinterpreting controversy by making it reappear, in order to show that the questioning of that which might not be a part of the public agenda, or might be subtly suppressed by the media is still legitimate” (Richard 1992).


JakArt secretariat: Jln. Lebak Bulus II / 20 A, Cilandak – Jakarta 12430, INDONESIA Tel/ fax: + 62-21-75907687, Tel: + 62-21-70830742, email: proseni@indosat.net.id