Nationalism has seen a revival in a number of countries in recent years following decades of globalization. Indonesia has also experienced a revival of the nationalist spirit, at least since the 2014 presidential election.
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The University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute in the Kompas newsroom in Jakarta on Wednesday (7/2). Present at the event were (left to right) Inaya Rakhmani, Hani Yulindrasari, Dave McRae, Andrew Rosser, Vedi Hadiz and Kompas deputy chief editor Ninuk Mardiana Pambudi.
Editorial Introduction: Over the last several years, nationalism has reemerged in a number of countries, including Indonesia. The Kompas daily, in cooperation with the Asia Institute of the University of Melbourne, Australia, discussed "Indonesian Nationalism Today" in early February at the the Kompas newsroom in Jakarta. The speakers of the discussion were Prof. Vedi Hadiz, Dr. Dave McRa, and Prof. Andrew Rosser of the Asia Institute, and Dr. Hani Yulindrasari of the Indonesia University of Education. Other speakers were Dr. Inaya Rakhmani of the University of Indonesia and Dr. Robertus Robet of Jakarta State University. See more reports on page 24 and page 25.
Nationalism has seen a revival in a number of countries in recent years following decades of globalization, which has been ushering liberal economy into the world.
The revival of nationalism can be seen in President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, "America First", which led to the imposition of high import tariffs. Similarly, this national revival has also occurred in England with Brexit, in Russia with President Vladimir Putin wearing tsarist symbols to show power, China with its return to the “president for life” concept to build a sustainable global influence, India with its religious approach, and Turkey with its reflection on the glory of the Ottoman Empire. In a number of EU countries, the public have tended toward nationalism through the manipulation of political elites.
In this global situation, Indonesia has also experienced a revival of the nationalist spirit, at least since the 2014 presidential election. The two presidential candidates, Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, even though they appeared to be very different, called themselves the "heirs" to Soekarno’s nationalist tradition.
This discussion is intended to understand the causes behind the nationalist revival and its significance for democracy in relation to globalization and for the public. Globalization increases revenues through free trade in goods and services as well as the movement of money across national borders. However, at the same time it also causes inequality.
For example, Australia has more billionaires today, but at the same time has experienced stagnation in wage hikes for the working class. In the United States, the wealth of the 400 richest citizens equals the wealth of 60 percent of its population.
In Indonesia, inequality has not narrowed in the last 10 years, as indicated by the relatively unchanged Gini coefficient index of 3.93. A World Bank analysis (2015) stated that 10 percent of the spending among Indonesia\'s richest people was equivalent to the wealth of 54 percent of the population. The market-oriented economic reforms in the past two decades imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are seen as the causes of the Indonesian socioeconomic imbalance.
Blurring differences
Nationalism here is a political discourse that is produced through concrete political uses. The revival of nationalism in Indonesia is highly felt in the business sector, even though the state does not play a direct role. A number of analyses point to four factors that have the shift toward nationalism.
First is the individual or group interests of the business-political elite and their increasing ability to work without foreign partners. Second, the democratic system has prompted the political elite to exploit the nationalist issue because it is popular among the public. Third, the political elite\'s view that the Indonesian economy has led to a high value-added economy has become manifested in state intervention.
Fourth is the political and legal mobilization that has been driven by discontent over the wealth imbalance for the past two decades. Several examples include community groups or individuals that have petitioned the Constitutional Court for a review of the water resources law and education law, and hospital privatization cases in Jakarta. It should be noted that the strengthening of economic nationalism has thus far not been a result of state policy.
The revival of nationalism and inequality from globalization have earned a place among public issues because they bring a sense of solidarity, a feeling of sharing the same fate. Since the 2014 presidential election, a group founded on the idea of "nationalist-nationalist" and another founded on "nationalist-religious" have emerged. Even though the two seem rivals, they share common ground, namely the strong view that ranks communal values the highest.
When the two ideas compete in politics, the victims are the poor and the marginalized, as their voices are not represented, including women and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender), and human rights and individual rights are marginalized.
Nationalism obscures differences, including differences in aspirations and diversity. Meanwhile, nationalism already exists in the historical memory of the people, which can theoretically be used by anyone for debate, but in reality, it is difficult to conquer dominant interpretations. It is also a fact that those who use nationalism to further their political interests are of the same elite. The elite use nationalist and/or religious symbols concurrently or alternately, depending on their interests.
Middle class
In the ongoing research, the Indonesian middle class is showing anxiousness and nervousness in facing a future amid uncertainty. At the same time, an apparent feeling of not belonging to a community has emerged as a result of the huge inequality and the rapid changes in the liberal economy that has led to the privatization of public services, such as public transport, schools and healthcare.
The concept of communalism, including faith-based communalism, is attractive to a middle class that has experienced atomization. Nationalism also blurs class distinctions. On the other hand, the market mechanism, introduced during the general elections, such as winning a prize of coffee when voting or when buying halal products as a group, teaches exclusivity to groups within a community.
In such a situation, engaging in a counter-narrative by teaching Pancasila will not result in changes, because the current situation has developed through economic institutions that were formed by policies of openness.
