Southeast Asian authoritarianism: Saying enough is enough<\/p>\n
Johan Saravanamuttu
\nContributor
\nPenang, Malaysia<\/p>\n
------------------------------------------------------
\nChallenging Authoritarianism in Southeast Asia: Comparing
\nIndonesia and Malaysia
\nEdited by Ariel Heryanto and Sumit K. Mandal
\nRoutledgeCurzon, London, 2003
\n247 pp
\n--------------------------------------------------<\/p>\n
Ariel Heryanto, Sumit Mandal and their co-writers are to be
\ncongratulated for the publication of this important book. Written
\nand conceptualized in the period leading up to the reformasi
\n(reform) upheavals in Indonesia and Malaysia, it offers the
\nreader a serious and in-depth evaluation of the sociopolitical
\nimplications of those events.<\/p>\n
More than that it examines and offers fresh analyses of the
\nchallenges to the persistence of authoritarianism.<\/p>\n
In the editors' words, Southeast Asian authoritarianism has
\nbeen critically challenged in the 1990s and beyond. Civil forces,
\nwhich the book examines so richly, have been shown to have
\nresisted the authoritarianism found in both Indonesia and
\nMalaysia, with salutary results.<\/p>\n
Women activists, public intellectuals, artists, the industrial
\nclass, environmental and Islamic activists continue to make
\nsignificant inroads into hegemonic and panoptic edifices of the
\nstate.<\/p>\n
However, resistance and challenges to authoritarianism do not
\nby themselves bring about "democracy". Indeed, the editors stress
\nthe point that authoritarianism and democracy should not be seen
\nas a dichotomy or as polar opposites. One doesn't necessarily
\nflow into the other nor does one necessarily give way to the
\nother. Implicit in the book's approach is a critique of the
\ndiscourse of democracy itself.<\/p>\n
The idea needs a deep evaluation in terms of its dynamics and
\nmanifestations in the region. And so-called democratic regimes
\nare never devoid of strains and inflexions of authoritarianism.
\nClearly the writers offer a rich discussion of the variety and
\nthe many layers and layerings of resistance to authoritarianism
\nin the two countries.<\/p>\n
Heryanto's important theoretical chapter examines middle class
\ncivil forces and intellectuals, and finds significant examples of
\nchallenges to authoritarianism. Of particular interest is the
\ncase study of Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU) in
\nIndonesia which is analyzed in depth.<\/p>\n
This case highlights the role of Indonesian intellectuals in
\nresisting authoritarianism. Heryanto also looks at some examples
\nfrom Malaysia focusing on reform intellectuals.<\/p>\n
Much work still needs to be done here but the citation of
\nSabri Zain's work (author of Reformasi Diary) is significant.
\nBeyond specific intellectuals, many middle class groups and
\nactors were clearly fired up by the reformasi movements in both
\ncountries. More than any other event in recent history the
\nmovements have brought to the fore civil forces as direct and
\nindirect agents of political change and transition, whether or
\nnot this had led to the toppling of a regime.<\/p>\n
The book is unique in that the writers have dug deep into the
\nexperiences of both countries, given cases and examples often
\nignored or unanalyzed in the past by academics. Kelly offers
\nexamples from Penang, an island thought to be a nest of important
\nNGOs in the region -- CAP, ALIRAN, TWN, SAM, MNS, among others.<\/p>\n
Kelly posits that a "secular civil society" has emerged in
\nPenang in contrast to his other case study of Batam island. The
\nchapter examines in some detail the issue of environmental
\ndegradation and cites the successful "Save Penang Hill" campaign.<\/p>\n
Mandal's chapter is ground breaking in that it offers an
\ninterpretation of the "art workers" as resisters to
\nauthoritarianism. Typically, artists, dramatists, poets and
\nliterary writers will carve out social spaces and terrains not
\nnormally deemed by authorities to be "political" or threatening
\nto the regime, but in effect, artists generate resistances which
\nburrow deep into the social fabric.<\/p>\n
He offers many examples, too many to name here, but the
\nformation in Malaysia of the Artis Pro-Activ (APA) in Kuala
\nLumpur is a particularly interesting example.<\/p>\n
Not unconnected to this group is the Instant Cafe Theater
\nwhich has been as effective in the area of entertainment as it
\nhas been as a social critic oftentimes unbeknownst to those in
\npower. However, in July 2003, the Kuala Lumpur City Council
\nthreatened to withdraw the troupe's license to perform,
\nindicating a belated understanding by the state of the power of
\npolitical satire.<\/p>\n
Ironically, middle class forces and actors have provided much
\nresistance in states such as Indonesia and Malaysia. In some
\nanalyses, the middle class, seen as a beneficiary of
\nglobalization, is often thought to be the first defender of the
\nauthoritarian state.<\/p>\n
However in both countries, various middle class groups have
\nbecome significant and powerful advocates and champions of
\ndemocracy. The empirical and yet nuanced evaluation of middle
\nclass forces offered by the writers in the various chapters is
\nindeed a very welcome and refreshing treatment of the subject.<\/p>\n
Of course, there are contexts, constraints and limits to
\nresistance. Here I like to highlight Noraini Othman's chapter
\nwhich deals with Islamization. Delving deeply into the Malaysian
\ncase, she shows how Islamization has negatively affected women's
\nrights. Muslim women are doubly faced not just by a domination of
\npatriarchal norms but one refurbished by calls to implement a
\nmore comprehensive sharia (Islamic law).<\/p>\n
The problem is further compounded in Malaysia by the Islamic
\nopposition party PAS, linked to reformasi forces but attempting
\nthe implementation of criminal Islamic law (hudud). Such ironies
\nare not lost to the writer, a member of Sisters-In-Islam, who
\nprovides the reader with a sturdy study of the problems of
\naddressing authoritarianism in Muslim societies.<\/p>\n
Both Malaysia and Indonesia are ethnically mixed countries and
\nBudianta's chapter on gender politics shows that women's activism
\nin both countries has developed multicultural approaches which
\ntranscend ethnicity and religion. However, it is clear that as
\nmajority Muslim states, Indonesia and Malaysia will continue to
\nbe confronted with issues of "political" Islam in years to come,
\ngiven the thrust of high profile Muslim political parties in both
\ncountries. The development of "secular" civil society as opposed
\nto the discourse of the so-called "Islamic" state has clearly
\nbegan to impact on mainstream politics in both countries.<\/p>\n
Another major constraint on the resistance to authoritarianism
\nconcerns labor and especially the issue of migrant workers. The
\nchapter by Hadiz shows that a "disconnect" exists between social
\nactivism and the labor movement. The vast influx of literally
\nmillions of Indonesian "guest" workers into Malaysia has failed
\nto prod a weak Malaysian trade union movement to champion their
\nrights.<\/p>\n
As late industrializers operating with a "tight labor market',
\nthe only apparent progressive trajectory of the Indonesian and
\nMalaysian labor movements would be the development of the
\ncapacity for self-organization in the long term. O'Donnell's
\ninsight about the authoritarian state's complicit role with
\nglobal capital still applies here.<\/p>\n
By way of concluding this book review, let me reiterate two of
\nthe more significant comparative issues pertaining to the problem
\nof authoritarianism. These "cross-national" issues are important
\nin that a learning curve exists between the two neighboring
\ncountries often through the communications and interventions by
\nsocial activists of both countries. The writers of this book are
\nthemselves important agents of such cross-national learning.<\/p>\n
The first cross-national issue would be women rights and
\ngender. Budianta's thorough and comparative chapter shows that
\nwomen's activism is not only significant but has been effective
\nin some ways in both countries while leaving still much more work
\nto be done.<\/p>\n
Budianta suggests that women's activism is much more advanced
\nin Malaysia, with Malaysian women even putting up a candidate in
\nthe last election (1999) under the Women's Candidacy Initiative.
\nHowever, in both countries, empowerment of women remains weak
\ngiven the pervasiveness of patriarchal norms articulating within
\nconservative societies while ethnic and religious revivalism tend
\nto act in a hegemonic rather than in a counter-hegemonic fashion.<\/p>\n
The second cross-national issue is the role of middle class
\nforces. Chapters by Heryanto, Mandal and others illustrate the
\nimportance of middle class actors and forces in resisting
\nauthoritarianism in both countries. Yet, middle class activism is
\nlimited and is also often a two-edged sword. It is limited
\nespecially in Indonesia where the bulk of society is constituted
\nby a disempowered peasantry and weak, disorganized working class.<\/p>\n
In Malaysia, which has increasingly becoming a middle class
\nsociety, an opposite irony seems to be true; the spoils of
\ndevelopmentalism will lure most of the increasingly affluent
\nworking and middle classes away from political activism.<\/p>\n
Secondly, while middle forces in both countries may become
\neffervescent and activated in times of economic crises, they tend
\nto slink into political indifference in times of prosperity. On
\nthe brighter side, years of prosperity in both countries
\nespecially in the mid-1990s failed to eliminate many significant
\nmiddle class forces of civil society.<\/p>\n
While we may no final answers to the many issues of democratic
\ntransition in Indonesia and Malaysia raised in the book, its
\ninsightful and ground breaking analyses will definitely provide
\nthe reader with the conceptual tools to probe deeper into the
\nquestion.<\/p>\n
The reviewer is a professor of political science at the School
\nof Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang.<\/p>",
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