It's different unrest now, says Sartono

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Violent brawls between supporters of different political parties often erupt due to matters as trivial as taunting and jeering during campaign rallies.

"Why does it happen so easily?" people commonly ask after hearing reports of a death during a brawl, or when properties are vandalized.

A 76-year-old historian and professor emeritus at Gadjah Mada University, Sartono Kartodirdjo, said today's unrest is very different from that of the 19th century.

The author of The Peasants' Revolt of Banten in 1888. Its condition, Course and Sequel: A Case Study of Social Movement in Indonesia said back then people revolted against individual members of the Dutch colonial administration.

Besides, it was usually possible to contain unrest due to communication constraints.

"It's different from today. Unrest spreads, and everybody can follow closely what's happening (through various communication means)," he said, adding that such unrest was typical of an "open, dynamic community".

Sartono believes the recent incidents of unrest are indication of transition in people's lives.

"New values that stress individuality have not been incorporated completely in the place of old values such as rural folk's cooperation," he said.

Changes in social, economic and cultural life bring about various problems that demand both individual and collective solutions, he said.

He attributed the unrest to a number of factors, including industrialization and modernization which have benefits and adverse impacts.

The great importance placed on efficiency and productivity, for instance, is beneficial but also causes a situation where some people lose out in the competition, he said.

"In rural and urban areas there are many people who become the losers," he said. "This is a situation ripe for upheaval."

Seen from a social psychological perspective, those who miss out live in anxiety and under stress, he said.

"They become vulnerable and easily incited. They feel they can't be held responsible ... people like this will pelt stones, set fire to property, or even kill because they don't believe they'll be held accountable."

The unrest also indicates a leadership crisis at the lower level of community, he said.

"Just when the people who lost out need guidance to adjust to the new values, the leadership at the local and regional level is in crisis," he said.

"Those leaders fail to give guidance," he said, adding that the leadership crisis should be taken into account when studying the factors that lead people to take part in unrest.

Sartono was among experts invited to a discussion on the rebellion of people in society's lower stratum, known here as arus bawah (undercurrent), held by Kompas daily in 1995. The discussion concluded that rebellion was brought about by the government's campaign to depoliticize people, especially with its "floating mass" policy.

The government's campaign effectively removed the public from political matters. At the same time, the government tried to regulate all public activities into state-sponsored institutions at the expense of the public's own dynamics. (38)