Javanese culture not democratic and chauvinistic: Sociologist

JAKARTA (JP): The kind of nationalism which grows from the dominant "undemocratic" Javanese culture is chauvinistic, noted sociologist Dr. Mochtar Naim says.

Indonesia's current quest for democracy becomes a problem here because of competing forces between the undemocratic Javanese subculture with the more egalitarian Malay subculture, Naim said.

In a cultural lecture at the Jakarta Arts Center in Taman Ismail Marzuki here last week, Naim said the Nusantara (archipelago) culture basically consists of two split, conflicting sub-cultures.

The first sub-culture is Malayan which is "other-oriented" in nature and was historically influenced by Islam. It is found mainly in Sumatra and regions outside of Java.

The other sub-culture is the Hindu-influenced Javanese culture which has a centripetal "self-oriented pattern, according to the staff lecturer of Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra.

Due to its centrist nature, the Javanese culture is always trying to "conquer external, 'other' cultural values, and align them with its traditional pattern which it a priori deems the best and does not need to be changed", he said.

As a result, the nationalism that grows among people of Javanese culture tends to be chauvinistic, he added.

The Javanese sub-culture treats "any concept which comes from outside, including the concept of democracy, as something which should be aligned with existing paradigms of values," he said.

Out of such convictions, he said, Indonesia attached various ancillary notions to the democracy concept and gave birth to the so-called "guided democracy" or "Pancasila democracy", he added.

Malayan culture

The centrifugal Malayan sub-culture, on the other hand, is concerned with efforts to adjust itself to the bigger and universal existing values. As a consequence, progress and reform can take place normally because they are treated as something that has to be done, he said.

Out of such cultural dichotomy, grows both cultural powers which are harmonious with democracy concepts, and those which are undemocratic, he said.

However, since the national awakening era of the early 1900s, the society has started to demand "Western-model" democracy as part of its quest for independence from foreign colony.

The demands for such democracy and equality before the law became the base of Indonesia's 1945 Constitution, according to Naim.

The first 15 years of the republic's life, since its declaration of independence in 1945, saw the application of a democratic, more open, political system, he said. Since the 1960s, and until today, the Javanese sub-culture prevails, he said.

Naim, who is former chairman of the center for studies of Minangkabau ethnic group, went on to explain that the dichotomy between the philosophies of the two sub-cultures and the demand for Western-style democracy later created conflicting "undercurrents."

The down draft, which is launched by the formal power holders', is full of symbols of modern political ideologies disguised as "democracy".

Undercurrent

On the other hand, the undercurrent, that is, the aspiration of the mass, is controlled by the traditional political system, he said.

However, since the nation is committed to democracy, the "down draft" should be aligned with the undercurrent instead of the other way around, he said.

The discussion was attended by some 100 students and scholars, including poets Taufik Ismail and Hardi.

In the earlier part of his lecture, Naim, who received his doctorate from the University of Singapore, quoted American sociologist Harry Benda who said that democracy as a political system was non existent during the pre-colonial Indonesia.

"What Indonesia had during that period was feudalistic, even autocratic and absolute, system," Naim said.

It therefore could be concluded that democracy did not originate from Indonesian culture, he said.

This is despite some people's recent claims that democracy and the values which are now embodied in the state ideology of Pancasila, are derived from Indonesian culture, he said. (swe)