Seminar reviews relations between state and society

JAKARTA (JP): Any society, no matter how dominated by the state, always finds ways to survive and thrive, intellectuals say.

In a discussion yesterday, a number of noted intellectuals said that the mushrooming of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), clandestine publications and of places where intellectuals engage in free discourses is proof of society's resilience.

Mochtar Pabottingi, Daniel Dhakidae, Franz Magnis Suseno and Aswab Mahasin were speakers at a seminar on civil liberty, "a social life which is free and autonomous of the state", and interactions between the two within modern democracy.

In the discussion held by LP3ES, an NGO which actively studies social political affairs, the scholars sought to find proof that civil liberty exists in Indonesia. They came to the conclusion that what really exists is traditional polarized relations between a dominant state and a passive society.

The underlying theme of the discussion was that the dichotomy between state and civil liberty provides legitimacy for the establishment of checks and balances.

The scholars discussed the questions of whether and how civil liberty exists in Indonesia, and what its impacts are on the implementation of democracy.

Dhakidae pointed out that in the current situation, the dynamic relations between the state and society have shifted so much that people now believe that society should serve as a watchdog against the absolute power of state.

"Society must not be obliterated ... and one of the ways to ensure it is by increasing the importance of protecting and renewing a pluralistic, self-organizing civil society independent of the state," he said.

Under the first president, Sukarno, the state adopted a Hegelian philosophy which considered public opinion as "politically irrelevant, null and void".

Dhakidae compared the current situation with a long history of conflicts between the state and society, and found proof that not much change has occurred. He cited that before and during the Dutch colonial rule, society showed resilience by forming free thinking circles.

Today, a similar phenomenon has occurred, he said, pointing to the growing number of NGOs and intellectual discourses as proof. "When some newspapers and publications were banned, alternative publications emerged ... the number of dramas and poetry readings grew," he said.

The intellectual exchanges conducted after the government banned three publications, including the major newsweekly Tempo, indicates that free thinking circles are growing, he concluded.

Pabottingi pointed out at the "lack of mutual trust in both political discourses and practice" which surfaced in the form of "intrigue and deceit" occurred in domestic political life before and after independence.

Prejudice

"The tradition of intrigue and deceit has not declined," he said, adding that in the current situation, it takes the form of rampant latent prejudice. "They are indications of how thin the veneer of mutual trust among us is."

He blamed the condition on the people's lack of "autocentricity" -- a willingness of the participants of a nation state to put the welfare of the whole nation first, no matter how major the disparities and economic and political competition.

He said there is no way civil liberty can be established without the people first restoring mutual trust among themselves, and cultivating the willingness to forego one's interests for the public good.

"For that, we would have to increase our empowerment and courage to strive for the democratic political system we want," he said. In order to achieve that, the people need to help one another, he added.

"We cannot establish democracy without the presence of strong fighters who have solid organizations and broad horizons," he said. (swe)