Local/Global Disruption: The Response of the Samin Movement to Modernity A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor Philosophy College of Indigenous Futures, Arts, and Society Charles Darwin University Musa Maliki Bachelor of International Relations (Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta) Master of International Relations (University of Indonesia) March 2019 i This page intentionally left blank ii DECLARATION This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the University Library, being made available for loan and photocopying online via the University‘s Open Access repository eSpace. Musa Maliki Date: March 2019 iii This page intentionally left blank iv ABSTRACT The Samin Javanese ethnic identity is in an ongoing process of transformation, negotiation, and reinterpretation of meaning, and draws sustaining energies from its dynamic, fluid, and ambiguous connections with modernity. Historical theorists, social theorists, and anthropologists have tended to reduce the Saminists by placing them in a specific theoretical framework of Western discourse, which, once rationally argued for and logically justified (within the framework of Western academic discourse), is taken for granted. Yet no study has focused specifically on the constructed social formation of the Samin Javanese ethnic identity in political and cultural dimensions, relating these to modernity from the colonial period (1800) through to the post-authoritarian (2018) period. The Saminists are most often mentioned alongside Javanese cults (Kejawen), Javanese Islam (Abangan), and recently, the anti-cement movement as a distinct and independent cultural unit of analysis. I saw an opportunity to utilize Eisenstadt’s concept of multiple modernities, Barth’s term of ethnicity, Bhabha’s concept of hybridity to better understand the dynamic complex relations between the Samin community and modernity. Based on this idea, I suggest that the Saminists’ interaction with modernity should be perceived as a narrative to avoid an essentialist analysis. The concept of multiple modernities is applied to show that, although in a particular period they were often opposed to the Western identity (and modern identity), the Samin were distinctively modern in terms of their own narrative. The Saminists have multiple identities and their hybrid traditions are connected to Javanese, Islam, mystical, and modern forms of identity. They forge a complex contemporary situational identity that draws on tensions with and ambiguities about modernity. As a result, some Saminists resist modernity, represented by the Indonesian government and corporations, but cooperate with modern institutions such as non-government organizations (NGOs). Some others cooperate with the Indonesian government and NGOs, and still others are in an ambivalent relationship with these entities. In short, the Samin community has many layers of identity. Discourse analysis is applied to review the studies of previous researchers who constructed the Samin community based on their judgment and theoretical framework using historical facts and colonial documents. Discourse analysis is also important to view how non-Saminists construct the Saminists when dealing with current issues. Moreover, ethnomethodological fieldwork has enabled me to engage in the everyday lifeworld where the Samin community, as participants, and the researcher, as co-participant, constructed nuanced understandings of becoming Saminists and their meanings in the context of multiple modernities. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank to institutions and people who support me. They are kindly contributed to this thesis and without any of them this thesis would not have been possible. I am indebted to my sponsor, the Indonesian Ministry of Higher Degree Education (DIKTI) incorporating with Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta (UPNVJ) for the scholarship endorsement; I humbly thank for the opportunity to conduct this doctoral research. I am also grateful to Charles Darwin University for its supports of extension that enables me to finish my thesis. I express my high appreciation to the Indonesian Consulate in Darwin for arranging the cooperation between DIKTI and Charles Darwin University. To three of my supervisors: Professor Wayne Cristaudo, Professor Dennis Shoesmith and Dr Steve Farram, I am sincerely grateful for their incredible supervision and constructive discussion I had with them during the whole process of this research. I really appreciate their magnificent comments of fine details and large issues. Our discussions have guided me to become more mündigkeit and more mature in dealing with knowledge and complex reality. They encouraged my study. I really appreciate their patience in supervising me. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Professor Robert Hefner for his deep comment on my paper and presentation about modernity topic as well as his precious suggestion in our discussion. I thank Professor David Reeve for his kindness in sending me the copy of Onghokham’s thesis. I further express my deep gratitude to Professor Ann Kumar for her time to discuss all about Java and her books. My great appreciation also goes to scholars who are very much concerned on the study of the Samin community: Dr Nawari Ismail, Dr Moh Rosyid, Dr Achmad Uzair, Amrih Widodo, and Anis Sholeh Ba’asyin for their constructive comments and to my colleagues, Muhammad Abe who was very helpful when accompanying me during the fieldwork. Most importantly, I deeply appreciate my best friends Abdullah Sumrahadi, Afthonul Afif and Hamzah Fansuri who guided me to the way of correct methodology, especially at the final stage of the writing. I express my highest gratefulness to all members of the Samin community in Pati, Kudus, and Blora whom I cannot mention their name one by one because of ethics. I wish that all of you will seize what you struggle for in life and maintain the Samin’s teachings. I would like to thank all of my friends when I was in Darwin: Dr Rachmat Hidayat, Dr Nathan Franklin, Dr Hanandyo Dardjito, Dr Meika Kurnia Puji, Daniel Dwyer, Rolland Dalton, and Brett Dwyer for helping and guiding me throughout my doctoral journey. I am deeply thankful to Dr Rachmat Hidayat for his invaluable support at the very beginning of my study starting from finding the right supervisors, working out administration and paperworks, and discussing thesis at the early stage. I am also indebted to Professor Muhammad Adlin Sila, Dr vi Luthfi Makhasin, and Katiman who guided me and gave clues in finding sources necessary for this research, access of interviews, and inspiration. At the later stage of the thesis writing, I received much supports from other doctoral candidates. To Ayu Pramitasari, Steve Sutton, Mujiburrahman, and Lala Bumela Sudimantara, I thank you deeply. Last but not least, my deep gratitudes go to my wife Arinta and my daughters Mulan and Kirana who are patiently waiting for me at home in Jakarta. They and my parents Mulyono and Mukminah [RIP], my parents in-law Suhardi and Nurningsih, and my younger brother Yordan have been truly supporting my academic journey. My family is the most important supporter in this journey and I dedicate this thesis to them. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents DECLARATION…………………………………………………………………………….iii ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………..v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………………….vi TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………………viii GLOSSARY…………………………………………………………………………………...x ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………………………………………xiii LIST OF MAPS LIST OF PICTURES Contents Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1 A Literature Review ............................................................................................................................. 7 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................................... 46 Purpose of the Research ................................................................................................................... 48 Description of the Methodology ....................................................................................................... 48 Chapter Outline ................................................................................................................................. 69 Chapter 2 The Narrative of the Samin: How is Samin Surosentiko’s Worldview Positioned between the Javanese Discourse and the Islamic Discourse? ............................................................................. 73 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 73 The Meaning of the Name, Samin .................................................................................................... 77 Samin’s Teachings and Principles.....................................................................................................