The New Nationalism in Indonesia
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bs_bs_banner Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 72–82 doi: 10.1002/app5.111 Special Issue The New Nationalism in Indonesia Edward Aspinall* Abstract 1. Introduction A new nationalist mood is visible in Indonesia, Over the last decade, as Indonesia has recov- expressed in increasingly bellicose rejection of ered from the blows of the 1997–98 Asian alleged foreign interference in Indonesia’s financial crisis, resumed economic growth and affairs and in demands for greater interna- stabilised as a successful democracy, a mood of tional recognition of Indonesia’s power and assertive nationalism has entered the country’s status. This new mood has been visible for public discourse and domestic politics. Politi- several years, but became particularly marked cians, intellectuals, journalists, leaders of during the 2014 presidential election and religious and social organisations, and many under the new Joko Widodo administration. ordinary citizens frequently state publicly that This article analyses Indonesia’s new nation- foreign countries habitually insult, exploit and alism, especially as manifested in economic, mistreat Indonesia, and do not accord it the cultural and territorial spheres, noting both respect it deserves as a great nation. From time continuities with past episodes, and novel fea- to time, there are angry eruptions of public tures. A chief novelty is contemporary nation- protest and media condemnation of other coun- alism’s markedly non-ideological and non- tries—usually neighbours, such as Malaysia or intellectual form; continuity is visible in its Australia—in response to alleged insults that discursive style, with many contemporary they or their leaders have directed in Indone- nationalists anachronistically reproducing sia’s direction. Candidates for political office tropes rooted in earlier periods. The article increasingly draw upon nationalist themes, and concludes by identifying forces driving the political leaders are increasingly moulding contemporary resurgence of nationalism, public policy to match the nationalist mood, notably the effects of democratisation as well with a host of measures to protect sectors of the as deeper feelings of insecurity about Indone- Indonesian economy and restrict activities by sia’s achievements. foreigners. Though nationalist discourse and policy-making have featured in all post- Key words: nationalism, foreign relations, Soeharto governments, they are becoming even Indonesian politics, democratisation, eco- more prominent under President Joko Widodo, nomic nationalism sworn into office in October 2014. This article sketches out core features of this new nationalism, analyses its historical roots, * Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, ANU College of Asia & the Pacific, Canberra, and identifies the factors driving its contempo- Australian Capital Territory 0200 Australia; email rary manifestation. A first section introduces Ͻ[email protected]Ͼ. The author the new nationalism, noting three key arenas of thanks Paul Kenny and Eve Warburton for their nationalist mobilisation: territorial, economic feedback on an earlier version of this article. and cultural. A second section explains the © 2015 The Author. Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies published by Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. Aspinall: New Nationalism in Indonesia 73 historical sweep of Indonesian nationalism, and intellect, its advocates often pay little heed both in order to identify roots of the contem- to the logical consistency or implications of porary phenomenon and to identify its novel their positions. Nationalism is also highly fun- characteristics. The next sections focus on two gible, with nationalists able to combine differ- features that define the contemporary nation- ent aspects of nationalist thinking, and overlay alism: first, a sense of suspicion, sometimes them on other political philosophies and ideas, bordering on paranoia, about allegedly hostile with almost infinite variation. Accordingly, intents harboured by foreign countries; though the piece discusses contemporary Indo- second, an obsession with insults allegedly nesian nationalism in rather sweeping terms, directed at Indonesia, and an overwhelming we should remember that there is in practice concern to defend Indonesia’s ‘national considerable variety in how Indonesians dignity’. articulate, combine and act upon nationalist The final part of the article considers ideas. Many individuals disagree with the dis- factors driving the new nationalism. Indone- courses outlined below, or aspects of them. sia’s post-1998 democratisation, and the Even so, the nationalist mood described here absence of strong policy or ideological differ- represents a widely shared and distinctive ences between its major parties, provides a feature of Indonesia’s contemporary political domestic political context strongly conducive landscape. to nationalist outbidding. The new nationalism is also moulded by current insecurities about 2. The 2014 Election, Jokowi and the Indonesia’s place in the world. The emphasis New Nationalism on national dignity, for example, derives largely from anxieties that attend Indonesia’s One sign that assertive nationalism was transformation from a relatively poor and re-emerging at the centre of Indonesian politics underdeveloped nation into a more successful came with the presidential election campaign of economic player, but one that still lags behind 2014. One of the two contestants, Prabowo neighbouring countries. Subianto, a retired military general, who had Before we proceed with the argument, let us played a leading role in Soeharto’s New Order note two caveats. The first is that the primary (1966-98) regime, built his campaign appeal focus of this article is Indonesian nationalism almost exclusively on a nationalist platform. with regard to the country’s external relations. Though all mainstream politicians in Indone- Nationalism is always Janus faced, looking sia, as in other countries, are nationalist to one simultaneously outward, to assert a place for degree or another, the vehemence of Prabowo’s the nation within the international community nationalist message, and the passion with of nation-states, and inward, to identify and which it was delivered, was distinctive. In his define the critical features of national identity stump speeches, Prabowo frequently con- to which citizens should owe their loyalty and demned the foreign actors who were conspir- (often) to punish those who deviate. These two ing—in concert with (unnamed) domestic sides are interconnected, but this essay focuses traitors—to drain Indonesia’s national wealth, on the outward orientation. Accordingly, we with the consequence that Indonesia had do not discuss much Indonesian nationalism’s become a ‘nation of slaves’ (bangsa kacung). achievements with regard to the creation of an Foreigners were sneering at Indonesia, he inclusionary national identity in which ethnic repeatedly stated, and it was time for Indonesia and religious minorities are accommodated, to assert itself as a dignified and great nation. nor the difficulties which have attended this In large part, this meant throwing off the shack- process. Second, it should be stressed that les of foreign economic exploitation and limit- nationalism involves notably amorphous ideas ing the role of foreign companies—especially and dispositions. Because nationalism is typi- in the natural resources sector—but it also cally linked to structures of feeling and meant asserting Indonesia’s greatness in fields emotion more than to the world of rationality ranging from military power to culture. © 2015 The Author. Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies published by Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd 74 Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies January 2016 Presumably to underline the seriousness of his alleged external aggression and internal sepa- nationalist message, Prabowo even styled ratism. Indeed, in the minds of most national- himself on Indonesia’s founding father Presi- ists, these threats are inextricably linked, for dent Sukarno, wearing a black peci cap and an reasons touched upon below. Nationalist dis- old-fashioned military-cum-safari suit mod- course on this issue reached a fever pitch elled like those worn by Sukarno in his heyday during and immediately after the 1999 (Aspinall 2015). Australian-led UN intervention in East Timor. Although Prabowo’s rival, the ultimately Despite the fact that this intervention occurred victorious Joko Widodo (often called Jokowi) on Indonesia’s invitation, after an Indonesian- had a less strident approach (Mietzner 2015), initiated referendum process, which was fol- he also promoted a fundamentally nationalist lowed by widespread Indonesian military platform, promoting a threefold emphasis on abuses, most mainstream Indonesian politi- political sovereignty, economic autarchy and cians blame the ‘loss’ of East Timor on the cultural renaissance. When Prabowo tried to intervention and do not concede that the outflank him on nationalist issues in the tele- history of Indonesian military occupation and vised debates, Jokowi responded effectively: human rights violations