Indonesia in the New World (Book Review)

This post was first published in 2020.

First, let’s talk about the cover. This photo was taken during Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo’s visit to the Indonesian part of the South China Sea (North Natuna Sea, Natuna islands), when there was huge tension there in 2016, which, as the issue hasn’t yet reached its resolution, involves China, and several SEA nations (Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia).

As some people may know, the Indonesian president, Jokowi, frequently uses ‘symbolic’ communication in his political moves. The message he wanted to deliver was that Indonesia would never let any other country take over its northern territory.

But my question is: To which specific audience did he want to show this? I believe it was more directed to Indonesian citizens to reassure them, rather than to warn the international world, especially China. Why? Because when it comes to international negotiations over the dispute, Indonesia’s position is ambiguous. Officially, Indonesia is a ‘non-claimant’ country. This stance would benefit the country by being a mediator for claimant countries. However, if we look at the nine-dash line, we can see that it also covers a part of the Indonesian EEZ. Does it mean that Indonesia deliberately neglects its vulnerable situation?

On the other hand, Indonesia’s position as an intermediary hasn’t been significant for other ASEAN countries. They are left alone facing the uncontainable Chinese maritime power. That is why I think Jokowi’s (intentionally photographed) visit to Natuna was addressed to the domestic audience instead; to state that his administration is capable in this matter.

How does the cover relate to the content of the book? With its self-explanatory title, the book talks about Indonesia’s position in the modern world. Chapter 4 explains very well Indonesia’s stance on the issue of the South China Sea. The author, Shafiah F. Muhibat, also raises some options for Indonesia to deal with the problem (p. 62). Nevertheless, a bit different from the context of the cover image, which tends to be international political affairs, most chapters delve more into the economic aspect of it.

What can we learn from the book? The book consists of five parts, but out of these, it seems to have three dimensions, namely, (1) the past experience of the country or region, (2) the problems Indonesia currently has, and (3) the possibilities for the future, including implicit recommendations made by the contributing authors. I am personally fascinated by the elaboration about Indonesia’s―or whatever the region was called―past. This was well discussed in Chapter 2 by Anthony Reid. When Indonesia as a nation-state did not exist, its different regions used to compete with each other in trade. There were different civilisations, and it is interesting to imagine that they never thought that one day these different states would become a single national market after colonial times.

Nonetheless, unifying the archipelago was not something new. The Majapahit Empire aimed to group all different concurrent kingdoms during its age. Regarding religious intolerance, the context was different from that of modern Indonesia; the archipelago was predominantly Hindu-Buddhist. The problem of tolerance was more about reconciliation between these two big religions at that time—hence the background of the Sutasoma script. In contrast, the modern intolerance issue in Indonesia is between Muslims, the currently dominant group, and other religious minorities. The geographical aspect is still the case, too when it comes to religion as a different province has a different dominant religious group. However, ethnicity or tribe is also a significant problem in regard to territorial unification.

What are the other principal takeaways? From my point of view, other interesting points are:

  • Indonesia has a tendency to adopt protectionist policies in international trade. However, the degree of Indonesia’s openness to the world is still dominated by political and economic elites, rather than the preference of the people (Chapter 7 by Yose Rizal Damuri and Mari Pangestu).
  • When talking about gender, economic openness gives place to manufacturers offering jobs to women. But I think whether it is good or bad for women in general still needs further discussion. A contrario, protectionist trend in the country, accompanied by the shift towards male-intensive industries, e.g. mining, has benefited male workers (Chapter 9 by Krisztina Kis-Katos, Janneke Pieters and Robert Sparrow).
  • Globalisation hurts Indonesian villages by inducing human trafficking. With the sporadic increase of international airports in the country, (especially) women from remote areas are vulnerable to forced international migration by unregulated brokers. However, the number of domestically displaced migrant workers are also increasing. Connectivity is good, but stricter control is needed (Chapter 12 by Anis Hidayah and Chapter 13 by Dominggus Elcid Li).

There is much more to grasp than what I have mentioned in this review. Overall, one may find this book interesting if passionate about Indonesia’s political and economic affairs, either for personal or academic reasons.

Sources