Hostname: page-component-76dd75c94c-28gj6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T09:05:59.177Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Gotong royong as social citizenship in Indonesia, 1940s to 1990s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2019

Abstract

This article examines gotong royong as social citizenship in the second half of the twentieth century in Indonesia. Gotong royong was traditionally understood as a collective spirit among neighbours to strengthen economic and social resilience. However, the institutionalisation of the system through massive development programmes since the 1940s has influenced the common people's perception and practice of it. This article argues that the co-option of gotong royong as part of the discourse of nation-state building transformed the popular view of labour and capital mobilisation from an openly critical stance to apparent submission. Gotong royong became a means of social engineering and an ingenious linguistic strategy by which state elites orchestrated control over the making of citizens. Still, Indonesians have remained vigilant of their participation in gotong royong, and about the potential for its misuse by corrupt officials.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

The research leading to this essay has received funding from the People's Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under an REA grant (no. 609305). The author would like to thank Bernd Kortmann, Günther Shulze, Carsten Dose, Judith Schlehe, Jürgen Rüland, Sabine Dabringhaus (all of FRIAS), and two anonymous reviewers for their critical and insightful comments.

References

1 Subagyo, , ‘Pengembangan nilai dan tradisi gotong royong dalam bingkai konservasi nilai budaya’, Indonesian Journal of Conservation 1, 1 (2012): 61–8Google Scholar; Pranadji, Tri, ‘Penguatan kelembagaan gotong royong dalam perspektif sosio-budaya bangsa: Suatu upaya revitalisasi adat istiadat dalam penyelenggaraan pemerintahan’, Forum Penelitian Agro Ekonomi Institut Pertanian Bogor 27, 1 (2009): 6172CrossRefGoogle Scholar; N. Rochmadi, ‘Menjadikan nilai budaya gotong royong sebagai common identity dalam kehidupan bertetangga negara-negara ASEAN’, http://library.um.ac.id (accessed 12 Jun 2015); Bintarto, R., Gotong royong: Suatu karakteristik bangsa Indonesia (Surabaya: PT Bina Ilmu, 1980)Google Scholar.

2 ‘Ini pidato perdana Jokowi sebagai Presiden ke-7 RI’, www.kompas.com (accessed 31 May 2015).

3 ‘Gotong royong membangun bangsa’, Kabare 149, 12 Nov. 2014, pp. 22–5.

4 ‘Dari titik kilometer nol, Jokowi serukan pemimpin beri contoh kerja gotong royong’, www.kompas.com (accessed 31 May 2015).

5 ‘Perkuat gotong royong untuk kesejahteraan’, Kompas, 17 Dec. 2017, p. 15.

6 Nordholt, Henk Schulte, ‘Identity politics, citizenship and the soft state in Indonesia: An essay’, Journal of Indonesian Social Sciences and Humanities 1 (2008): 121Google Scholar; Gayatri, Irine Hiraswari, ‘Nationalism, democratisation and primordial sentiment in Indonesia: Problems of ethnicity versus Indonesianness (the cases of Aceh, Riau, Papua and Bali)’, Journal of Indonesian Social Sciences and Humanities 3 (2010): 189203Google Scholar.

7 Indratno, A. Ferry, ed., Negara minus nurani: Esai-esai kebijakan publik (Jakarta: Penerbit Buku Kompas, 2009)Google Scholar.

8 Trocki, Carl, ‘Review, The making of a bureaucratic elite: The colonial transformation of the Javanese prijaji by Heather Sutherland’, Journal of Asian Studies 40, 4 (1981): 855–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 Cribb, Robert, ed., The late colonial state in Indonesia: Political and economic foundations of the Netherlands Indies, 1880–1942 (Leiden: KITLV Press, 1994)Google Scholar.

10 Trocki, ‘Review, The making of a bureaucratic elite’, pp. 855–6.

11 Rahardjo, Satjipto, ‘Between two worlds: Modern state and traditional society in Indonesia’, Law and Society Review 28, 3 (1994): 495–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

12 Reid, Anthony, ‘Revolutionary state formation and the Unitary Republic of Indonesia’, in Multination states in Asia: Accommodation and resistance, ed. Bertrand, Jacques and Laliberté, André (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 30Google Scholar.

13 Robinson, Richard, ‘Toward a class analysis of the Indonesian military bureaucratic state’, Indonesia 25 (1978): 1739CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14 Marshall, T.H., Citizenship and social class (London: Pluto, 1950)Google Scholar; Marshall, T.H., Class, citizenship and social development (New York: Doubleday, 1964)Google Scholar.

15 Sullivan, John, ‘Inventing and imagining community: Two modern Indonesian ideologies’, Monash University Centre of Southeast Asian Studies Working Paper 69 (1991), p. 5Google Scholar.

16 Robins, Steven, Cornwall, Andrea and von Lieres, Bettina, ‘Rethinking citizenship in the post-colony’, Third World Quarterly 29, 6 (2008): 1069–86CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

17 Sullivan, ‘Inventing and imagining community’; Bowen, John R., ‘On the political construction of tradition: Gotong royong in Indonesia’, Journal of Asian Studies 45, 3 (1986): 545–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

18 Data collection, selection and classification took five months (in 2014–15) of visits to the Leiden University Library, Indonesian National Library (Perpusnas) in Jakarta, and the City Library of Yogyakarta (JogjaLib Centre). Altogether, 217 news articles from 14 different newspapers and bulletins were examined, with the selected newspapers or bulletins proportionately representing the ten decades survey (1900 to 1999).

19 Koentjaraningrat, , Some social anthropological observations on gotong royong practices in two villages in Central Java (Ithaca: Cornell Modern Indonesia Project, 1961)Google Scholar; Isi konsep desa di Indonesia’, in Masyarakat desa di Indonesia masa ini, ed. Koentjaraningrat (Jakarta: Yayasan Badan Penerbit FEUI, 1964), pp. 346–70Google Scholar; The system and spirit of “gotong royong”’, Prisma 6 (1977): 2027Google Scholar.

20 Koentjaraningrat, Some social anthropological observations, pp. 29–44.

21 Sullivan, ‘Inventing and imagining community’, p. 6.

22 Koentjaraningrat, Some social anthropological observations, pp. 29–44.

23 Koentjaraningrat, ‘Isi konsep desa’, pp. 356–7; Koentjaraningrat, ‘The system and spirit’, pp. 396–7.

24 Koentjaraningrat, ‘Isi konsep desa’, p. 357.

25 Ibid., p. 396.

26 Ibid., pp. 358–9.

27 Bowen, ‘On the political construction of tradition’, p. 545.

28 Ibid., p. 546.

29 Ibid., pp. 547–9.

30 Sullivan, John, ‘Kampung and state: The role of government in the development of urban community in Yogyakarta’, Indonesia 41 (1986): 6388CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

31 Ibid., p. 63.

32 Ibid., p. 78.

33 Ibid., p. 80.

34 Ibid., p. 84.

35 Sullivan, John, Local government and community in Java (Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1992), pp. 216–17Google Scholar.

36 Soekarno, Lahirnya pantja-sila: Pidato Bung Karno di depan dokuritsu zyumbi tyoosakai tanggal 1 Juni 1945 (Surabaya: Penerbit Bina Pustaka Tama, n.d.), p. 45.

37 Koentjaraningrat, ‘The system and spirit’, p. 21.

38 For example, Rochmadi, ‘Menjadikan nilai’, p. 4; Subagyo, ‘Pengembangan nilai’, p. 62; Tri Pranadji, ‘Penguatan kelembagaan’, p. 62.

39 For example, Prawiroatmodjo, S., Bausastra Jawa–Indonesia  (Jakarta: Gunung Agung, 1981)Google Scholar.

40 Bowen, ‘On the political construction’, p. 546.

41 Sullivan, ‘Inventing and imagining community’, p. 6.

42 Robson, P.J. Zoetmulder with S.O., Old Javanese–English dictionary Part I: A–O (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1982)Google Scholar; Old Javanese–English dictionary Part II: P–Y (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1982)Google Scholar.

43 Zoetmulder, P.J. with Robson, S.O., Kamus Jawa Kuno–Indonesia bagian 1: A–O, tr. Darusuprapta and Sumarti Suprayitna (Jakarta: Perwakilan KITLV and Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1982)Google Scholar; Kamus Jawa Kuno–Indonesia bagian 2: P–Y, tr. Darusuprapta and Sumarti Suprayitna (Jakarta: KITLV; Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1982)Google Scholar.

44 Zoetmulder, Old Javanese Part I, p. 540.

45 Zoetmulder, OId Javanese Part II, p. 1560.

46 The conjoining derivative of ‘gotong’ and ‘royong’ is respectively ‘gotong-ginotong’, and ‘royong-rinoyong’. See Zoetmulder, Old Javanese Part I, p. 540; Part II, p. 1560.

47 Koentjaraningrat, ‘The system and spirit’, p. 21.

48 Bowen, ‘On the political construction’, p. 548.

49 Piekaar, A.J., Aceh en de oorlog met Japan (The Hague: Van Hoeve, 1949), pp. 295–8Google Scholar.

50 Bowen, ‘On the political construction’, p. 548.

51 Sartono Kartodirjo, ‘Kedudukan dan peranan sistim gotong royong di dalam perkembangan masyarakat Indonesia’, Simposium Pembinaan Gotong Royong dalam Rangka Pembangunan Desa, Jakarta, 18–19 Jan. 1978, p. 6.

52 Ibid., pp. 9–11.

53 I thank Prof. Jos Gommans for introducing me to India's jajmani system.

54 Gough, Kathleen, ‘The Hindu jajmani system: A comparative analysis of the jajmani system by Thomas O. Beidelman’, Economic Development and Cultural Change 9, 1 (1960): 8391CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

55 Gould, Harold A., ‘The Hindu jajmani system: A case of economic particularism’, Journal of Anthropological Research 42, 3 (1986): 269–78CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

56 Orenstein, Henry, ‘A comparative analysis of the jajmani system: Thomas O. Beidelman’, American Anthropologist 64, 3 (2009)Google Scholar, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/aa.1962.64.3.02a00220/pdf (accessed 30 Jun. 2015); Commander, Simon, ‘The jajmani system in North India: An examination of its logic and status across two centuries’, Modern Asian Studies 17, 2 (1983): 283311CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

57 Charles Ferdinand Schoch, ‘De heerendiensten op Java and Madoera volgens het regeerings-reglement van 1854’ (PhD diss., University of Utrecht, 1891), p. 47.

58 Breman, Jan, The village on Java at the early colonial stage (Rotterdam: CASP Erasmus University, 1980), pp. 28–9Google Scholar.

59 Schoch, ‘De heerendiensten’, p. 12.

60 Fokkens, F., De afschaffing der laatste heerendiensten op Java (Baarn: Hollandia-Drukkerij, 1914), p. 5Google Scholar.

61 Schoch, ‘De heerendiensten’, pp. 12–13.

62 Ibid., p. 13.

63 Breman, The village, pp. 32–3.

64 Fokkens, De afschaffing, p. 6.

65 Schoch, ‘De heerendiensten’, pp. 17–18; Fokkens, De afschaffing, p. 6.

66 Breman, The village, pp. 32–3.

67 Schoch, ‘De heerendiensten’, pp. 4–5.

68 Ibid., p. 169.

69 Fokkens, De afschaffing, p. 4.

70 Oud-Assistent-Resident, ‘Waarheid omtrent heerendiensten’, De Nieuwe Tijd Sociaaldemokratisch Maandschrift 7, 11 (1902): 661–72Google Scholar.

71 Schoch, ‘De Heerendiensten’, pp. 6, 61–2.

72 Salm, A., Financiele beschouwingen in betrekking tot de afschaffing der heerendienstedn en eene daardoor noodzakelijke herziening van het cultuurstelsel (Amsterdam: Van der Made, 1865), p. 10Google Scholar.

73 Schoch, ‘De Heerendiensten’, pp. 21–2; 57–8; 125–6; 132–3.

74 ‘Salinan bijblad No. 5359 heerendienst Probolinggo. Staatsblad 1898 No. 321’, Pewarta Prijaji I, Aug. 1900, p. 73.

75 ‘Salinan bijblad No. 5358 heerendienst Pasoeroehan. Staatsblad 1898 No. 320’, Pewarta Prijaji I, Aug. 1900, p. 82.

76 Breman, Jan, The shattered image: Construction and deconstruction of the village in colonial Asia (Dordrecht: Foris, 1988), p. 16Google Scholar.

77 Breman, The village, p. 32.

78 Oetoesan Hindia (thereafter OH), 10 June 1921, KITLV, DP UH/212.

79 OH, 28 June 1921, KITLV, DP UH/212.

80 OH, 28 June 1921, KITLV, DP UH/212.

81 Benda, Harry J., ‘The beginnings of the Japanese Occupation of Java’, Far Eastern Quarterly 15, 4 (1956): 541–60CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

82 Sato, Shigeru, War, nationalism and peasants: Java under the Japanese Occupation 1942–1945 (London: Allen & Unwin with ASAA, 1994), p. 50Google Scholar.

83 Sato, Shigeru, ‘Indonesia 1939–1942: Prelude to the Japanese Occupation’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 37, 2 (2006): 225–48CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

84 Sato, War, nationalism and peasants, pp. 50–53.

85 Hatta, Mohammad, Kumpulan karangan III (Jakarta, Amsterdam, Surabaya: Penerbit dan Balai Buku Indonesia, 1954)Google Scholar.

86 Suwignyo, Agus, ‘The making of politically conscious Indonesian teachers in public schools, 1930–42’, Southeast Asian Studies 3, 1 (2014): 119–49Google Scholar.

87 See Abdul Rivai's articles in Bintang Hindia 2–4, no. 1, 2 (1904) up to 4, 18 (1907).

88 Sundari, Siti, ‘Madioen’, Doenia Bergerak 2 (1914): 78Google Scholar.

89 Tjokroaminoto, H.O.S., Islam dan socialisme (Jakarta: Yayasan Islam Studi Club, 1924), pp. 27–8Google Scholar.

90 Bowen, ‘On the political construction’, p. 548.

91 Sinar Baroe (thereafter SB), 4 Go-Gatsu 2603 (May 1943); I thank David John Rawson for the English translation of the quoted passages. Sinar Baroe had published news about the dam's construction in April 1943, describing how ‘the voluntary hard-working spirit of the people’ to participate in the project ‘had reduced the overall budget’ for the Sultanate. Yet, gotong royong was not used in this earlier article. See SB, 14 Shi-Gatsu 2603 (April).

92 SB, 14 Go-Gatsu 2603 (May 1943).

93 SB, 13 Roku-Gatsu 2603 (June 1943).

94 SB, 29 June 2065 (1945).

95 SB, 2 and 10 San-Gatsu 2605 (Mar. 1945).

96 SB, 6 June 2605 (1945).

97 SB, 7 Feb. 2605 (1945).

98 SB, 9 June 2605 (1945).

99 I thank Prof. Shingo Minamizuka for referring me to the Japanese ‘yui’ system.

100 Tatsuro Suehara, ‘Yui and its new role in the post-industrial Japanese society’, The 4th International Conference, Rennes, France, 2005, fr.pekea-fr.org/Rennes/T-Suehara.doc, (accessed 15 June 2015); Smith, Robert J., ‘The Japanese rural community: Norms, sanctions, and ostracism’, American Anthropologist 63, 3 (1961): 522–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

101 Suehara, Tatsuro, ‘Labour exchange systems in Japan and DR Congo: Similarities and differences’, African Studies Quarterly 9, 1–2 (2006): 5565Google Scholar.

102 Suehara, ‘Labour exchange systems’, pp. 58–9.

103 Smith, ‘The Japanese rural community’, p. 523.

104 Suehara, ‘Yui and its new role’, p. 1.

105 Suehara, ‘Labour exchange systems’, p. 64.

106 Filsafat gotong royong’, Banteng I, 19/20 (1946), p. 2Google Scholar.

107 Sukarno, , ‘Penemuan kembali revolusi kita (Manifesto Politik): Amanat Presiden Republik Indonesia pada hari proklamasi 17 Agustus 1959’, in Haluan politik dan pembangunan negara (Jakarta: Departement Penerangan RI, n.d.), pp. 4075Google Scholar.

108 ‘Lampiran keputusan Dewan Pertimbangan Agung tentang perincian Jalannya Revolusi Kita yang diucapkan oleh Presiden Sukarno pada 17 Agustus 1960’, in Haluan politik, pp. 83–94; Sukarno, ‘Ambeg paramarta-arta (Berwatak pandai mendahulukan urusan yang penting’ (Jakarta: Departemen Penerangan RI, 1963), pp. 7, 27.

109 ‘Lampiran keputusan Dewan Pertimbangan Agung tentang perincian persoalan-persoalan pokok dan program umum revolusi Indonesia yang diambil dari manifesto politik Republik Indonesia tanggal 17 Agustus 1959’, in Haluan politik, pp. 29–39.

110 ‘Betapa indah gotong royong: DPR-GR telah mendemonstrasikan secara konkrit’, Harian Rakjat, 6 July 1961, p. 1.

111 Azas kekuatan sendiri’, Madjalah Kotapradja 6–7, VII (1957), pp. 3031Google Scholar; Pusat latihan pendidikan masjarakat di Ketjamatan Kebondjeruk’, Madjalah Kotapradja 12–13, VII (1957), p. 21Google Scholar.

112 ‘Swasta harus aktif & gotong royong bersama pemerintah’, Suluh Indonesia, 8 Jan. 1964, p. 3.

113 ‘Gotong royong adalah jiwa kekuatan desa’, Kedaulatan Rakyat (hereafter KR), 25 Jan. 1955, p. 2.

114 However, the terms kerigan and gugur gunung remained in popular use, as Koentjaraningrat noted in the 1960s. I also found gugur gunung in Harian Umum, 29 Sep. 1951, p. 1.

115 ‘Ramai-ramai bikin gedung sekolah’, KR, 18 Jan. 1955, p. 2; ‘Gotong royong mendirikan rumah sekolah’, KR, 3 May 1955; Gotong royong bangun SR’, KR, 16 Feb. 1955, p. 2.

116 ‘Ramai-ramai … ’, KR, 18 Jan. 1955.

117 ‘Gotong royong bangun SR’, KR, 16 Feb. 1955.

118 ‘SR Gotong Rojong’, Suluh Indonesia, 12 Sept. 1961, p. 5; ‘Rembang giat membangun’, Suara Merdeka (thereafter SM), 18 July 1966, p. 3.

119 Amirmachmud, ‘Pidato menteri dalam negeri’, Simposium Pembinaan Gotong Royong, pp. 1–2, 10 and 12.

120 Achmadi, ‘Pidato penjelasan direktur jenderal pembangunan desa’, Simposium Pembinaan Gotong Royong, pp. 8–9.

121 Amirmachmud, ‘Pidato menteri’, p. 11.

122 Achmadi, ‘Pidato penjelasan’, p. 11.

123 See, for example, Chalid, Syamsuddin Hi, Buchari, , and Bangsaw, Ali, Sistim gotong royong dalam masyarakat pedesaan Daerah Sulawesi Tengah (Palu: Proyek Inventarisasi dan Dokumentasi Kebudayaan Daerah Sulawesi Tengah, 1979)Google Scholar; Yaningsih, Sri, Sistim gotong royong dalam masyarakat pedesaan Daerah Nusa Tenggara Barat (Mataram: Proyek Inventariasi dan Dokumentasi Kebudayaan Daerah Nusa Tenggara Barat, 1979)Google Scholar. There are also reports of the gotong royong writing projects published by the other provincial administrative offices between 1979 and 1988 under the auspices of ‘Proyek Inventarisasi dan Dokumentasi Kebudayaan Daerah’ of the Department of Education and Culture.

124 ‘Pembukaan Balai Desa’, SM, 19 Sept. 1966, p. 2.

125 ‘Masjid Kadipiro’, Adil 43, 13 (1974), p. 5.

126 ‘Kronik’, Adil 43, 15 (1975), p. 14.

127 ‘Biaya bangun masjid dari hasil garap sawah’, KR, 14 July 1978, p. 2.

128 ‘Rakyat Bruno bangun mesjid’, KR, 18 July 1978, p. 3.

129 ‘Umat Katolik bangun gereja, biaya dari gaji’, KR, 4 Aug. 1978, p. 7.

130 ‘Kerja bakti’, SM, 5 Mar. 1996, p. 4.

131 ‘Gotong royong’, SM, 27 Mar. 1996; ‘Gotong royong’, SM, 7 Aug. 1999, p. 2.

132 See ‘Banyuwangi: Semangat gotong royong besar’, Harian Umum, 18 June 1951, p. 11; ‘Pembangunan desa di Kecamatan Poncol’, Harian Umum, 21 Sep. 1951, p. 11; ‘Jepara: Rakyat bergotong royong membangun jalan sepanjang 20 km’, KR, 27 Mar. 1956, p. 2; ‘Pati: Pembangunan jalan secara gotong royong’, SM, 7 July 1966, p. 3; ‘Gotong royong membuat jalan sepanjang 400 meter’, Suluh Marhaen, 12 Nov. 1969; ‘Bantul’, KR, 1 Oct. 1981, p. 3; ‘Sidokarto’, KR, 12 Oct. 1981, p. 3.

133 See ‘Gotong royong mengairi 200 ha sawah’, Harian Umum, 14 June 1951, p. 11; ‘Usaha gotong royong yang patut ditiru’, Harian Umum, 31 July 1951, p. 11; ‘Klaten kerjasama mengatasi krisis air’, KR, 31 Jan. 1955, p. 2; ‘Selokan Kalibawang perlu disempurnakan’, KR, 1 Aug. 1960, p. 2; ‘Saluran gotong royong’, Suluh Indonesia, 19 Sep. 1962, p. 2; ‘Klaten gotong royong waduk’, SM, 11 July 1966, p. 3; ‘Purworejo: Tanggul saluran air hasil gotong royong’, Suara Merdeka, 3 Nov. 1966, p. 2; ‘Sekilas berita Jateng’, Suara Karya, 12 Nov. 1971, p. 2; ‘Masalah yang sudah berlangsung 32 tahun akhirnya terpecahkan’, Surabaya Post, 25 Jan 1978, p. 8; ‘Rakyat Panungkulan giat perbaiki tanggul bobol’, KR, 29 July 1978, p. 2; ‘Penduduk Kecamatan Tulis gotong royong perbaiki Sungai Kaliboyo’, SM, 17 Feb. 1986, p. 4.

134 ‘Penduduk …’, SM, 17 Feb. 1986, p. 4.

135 ‘Selokan Kalibawang …’, KR, 1 Aug. 1960, p. 2.

136 ‘Usaha …’, Harian Umum, 31 July 1951, p. 11; ‘Banyuwangi …’, Harian Umum, 18 June 1951, p. 11.

137 ‘Kemitraan antara polisi dan warga hasilkan bangunan Mapolsek’, SM, 20 Mar. 1996; also Harian Umum, 22–23 Oct. 1951.

138 ‘Pemugaran 40 rumah di Tempel kurang lancar karena kurang tenaga’, KR, 6 Oct. 1981, p. 3; ‘Akibat hujan beruntun, jembatan Clereng ambles lalu lintas ke Wates putus’, KR, 4 Dec. 1981, p. 3.

139 ‘Gotong royong Rp 30an hasilkan pengerasan jalan 400m!’, KR, 5 July 1978, p. 3.

140 ‘Tenaga gotong royong diganti dengan uang’, KR, 14 Jan. 1955, p. 2.

141 ‘Pungutan2 desa’, Surabaya Post, 30 Jan. 1978, p. 2.

142 ‘Penggunaan bantuan SD di Kulonprogo ditertibkan’, KR, 3 Oct. 1982, p. 3.