Cultural Coercion in Indonesia
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Webster University Vienna Fall 2011
RESEARCH PAPER:
CULTURAL COERCION IN INDONESIA
Literature review of Murray Li, Tania (1999): "Compromising Power: Developement, Culture, and Rule in Indonesia". In: Cultural Anthropology 14(3), pp. 295-322
Vienna, 11.12.2011
Gregor Čorokalo
Introduction The age of globalization that we currently live in has certainly brought many changes to both our environment and the ways in which we live our lives. The process of globalization has influenced each and every one of us, some did not even see the changes coming and some have completely changes their lifestyle, subordinating themselves to the "globalized ideal". Indonesia is a country that is comprised by more than 10,000 small islands, each of them inhabiting people with unique cultures. As the world modernizes, there seems to be less and less tolerance for the peoples that do not live their lives according to the modernized globalization image. These are people from small communities that have lives their own way for centuries, developed their culture according to their needs and had seldom influence from the outside. Such peoples are today perceived as isolated, under-developed and primitive, because they do not modernize their habits according to the globalized image of the world. The Indonesian government therefore, in the search for modernization, implemented a program that would help the "isolated peoples" modernize. The cornerstone of this program has become development. Tania Murray Li has written an academic article that examines the process of developing Indonesia 's isolated population. By reviewing her work in Indonesia, one gets a better look on how the government tried to impose development on the people, the main aims of such a program, and the end effects. The main aim of this paper is to further debate such governmental development attempts. Through a more detailed look at the Indonesian case, one can get a
RESEARCH PAPER:
CULTURAL COERCION IN INDONESIA
Literature review of Murray Li, Tania (1999): "Compromising Power: Developement, Culture, and Rule in Indonesia". In: Cultural Anthropology 14(3), pp. 295-322
Vienna, 11.12.2011
Gregor Čorokalo
Introduction The age of globalization that we currently live in has certainly brought many changes to both our environment and the ways in which we live our lives. The process of globalization has influenced each and every one of us, some did not even see the changes coming and some have completely changes their lifestyle, subordinating themselves to the "globalized ideal". Indonesia is a country that is comprised by more than 10,000 small islands, each of them inhabiting people with unique cultures. As the world modernizes, there seems to be less and less tolerance for the peoples that do not live their lives according to the modernized globalization image. These are people from small communities that have lives their own way for centuries, developed their culture according to their needs and had seldom influence from the outside. Such peoples are today perceived as isolated, under-developed and primitive, because they do not modernize their habits according to the globalized image of the world. The Indonesian government therefore, in the search for modernization, implemented a program that would help the "isolated peoples" modernize. The cornerstone of this program has become development. Tania Murray Li has written an academic article that examines the process of developing Indonesia 's isolated population. By reviewing her work in Indonesia, one gets a better look on how the government tried to impose development on the people, the main aims of such a program, and the end effects. The main aim of this paper is to further debate such governmental development attempts. Through a more detailed look at the Indonesian case, one can get a
References: Buettner-Janusch, John (1957): "Boas and Mason: Particularism versus Generalization". In: American Anthropologist 59(2), pp. 318-324 Murray Li, Tania (1999): "Compromising Power: Developement, Culture, and Rule in Indonesia". In: Cultural Anthropology 14(3), pp. 295-322