Ethnic, Religious, Racial and Group Diversities: Reasons for the Collapse of Society
Abstract
Indonesia has an abundance of ethnic, religious, racial, and group diversities. Diversity, on one hand, is the nations invaluable social and cultural capital, however, on the other hand, may raise conflicts which potentially lead to disintegration. Surakarta is a city with abundance of diversities despite Javanese domination, particularly in Sudiroprajan Village, Jebres Sub-district, Surakarta City. The personality-building patterns existing in multiethnic villages employed in diversity management services to be Indonesias social and cultural capital in avoidance of conflicts and disintegration.
Introduction
Indonesia has an abundance of ethnic, religious, racial, and group diversities. Each of the ethnic, religion, race and group has different values and norms. This societal complexity, marked by horizontal differences, describes this nations diversities.
Diversity has positive and negative impacts on Indonesia. In addition to positive impacts, diversity also has negative impacts on the nation. The positive impacts include enrichment of social and cultural capital, while the negative impacts include conflict which may lead to a nation's disintegration. This negative impact will not occur when it has good diversity management. This management includes appreciation for diversity, balanced development of diversity, and society personality building through multicultural education.
Many conflicts occur in Indonesia as the result of poor diversity management, such as the Poso conflict in 1998, the Ambon and Papua conflict in 2000, the Sampit conflict in 2001, and, recently, the Sampang and Lampung conflicts in 2012. All these conflicts are based on differences in ethnicity, religion, race, and group. This difference management is an important matter which needs immediate action as mandated by Pancasila in building humans with Godly, humane, unity, democratic, and justice values.
Society personality building through a multicultural education is one important thing to prevent any conflict arising from diversity. This personality building is meant to grow a sense of appreciation, respect, and willingness to accept differences. Individuals with these three aspects will have good adaptability in any situation where conflict is likely to arise as the result of difference. Personality building may be conducted through family, society (community and association), and school.
Surakarta City is a city with an abundance of diversity, particularly ethnicity. This may be observed with the existence of ethnic residences, such as: Pasar Kliwon, which is dominated by Arabs; Sampangan, which is partly occupied by Madurese, and; Sudiroprajan which is mostly occupied by Chinese. However, a harmonic multiethnic relation has been established since long ago with the Javanese, the dominant ethnicity in Surakarta, particularly in Sudiroprajan village. This ethnic tolerance in Surakarta is based on mutual acceptance, respect, and sense of unity above all differences.
Discussion
Multicultural society
According to C.W. Watson in his book Multiculturalism, to discuss multicultural society is to discuss the society of a state, folk, region, and even a limited geographic location such as a city or school, consisting of people with different cultures inequality. A multicultural society has no homogenous but heterogeneous characteristics. A society is classified as multicultural when it has diversities and differences. The concerned diversities and differences include diversity of cultural structures derived from different value standards, diversity of races, ethnics, and religions, diversity of physical characteristics such as skin colors, hair, profiles, postures, etc., and diversity of social groups in the society. Therefore, a multicultural society must have a relationship pattern of mutual appreciation, respect, tolerance, and willingness to accept differences. If otherwise, there will be vertical or horizontal conflict, which may lead to higher conflict and even disintegration.
Indonesia is a nation with multicultural societies, as proven with its abundance of ethnics along with their diverse cultures, values, and norms. These differences may be observed in their diverse languages, norms, religions, views of life, behavioral patterns, etc. Indonesia recognizes and accepts these differences while inserting humanity and unity values. The national motto of Indonesia Bhineka Tunggal Ika” even states that Indonesia is rich of diversities but always upholds unity.
The Multicultural Society concept is explained by J.S. Furnivall as a society consisting of two or more culturally and economically separated communities (groups) with different institutional structures. However, based on the configuration (ethnic structure and community), there are four categories of plural society:
- Plural society in a balanced composition
- Plural society with dominant majority
- Plural society with dominant minority
Fragmented plural society
A multicultural society has different characteristics from a homogeneous society, as explained by Pierre L. Vanden Berghe that multicultural societys characteristics are:
- It is segmented into groups, often with different sub-cultures.
- It is socio-structurally divided into non-complementary institutions.
- It lacks of consensus development among members on basic values.
- There are relatively frequent conflicts among the members.
Social integrity relatively grows on coercion and dependency in economy.
There is a group`s political dominance of other groups.
A multicultural society is similar to a plural society. Nasikun states that plural society is a society that submits to various value systems, adhered by various social entities which become its part in such a way that its members lack loyalty to the society as a whole, lack cultural homogeneity or even lack bases of mutual understanding. Therefore, plural society and multicultural society must have sense of respect to differences.
Clifford Geertz confirms that the plural society concept is a pluralistic society. Plural society is at least marked with primordial bonds, which may be meant to be given marking or imaging culture, such as: Race, Language, Region/ Geographical area, Religion, and Culture. These properties or characteristics cause potential conflict and disintegration in the multicultural society.
- Examining differences within a multicultural society, people in such conditions must acquire the following characteristics and attitudes:
- Acknowledge differences and complexities in society.
- Pay respect to and appreciate various communities and cultures, both of minority and majority.
- Tolerate diversities and differences, both as individuals and as groups.
The attitudes to be avoided in relation to multicultural society include:
Primordialism
Primordialism means excessive ethnic sense. An assumption that own-ethnic is most superior and advanced must not be developed in a multicultural society. If this sense exists in someones mind, he will least likely to accept other ethnics.
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism means an attitude or view originating from one's own community or culture, in which someone commonly underestimates other communities and cultures. Self-overestimation and underestimating others may lead to disintegration.
Discriminative
Discriminative means discriminating people based on skin color, group, ethnic, economy, religion, etc. This difference-based discrimination needs to be avoided in a multicultural society since it may lead to injustice conflicts.
Stereotype
Stereotype means a conception of a groups characteristics based on subjective and incorrect presumption. The stereotype is an incorrect attitude that must be thrown away in order to well maintain a multicultural society.
These must-have and to-be-avoided points will make personality building in a multiethnic society run smoothly.
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism has many definitions, which are essentially an acceptance of and respect for diversities and differences. Multiculturalism is basically a worlds view, which may later be translated into various cultural policies with emphasis on acceptance of religious, plural, and multicultural reality existing in social life. Multiculturalism may also be understood as worlds view realized in political awareness. Further, Blum proposes that Multiculturalism covers an understanding, appreciation, and valuation of one's culture, as well as respect for and curiosity about others' ethnic cultures. Multiculturalism covers the ideas, perspective, policy, attitude, and actions of plural people of a nation from ethnic, cultural, religious, etc. perspectives, however, with an idea to develop the same spirit of nationality and with pride to maintain such diversities. Modood states that multicultural society is not merely about the adaptation of traditional cultures based on the needs of immigrants and minorities such as the freedom of individuals within their groups, but multicultural society is understood as individual and societal equality in democracy in the attempt of positive, non-destructive, adaptation to unity and equality of societal and national identity.
Many attempts have been conducted by the administration of Surakarta Municipality to maintain the harmony of relationships among ethnics as a multicultural society existing in Surakarta City through organizations, communities, associations, public figures, and schools. The expectation of harmonious life among ethnics is realized through this personality-building pattern.
Multicultural education
Multicultural education means concept or idea as a set of belief and explanation which recognizes and assesses the importance of cultural and ethnic diversity in shaping the lifestyle, social experience, personal identity, and education opportunity of individual, group or the nation. Multicultural education may be understood as an educational process or strategy which involves more than one culture, shown through nationalism, language, ethnic, or racial criteria. Multicultural education may exist in a formal or informal education setting, either directly or indirectly. Multicultural education is directed to realize awareness, tolerance, understanding, and knowledge which considers cultural differences, and also inter-cultural differences and similarities, and its relation with worlds view concepts, values, beliefs, and attitudes.
From the definitions, we may examine that multicultural education must exist in a plural society to keep relationships harmonious in diversity. This education is urgently necessary, particularly for Indonesia with its abundance of diversities and differences.
In the context of implementation in Indonesia, multicultural education is seen and takes a position as follows.
As educational philosophy
As educational philosophy, it is a view that Indonesian cultural diversities should be utilized as best as possible to develop and improve the educational system and teaching-learning activities in Indonesia in realizing justice and prosperous people who are happy in this world and in the afterlife.
As educational approach
As educational approach, it is contextual educational organization and implementation, in consideration of Indonesian cultural diversities. Cultural values are believed to influence individuals' views, beliefs and behaviors (of educators and learners), to be brought to the educational situation in school and in informal society among individuals, and to influence educational structure in school (curriculum, pedagogy and other factors).
Field of study
As the field of study, it is a scientific discipline assisted by sociology and anthropology of education in review and study of cultural aspects, particularly cultural values and their manifestations (norms, etiquette or manner, custom or tradition, etc. including religious “cultural manifestation') for/in educational organization and implementation. These review and study results may become a field of study operationally (contextually) taught to potential educators who will likely to encounter cultural diversity (unnecessarily all of them). On the contrary, the “multicultural education process' must always be studied, and reviewed for its effectiveness and efficiency, and, particularly, its appropriateness to the Indonesian situation and condition, and its appropriateness to the essence.
Maliki states that multicultural education in Indonesia should be implemented in consideration of the cultural pluralism management perspective existing in the society, which theoretically consists of two perspectives:
Conventionalism approach
This approach recognizes the diversity of cultural identity. In this case, each cultural entity is given with right to bring their symbols to the public domain. The unity concept is, in this case, structured by cultural diversity or known with unity in diversity.
Deconventionalism perspective
Perspective, in this case, implies that ascriptive symbols in public space must be managed. Symbols that represent a particular identity or culture must not be brought to public domain. In interrelation with the public, it is allowed only employing mutual symbols. The unity concept is then known with unity without diversity.
Based on the study above, the school serves to support the multicultural values internalization process taking place in the family and in the community. Without school`s support as embryo in the society, the objective of personality building to maintain harmony in inter-ethnic relationship with all of its diversities will run well.
Multicultural History in Surakarta City
The history of people`s life starts in 1746 where Surakarta City is born, and the harmonious multicultural condition has existed in the urban planning structure since then. This is shown with the settlement policy which is made harmoniously, covering both environments inside and outside the palace. For example, Kampung Mangkubumen, the residence of Gusti Pangeran Arya Mangkubumi, and Kampung Jayadiningratan, the residence of Tumenggung Jayadiningrat (see Sajid, Babad Sala). Similarly, the non-Javanese ethnic regulation designates Pasar Kliwon as a residence dominated by the Arabs, Sampangan as the residence of the Madurese, Kebalen as the residence of the Balinese, Banjaran as the residence of the Banjarese, and Balong, Samaan, Mijen and Kepanjen as the residence of the Chinese.
Surakarta today evidently remains a multicultural city, as stated by Nurhadiantomo that most of Surakarta people is Javanese and the remainder consists of Chinese, Arab descendant, Indian descendant, Madurese, Banjarese, Sundanese, Minangkabau people, etc.
However, we cannot deny that there are many conflicts among those many ethnicities. Mulyadi et al. as quoted by Rahardjo, state that Solo has experienced 11 social conflicts starting from the Dutch colonial era, 7 of which are racial incidents anti-Chinese ethnic, such as during the Sarikat Islam (SI) era led by Haji Samanhudi that fights against Chinese ethnic in batik trade; anti-Chinese riot triggered by fight of Chinese youths and Javanese youths; and riots in May 1998 triggered by political crisis at the central level during immediately before the end of New Order regime.
Personality Building Pattern in Sudiroprajan
The personality-building pattern of respect, appreciation, and tolerance may be realized in the society through togetherness, in the family through parents' example, commonly from intermarriage, and in school through multicultural education implementation in the school environment.
First, for villagers, togetherness, mutual cooperation and tolerance are important factor that strengthens the relationship among villagers. This togetherness is often built through economically unproductive interactions, such as ‘jagongan' (sit down and chit-chat casually) at 'cakruk' (security post). This may evidently eliminate segmentations which are probably arisen by differences in descent and religion. Other forums which are considered as strengthening togetherness are arisan, neighborhood association meetings, and joint activities in celebrating feast days, such as Independence Day, Lebaran, Christmas, and Chinese New Year. A sense of kinship and mutual cooperation is felt in such events, such as during Independence Day, the people cooperate to clean, organize and decorate their villages. A sense of mutual respect, appreciation, and tolerance is also reflected in the celebration of Lebaran, Christmas, and Chinese New Year, such as Grebeg Sudiro during Chinese New Year, in which all people participate without considering any differences and join in the joy.
Second, the building pattern in family takes place in a multicultural family in the form of intermarriage. In Sudiroprajan village, there is knowing ampyang, a marriage between Javanese-Chinese. The building pattern in the family may be seen in how parents exemplify how to pay respect and to accept differences. These also strengthen the harmony of multicultural relationship in the area.
Third, the personality-building pattern in the school environment. Even if it does not give a significant effect, the climate of multicultural education in schools in Sudiroprajan village has supported students' understanding of multiculturalism. Despite no explicit learning, the multicultural education
Conclusion
Multicultural society is one where diversities and differences exist, but there is harmony in the relationship among the people. Establishing a harmonious multicultural society requires each individual and groups mutual respect, appreciation, tolerance and willingness to accept differences. In addition, maintaining the relationship in a multicultural society requires each individual and group to avoid: primodialism, ethnocentrism, discrimination, and stereotype. Finally, maintaining the harmony of relationships and establishing a good multicultural society requires a good personality-building pattern in family, society, and society.
