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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 

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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.

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

94 SB, 29 June 2065 (1945).

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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.

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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.