Description:

Arryman Scholars present dissertation research

Gde Metera, PhD Political Science will present his dissertation, "The Struggle over Symbolic Power Resource: The New Order’s Accommodation to Religious Politics 1978-1983."**

A Research Roundtable will also be held featuring PhD Candidates discussing their field research experiences.

Yoes Kenawas, Political Science: "How Dynastic is Indonesian Politics? The Growth of Subnational Political Dynasty in Post-Suharto Indonesia"

Sabina Puspita, Political Science: "Mapping Gender Equality in Indonesia: Challenges on the Field and Opportunities for Going Forward"

Wara Urwasi, Sociology: "Land, Leaders, and Linkages: Behind Varied and Uneven Urban Informality Governances in Jakarta"

** Abstract of Gde's dissertation:

This paper maintains that the shift of the New Order’s religion policy toward accommodation to religious politics in the late 1970s needs to be understood in the context of its struggle over maintaining its symbolic power resource amidst breakdown of its power coalition. The students and several important nationalist figures providing the New Order with nationalist authority withdrew their support and criticized the regime heavily. The threat of losing its symbolic power resource paired with the emergence of opposition to the regime from within the Army family necessitated the New Order to commit to a necessary adjustment to rebuild its power base. Accommodation to religious politics of Islamic elites was such an adjustment. In one stroke, the New Order aimed to woo and to prevent the Islamic elites from positioning with the regime’s nascent opponent. At the same time, the regime improved its image of being antagonistic to Islamic elites. Thus, the changes in the New Order’s religion policy could be accounted for by its struggle to influence the positioning of communal elites and to tilt the “balance of symbolic power” toward the regime instead of toward its nascent opponent.

Keywords: New Order, religious politics, symbolic power resource