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Department of History, National University of Singapore

Anthropology in IndonesiaAuthor(s): KoentjaraningratSource: Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Sep., 1987), pp. 217-234Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of Department of History, National Universityof SingaporeStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20070968 .

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Vol. XVIII, No. 2 Journal of Southeast Asian Studies September 1987

Anthropology in Indonesia

KOENTJARANINGRAT

I. ANTHROPOLOGY IN INDONESIA BEFORE WORLD WAR II

Records on Indonesian Peoples and Cultures

The development of anthropology in Indonesia is based on a vast accumulation of records on Indonesian peoples and cultures left by foreign visitors who had come to the islands

from time immemorial. Compared to the records left by the Chinese, Indians, and Arab

merchants who had visited the islands centuries ago, those left by the earliest Western

Europeans (travellers, sailors, missionaries, translators of the Bible, explorers, and the Dutch colonial civil servants) are the most important.

On the vast amount of records mentioned above there are over 40 bibliographies, of which a list is included in Gids van de Nederland Aanwezige Bronnen Betreffende de Ges

chiedenis van Nederlandsch-lndi?IIndon?sie 1816-19421 compiled by F.G.P. Jacquet,2 and also in a textbook on social research methodology by Koentjaraningrat.3 Another list of those bibliographies is therefore unnecessary in this paper. It should, however, be noted that the earliest writings are not very useful for scientific studies because of their dubious qualities. The Dutch scientific interest in Indonesia indeed did not start until the second half of the 19th century. Beginning from that period the Dutch

government required an extensive knowledge of the main languages and cultures of the peoples in Indonesia, from the civil servants and military officers who intended to make a career in the colonial service. Their interest in the Indonesian languages,

peoples, and cultures had stimulated an intensive collection of data on those matters, and

consequently the development of a complex of social sciences called Indologie. Although in a subsequent stage of her development the various specializations of Indologie could not be kept concentrated in one hand, the discipline was characterized by a minimum of differentiation. Only three branches of specializations have developed, i.e. the studies with a dominant literary-historical orientation, those with a dominant socio

political orientation, and those which are dominantly oriented on socio-economic

problems. In the period before the war, anthropology or ethnology in the restricted sense did

exist, and it is usually considered to belong to the first group of studies. However, many

lOr "Guide to the Sources in the Netherlands Concerning the History of the Netherlands Indies/

Indonesia, 1816-1942".

2F.G.P. Jacquet, Gids van de Nederland Aanwezige Bronnen Betreffende de Geschiedenis van Neder

landsch-Indi?lIndon?sie 1816-1942, Vols. I-X (Leiden: KITLV, 1968).

3Koentjaraningrat, Metodologi Penelitian Masyarakat (Jakarta: Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia,

1973), pp. 44-50.

217



218 Koentjaraningrat

of the studies that can today be considered anthropology, such as the study of adatJaw, or the study of rural economics, was at the time considered to belong to the second and

third categories of studies, respectively. The Dutch specialists in Indologie have tried to achieve an understanding of the

peoples and cultures in Indonesia mainly through the normative approach, i.e. by looking for basic principles and established norms of the cultural system, and thereby using

speculative and deductive comparative methods of investigation. As a consequence they often had to consider and take a look into the older phases of the culture, and their

interest in the problem of socio-cultural change was therefore relatively small.

Before World War II, the centers of Indonesian studies were mainly the universities, and scientific institutes and associations in Holland. In Indonesia, they were also mainly in the hands of Dutch scholars, as hardly any Indonesian with a university degree had

then taken up an academic career. They generally went into the civil service, but the

outstanding roles of several Indonesian academics in the development of Indonesian

studies could not be overlooked. A more detailed presentation of the development of Indologie is considered unnecessary, because a number of books and articles have

been written on the development of various branches of Indonesian studies, e.g. the

development of adat law studies by C. van Vollenhoven4 and by J. Prins;5 on the develop ment of Indonesian anthropology by R. Kennedy,6 G.J. Held,7 A.G. Gerbrands,8P.E. de

Josselin de Jong,9 and Koentjaraningrat;10 on the development of sociology by H.J.

Heeren;11 whereas a review of government surveys on agrarian problems, household

budget studies and population studies are included in a book on the development of

statistics in Indonesia by E.A. van de Graaf.12

II. INDONESIAN ANTHROPOLOGY AFTER WORLD WAR II

Research Activities by Dutchmen

After Indonesia gained its independence after World War II, Dutch Indologie never

resumed its previously glorious position. Before the war the Dutch indologists were sent to Indonesia as civil servants where they were placed in up to the smallest sub-district

towns throughout the country. The close and continuous contacts which they developed with the population enabled them to observe and study them from nearby. Moreover, the

high quality of their academic training made them qualified to carry out adequate social

research. However, this opportunity ceased when Indonesia became independent.

4C. van Vollenhoven, De Ontdekking van hetAdatrecht (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1928). 5 J. Prins, "De Nederlanders en het Indonesische Adatrecht", in Tijdschrift van de Vrije Universiteit van

Br?ssel, IV (1962). 6R. Kennedy, Applied Anthropology in the Dutch East Indies, Series 2, VI, 5 (New York: Transactions

of the New York Academy of Science, 1949). 7G. J. Held, "Applied Anthropology in Government: The Netherlands", in Anthropology Today, ed.

A.L. Kroeber (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1953), pp. 866-79.

8A. G. Gerbrands, "La Situation Actuelle de l'Anthropologie Culturelle en Hollande", in Recherche et

Dialogues Philosophique et Economiques (Paris: Cahiers de l'Institut de Science Economique Appliqu?,

1959). 9P. E. de Josselin de Jong, "Cultural Anthropology in the Netherlands", in Higher Education and

Research in the Netherlands IV (1960): 3-16.

10Koentjaraningrat, Anthropology in Indonesia. A Bibliographical Review (Leiden: KITLV, 1975). UH. J. Heeren, "Recente Sociologische Literatuur over Indon?sie", in Sociologische Gids III (1965): 179

86.

12E. A. van de Graaf, De Statistiek in Indonesia (Bandung: W. van Hoeve, 1955).



Anthropology in Indonesia 219

A number of studies in adat law and anthropology, published by the Dutch civil

servants after World War II, can be considered to be continuations of their studies which

they had already started before the war broke out. Some of the best examples of such

studies are those done by G.J. Held on the social structure of the Waropen Papuans of the Cenderawasih (formerly Geelvink) Bay in West Irian,13 by H. Bouman on the

development of Indonesian nationalism in West Sumatra,14 by H.Th. Chabot on the

kinship and social system of the Makassarese of the Boronglo? adat area in South

Sulawesi,15 and by H.J. Burger on structural changes in Javanese society.

During 1957-58 most of the Dutch scholars left Indonesia, due to the strained relations between both countries following the West Irian issue. Indonesia then became closed

territory for the Dutch scholars, and Indologie was since then only able to study her

subject from a distance. Indologie therefore became only part of Niet-Westersche

Sociologie (Sociology of Non-Western Societies). As the younger generations of Dutch men lost their interest in Indonesia, Indonesian studies was carried out only by a small

group of an older generation of indologists who had in general been in civil service or

had an academic career in Indonesia before the war broke out.

Whereas their interest in Indonesia decreased rapidly after 1958, the Dutch interest

in West Irian increased rapidly compared to the situation before the war, when West Irian was also part of their colonial empire. After 1950, many of the research activities

? especially in the field of anthropology

? were organized or sponsored by Kantoor voor Bevolkingszaken in Kotabaru (now called Jayapura). This research station was

established by the first governor after the war had ended, J. van Baal, who is also a

renowned anthropologist.16 In 1963, the West Irian issue was solved, and relations between Indonesia and Holland

improved. Although very slowly, interest in Indonesia was resumed in the academic

circles in Holland. Until about 1968, this interest was still a continuation of that which

prevailed before the war. Currently, however, Dutch interest in Indonesia has also grown among the younger generation of scholars.

Research Activities by American and Other Foreign Scholars

After the war American anthropologists became especially interested in Indonesia than

they ever did before. It was part of their general interest in postwar Southeast Asia, and there were at least three important centers in the United States which organized anthropological research in Indonesia: i.e. Cornell University, Massachussetts Institute of Technology, and Yale University.17

The Department of Far Eastern Studies of Cornell University had a Southeast Asia

Programme that carried out research and trained specialists through a Ph.D. programme on that area. An important part of the programme was the Modern Indonesia Project

,3G. J. Held, De Papoea's van Waropen (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1947). ,4H. Bouman, Enige Beschouwingen over de Ontwikkeling van het Indonesisch Nationalisme op Sumatra's

Westkust (Batavia: J.B. Wolters, 1949). ,5H. Th. Chabot, Verwantschap, Standen Sexe in Zuid Celebes (Djakarta: J. P. Wolters, 1950). ,6J. van Baal, K. W. Galis and Koentjaraningrat, A Critical Survey of Studies on Irian Jay a (Leiden:

KITLV). 17A survey of the first period of the development of Indonesian Studies in America is included in four

articles by A von Marie: "Mededeling Betreffende Indon?sie op Amerikaanse Universiteiten" in Indon?sie

IX-X. IX: 418-20, 524-26; X:172-73, 433-35. See also G. McT. Kahin, Nationalism and Revolution in

Indonesia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1952), and B.D. Dohrenwend, Courses Related to Southeast

Asia in American Colleges and Universities, 1955-56 (Ithaca, 1957).




directed by G.McT. Kahin, a political scientist and author o? Nationalism and Revolution

in Indonesia.18 Although political science and history seemed to have dominated the

programme, there was sufficient input from the side of anthropologists, such as R.

Textor 's study on community development,19 and D.E. Willmott's study on the Chinese

of Semarang.20 There were also a number of Indonesian anthropologists who studied

under the programme for the M.A. or Ph.D. degrees. Another important center for Indonesian studies was the Center for International

Studies of the Massachussetts Institute of Technology, whose objective was the study of

postwar international problems, including the cultural, economic, and political aspects. Within the framework, three countries had become the special focus of attention: Italy,

India and Indonesia. The coordinator for the programme on Indonesia was the

economist B. Higgins. Although its main focus was economic and political development, the trend of thinking that emerged in the late 1950's concerning the non-economic obstacles of economic development of which Higgins was one of its early proponents, had

stimulated intensive study on the socio-cultural aspects of the Indonesian society. The most important anthropological and sociological research project sponsored by MIT in Indonesia is the one known as the Modjokuto Study. A team consisting of anthro

pologists and sociologists studied a small town called Pare in East Java under the

leadership of a linguist, R. Handon. Pare is the town which the team have given the

assumed name Modjokuto. All the members of the team wrote their Ph.D. theses on data obtained in "Modjokuto": C. Geertz on the religion in Modjokuto;21 Hildred

Geertz on the kinship system;22 E. J. Ryan on the cultural value orientation of the Chinese

of Modjokuto;23 A.C. Dewey on the small market economy;24 and R.R. Jay on local

small town politics.25 Although most of them have also written a number of other articles

in addition to their dissertations,26 the one who produced the longest list of books and

articles on various aspects of the Modjokuto data, with special reference to the socio

cultural and religious aspects of economic development was C. Geertz.27 He has also

18G. McT. Kahin, Nationalism and Revolution in Indonesia.

19R. B. Textor, Notes on Indonesian Villagers' Participation in Programs to Modernize Rural Life (Ithaca,

1954). 20D. E. Willmott, The National Status of the Chinese in Indonesia, Interim Report Series No. 1, Modern

Indonesia Project (Ithaca: Cornell University, 1956); The Chinese Family System in Central Java (Ph.D.

dissertation, Cornell University, 1957); The Chinese of Semarang: A Changing Minority Community in

Indonesia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1960). 21C. Geertz, The Religion of Java (Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1960). 22H. Geertz, The Javanese Family: A Study of Kinship and Socialization (Glencoe: The Free Press, 1961). 23E. J. Ryan, "The Value Systems of a Chinese Community in Java" (Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard Univer

sity, 1961). 24A.C. Dewey, "Trade and Social Control in Java", Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute XII

(1962): 177-90. 25R. R. Jay, "Local Government in Rural Central Java", Far Eastern Quarterly XV (1956): 215-27;

Religion and Politics in Rural Central Java, Cultural Report Series No. 12 (New Haven: Southeast Asian

Studies, Yale University, 1963). 26R. R. Jay, Javanese Villagers: Society and Politics in Rural Modjokerto (Glencoe: The Free Press,

1963); A.C. Dewey, "Trade and Sociology Control in Java", Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

CXII: 177-90.

27C. Geertz, "The Social Context of Economic Change: An Indonesian Case Study" (Cambridge, Mass.:

M.I.T., 1956) (mimeographed manuscript); The Development of Javanese Economy. A Socio-Cultural

Approach (Cambridge: M.I.T., 1956); "Religious Beliefs and Economic Behaviour in a Central Javanese

Town: Some Preliminary Considerations", Economic Development and Culture Change IV (1956): 134-58;

"Ethos, World View and the Analysis of Sacred Symbols", Antioch Review XVII (1957); The Religion of




written on the results of his second Indonesian field work in Bali.28 Most of his works have

been extensively discussed, not only in America but also in Dutch and Indonesian social

science journals, whereas a critical appraisal of the main theme of his work is included in

H. J. Heeren's review article on Indonesian sociology, and in Koentjaraningrat's book,

Anthropology in Indonesia.29

Yale's interest in Indonesia dated back from the period when R. Kennedy of the

Department of Anthropology compiled the Bibliography of Indonesian Peoples and

Cultures before the war.30 After the war Yale also had a Southeast Asian Programme, of

which the geographer K.J. Pelzer became its director. Before the war this scholar had

done work on resettlement programmes in Indonesia and the Philippines, and has written

a book on the subject, called Pioneer Settlements in the Asiatic Tropics?1 Later Pelzer did

another economic-geographic study in East Sumatra.32 More information on the works of

scholars connected with Yale University, e.g. C. Cunningham, L. Pospisil, E.M. Bruner, and F. L. Cooley, but also of other American anthropologists, is included in Koentja

raningrat's aforementioned book.33

The Human Relations Area Files is naturally also interested in Southeast Asia and

Indonesia. In a series of publications called Survey of World Cultures, a large volume on

various aspects of contemporary Indonesia, has appeared under the editorship of R.T.

McVey,34 with Hildred Geertz writing the anthropological chapter. A more strictly infor

mative ethnographic volume on most Indonesian ethnic groups is volume I of Ethnic

Groups of Insular Southeast Asia, edited by F. M. Lebar.35

Besides the Dutch and American scholars, there were also Australian, British,

German, French, Canadian and Japanese anthropologists who conducted research in

various parts of Indonesia. Especially since 1967, their number has increased.

After 1974, an increase of the number of administrative requirements and restrictions

has caused a drawback of extensive research done by foreign scholars.36 There are now

Dutch, American and Australian anthropologists who are doing research in the frame

Java (Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1960); Agricultural Involution: The Process of Ecological Change in

Indonesia (Berkeley, 1963); Peddlers and Princes: Social Change and Economic Modernization in Two

Indonesian Towns (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963); The Social History of an Indonesian Town

(Cambridge, 1965). 28C. Geertz, "Form and Variation in Balinese Village Structure", American Anthropologist LIX (1959):

32-54; '"Internal Conversion' in Contemporary Java", in Malayan and Indonesian Studies, ed. J. Bastin and

R. Roolvink (Oxford University Press, 1964), pp. 282-302.

29Comments on Geerts' principal book The Religion of Java are those written by Soedjito Sosrodihardjo,

"Religious Life in Java", in Sosiografi Indonesia dan Hukum Adat (Jogyakarta: Yayasan Pembina Hukum

Adat, 1963), pp. 17-31; Koentjaraningrat, "Review: 'The Religion of Java' by Clifford Geertz", Madjalah Ilmu-Ilmu Sastra Indonesia I (1963): 188-91; Harsja W. Bachtiar, "The Religion of Java: A Commentary",

Madjalah Ilmu-Ilmu Sastra Indonesia V (1973): 85-118.

30R. Kennedy, Bibliography of Indonesian Peoples and Cultures (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University

Press, 1948). 31 K. J. Pelzer, Pioneer Settlements in the Asiatic Tropics (New York: Institute of Pacific Relations, 1949). 32K. J. Pelzer, "The Agrarian Conflict in East Sumatra", Pacific Affairs XXX (1957): 151-59.

33Koentjaraningrat, Anthropology in Indonesia, pp. 191-209.

34Ruth McVey (ed.), Indonesia (New Haven: HRAF Press, 1963). 35F. M. Lebar, "Indonesia, Andaman Islands and Madagascar", in Ethnic Groups of Insular Southeast

Asia, I, ed. F. M. Lebar (New Haven: HRAF Press, 1972). 36Before 1974, it was possible for scholars to apply for a long-term research visa on a personal basis, by

submitting an application to the Indonesian Institute for Sciences (Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia or LIPI), including a detailed research proposal, a curriculum vitae, and the usual letters of recommenda

tion. Today, after the initial approval of the project by LIPI, the application has to be checked by other

government agencies.




of established programmes of cooperation between Indonesian academic or government institutes and similar institutes in their respective countries. The increased control on

research activities by non-Indonesians was initially caused by the behaviour of certain

foreign research workers, but also because among the Indonesian social scientists them

selves the feeling of self competence to do social science research was also rising.

Research Activities by Indonesians

The anthropologist G.J. Held wrote in 1953 that: ". . . all scientific research in

Indonesia is done by Europeans".37 This is understandable as the teaching staff of the

University of Indonesia was at that time still predominantly Dutch. However, at The Gad

jah Mada University anthropology and sociology were taught by an Indonesian professor, M.M. Djojodigoeno, who belonged to the first generation of Indonesian professors, whose occupations were before the war generally in the civil service. Djojodigoeno has

compiled data on adat private law of Central Java in cooperation with another adat law

scholar, Tirtawinata.38 He was therefore able to stimulate an atmosphere of research

among the staff members and students of the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Political

Science of Gadjah Mada University. The committee Panitya Social Research (subsequently transferred into Lembaga

Sosiografi dan Hukum Adat, or Institute for Sociography and Adat Law), organized the

research activities, with the results being published (mimeographed) as papers or

included in the journal Sosiografi Indonesia. Some of the most important articles on their

research findings (around 30 articles) are: those written by Soedjito Sosrodihardjo, who

has paid special attention to Javanese rural religion and leadership;39 articles by Pandam

Guritno, who studied social pathology and child health in rural Java;40 and by Masri

Singarimbun, who had done research in the Karo Batak area of North Sumatra.41 In 1962,

Singarimbun obtained the opportunity to study anthropology at the Australian National

University, where he completed his dissertation, "Kinship and Affinal Relations Among the Karo of North Sumatra".42

III. THE TEACHING OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT INDONESIAN UNIVERSITIES

The Department of Anthropology of the University of Indonesia

In the early 1950's, the years immediately after independence, Introductory

Anthropology was taught at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta as a complementary

37W. J. Thomas, Jr. and A.W. Pikelis, International Directory of Anthropological Institutions (New York:

Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Inc., 1953).

38Together they published the voluminous book, Het Adat Privaat Recht van Middel Java (1940).

39Soedjito Sosrodihardjo, Kedudukan pemimpin Dalam Masjarakat Desa (Jogjakarta: Lembaga Sosio

grafi dan Hukum Adat, 1956). 40Pandam Guritno, Masyarakat Marangan (Jogjakarta: Panitya Social Research Universitas Gadjah

Mada, 1958); "Beberapa Data mengenai Perkawinan di Desa Marangan Djawa Tengah", Sociografi Indonesia I (1959): 59-74; "Beberapa Hasil Penjelidikan Tentang Kehidupan Perkawinan", Medan Ilmu

Pengetahuan I (1960): 230-44; "Social Pathology and Child Health in Jogjakarta", in Sociografi Indonesia

dan Hukum Adat (Jogjakarta: Jajasan Pembina Hukum Adat, 1963), pp. 8?15; "A Cross-Cultural Study of

Divorce, With Special Reference to a Javanese Village in Jogjakarta, Central Java" (M.A. thesis, Cornell

University, 1964). 41M. Singarimbun, "Marga dan Kekerabatan Pada Sukubangsa Karo", in Sociografi Indonesia I (1959):

31-74.

42M. Singarimbun, "Kinship and Affinal Relations Among the Karo of North Sumatra" (Ph.D. disserta

tion, Australian National University, 1963).




subject at the Law School and at the Faculty of Letters. The persons who taught this

subject were all Dutchmen/women: two lecturers and a professor in anthropology.

Among the Indonesian academics there was a divided opinion: one group was more in

favour of sociology, and the other group favoured anthropology. The ones who belonged to

the first group considered anthropology inappropriate for a growing country, which they

thought should look into the future instead of pay attention to its backward, primitive, and static aspects. The earlier mentioned first postwar Indonesian professor in sociology at the University of Indonesia, T.S.G. Moelia, for example, expressed this very feeling in an article.43 He also regarded anthropology to be based on colonial interest. The

group of academics who favoured anthropology, however, recognized the importance of anthropology as a means of acquiring knowledge of and insight into an area with a

large diversity of ethnic groups, while they also recognized the advantages of the

anthropological method of qualitative inquiry and observation in socio-cultural research

in a country with a large portion of illiterates and peasants among its population. The second group has been able to demonstrate the significance of anthropology for

the study of national integration, which was a problem of first priority during the first

decade after Indonesia's independence. Therefore, in 1956, two Indonesians who had

received anthropological training abroad (one in Holland and one in the United States) became available, a plan to establish a Department of Anthropology at the University of

Indonesia was being considered. This was soon afterwards materialized as a division of

the Faculty of Literature.

This structural arrangement goes back to the early Dutch academic tradition, when

anthropology was considered to be part of the more literary-historical orientation of

Indonesian studies mentioned above; therefore it is more closely related to the study of

Indonesian languages, literature and cultural history. The more American orientation

that subsequently developed in Indonesian anthropology favoured a more socio-cultural orientation. Beginning with the academic year 1983-84, the Department of Anthro

pology was moved into the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Today, in 1983, the Department of Anthropology of the University of Indonesia has

reached a stage that it can offer a five-year undergraduate training program in general cultural anthropology to over 200 students, an additional two-year graduate programme in five anthropological specializations to 30 graduate students, and a doctoral programme to 11 candidates. The teaching staff consists of 23 lecturers, seven of them holding a Ph. D.

degree, and among them there are three full professors.

Anthropology Departments in Other Universities

Because the Department of Anthropology of the University of Indonesia has already in the early 1960's been assigned the task to establish and develop anthropology depart

ments in other provincial universities throughout the country, the pace of its own

development has naturally been retarded. It had to share its staff as well as its resources, as lecturers of the Department were to teach at the affiliated provincial universities on a

rotating basis, or had to teach there at regular intervals during the academic years. This

system prevailed until the affiliated departments obtained the capacity to offer an

undergraduate programme of its own.

In 1962, an affiliated Department of Anthropology was established at the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, and another one at Cendrawasih University in Jay apura

43T.S.G. Moelia, "Indonesische Sociologie", Cultured Nieuws XI (1951): 28-32.




(West Irian). In 1964 a Department of Anthropology was established in the same way at Sam Ratulangie University in Manado (North Sulawesi) and in 1969 at Udayana

University in Denpasar.44

Up to now, the Department of Anthropology of Cendrawasih University is still being nurtured, and in the meantime the burden of the Department of Anthropology of the

University of Indonesia has been added by taking up the responsibility of two more

affiliated departments, i.e. at the Hasanuddin University in Ujung Pandang (South

Sulawesi) and the University of North Sumatra in Medan. Also with those embryonic

departments the Department of Anthropology of the University of Indonesia has to share

its staff and resources.

The Nature of Anthropology Courses at Indonesian Universities

There are two kinds of training in anthropology at Indonesian universities. The first one consists of a 72-hour, two semester course in introductory anthropology, and

another 72-hour, two semester course on anthropology of Indonesia. This kind of training is offered at law schools, at the Academy for Military Law, at most of the departments of Faculties of Social Science (Department of Political Science, Department of Public

Administration, Department of Publicity, Department of Communication, Department of Social Works, Department of Criminology, and Department of Sociology); at three

Departments of Faculties of Letters (Department of Indonesian Languages and Litera

ture, Department of Linguistics, Department of History); at Faculties of Psychology; at

Faculties of Public Health; at teachers colleges; at institutes for Islamic theology; at

divinity schools; and at Catholic seminaries.

The courses are meant to give lawyers, social scientists, linguists, historians,

psychologists, public health officers, teachers and theologians some insight in the diver

sity of the ethnic cultures in Indonesia, and to provide them with a basis to understand the

ethnic culture of the area where they will be employed. In particular to law students,

anthropology is to help them understand the ways of thinking that form the basis of many norms in Indonesian adat law in the rural areas.

The other kind of training programme in anthropology offers a full training in the

discipline at the Department of Anthropology, which until 1983 has been part of the

Faculty of Letters. As mentioned earlier this programme offers a five-year undergraduate

training in general cultural anthropology, which leads to a Sarjana 1 (Si) degree.45 An

additional two-year graduate programme offers training in anthropological specialization that leads to a Sarjana 2 (S2) degree. The Graduate Department of Anthropology of the

University of Indonesia, for example, offers five anthropological specializations, i.e. : (1)

Anthropology of Indonesia;46 (2) Medical Anthropology; (3) Anthropological Ecology;

(4) Economic and Population Anthropology; and (5) Anthropology of Law.

Finally, the most advanced training programme focuses on intensive field work for a

doctoral dissertation, which leads to a degree called Sarjana 3 (S3).47

^For Information on the development of higher education and the establishment of the many state univer

sities in Indonesia, cf. Koenjaraningrat and H. W. Bachtiar, "Higher Education in the Social Sciences in

Indonesia", in Social Sciences in Indonesia (I) (1975): 167-201.

45The term Sarjana means "learned person". 46This programme is offered in cooperation with the University of Leiden, requiring an additional four

years training in the Dutch Language (two years at the University of Indonesia, and two years at the Univer

sity of Leiden), and in the use of Dutch ethnographic sources (published, unpublished, as well as archival

materials). 47Most of the S3 graduates still use the universal academic title of Doctor (Dr).




The courses of the undergraduate programme in general cultural anthropology may be

classified into four categories, as follows:

1. Courses in main subjects, which include: Introductory Anthropology, Kinship

Systems, Social Organization, Peasant Communities, Religious Systems;

Ethnography of Indonesia and Irian, Ethnolinguistics, Introductory Sociology,

Pre-history of Indonesia, Introductory Physical Anthropology, Research Method

ology, and Basic Statistics. The student has to take all these courses during the

four years of his undergraduate study. The main subjects to be taken during the fifth year include: Theoretical An

thropology, Ethnography of Southeast Asia, Anthropology and Development

(Applied Anthropology), and Sociology of Indonesia: all of which to be completed during seven semesters of class work.

2. Courses in subsidiary subjects, including: ethnographies of other parts of the

world, e.g. Africa, Oceania, America; folklore of Indonesia; Islam in Indonesia; and ten semesters of these are required in the undergraduate level.

3. Introductory courses in related subjects, including: introduction to economics, law, psychology, demography, political science, archaeology, linguistics etc., to be taken during four years of class work in the undergraduate level.

4. Courses in other subjects. The student may select a total of ten semesters of sub

jects offered at other faculties or schools, e.g. arts, literature, geography, political science, or languages. Of those subjects, six should be language courses, which could be any of the Indonesian ethnic languages other than the student's own, or

any Asian or European language other than English.48

If we consider the main features of the curriculum explained above, we notice that the main focus is on social anthropology of the geographic area of Indonesia (although another focus on Southeast Asia as a whole and another one on East Asia, is being planned), including detailed factual knowledge of the most important ethnic cultures,

qualitative as well as quantitative research methodology, introductory knowledge of related disciplines, some knowledge of other disciplines, and introductory knowledge of other cultures of the principal areas of the globe. Other Indonesian or foreign languages, especially Asian languages, and anthropological theory and concepts are taught at the

graduate level. The curriculum discussed above is currently only followed by the Department of

Anthropology of the University of Indonesia. Those of the other six universities are still unable to follow this curriculum. Those departments have their own regional character, and train people to become experts in their respective regional ethnic culture and society, its features and problems, but have little capacity to study other Indonesian cultures.49

Because of their weaknesses in anthropological theory and concepts, they are also only capable of doing data collecting.

The Teaching Staff As mentioned earlier, the courses in introductory anthropology given during two semes

ters at Law Schools, Faculties of Social Sciences, Faculties of Letters etc., are taught ^In 1970, only a limited number of foreign languages were offered at the University of Indonesia, i.e.

Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, Dutch, German, French, Tagalog and Thai.

49Only occasionally, when they have students from other regions who are native speakers and participants of the languages and cultures of the regions concerned, can they assign papers or theses on those other

regions.




at all the state universities (there are more than 42 of them), at a number of schools for

theology, and at the private universities all over the country, which number over the 200.

These courses are given by lecturers who are generally not anthropologists. These

lecturers are usually graduates of the respective schools and departments, who had

obtained good grades for the compulsory courses in introductory anthropology when

they were students. After they had graduated, they were appointed as assistants to the

lecturers who taught the course. Eventually the older generation of lecturers would be

succeeded by their assistants when they retired or left the academic profession. The

continuous repetition of some of the lecture notes explains the striking uniformity of

those lectures throughout the country, which I observed when I conducted a survey on the

state of anthropology and sociology throughout Indonesia.

Many of the lecturers have naturally improved their knowledge in anthropology

through their own efforts and occasional reading, but their comprehension of the discip line remains limited. Those who have had the opportunity to study anthropology abroad or who have had their training at one of the Departments of Anthropology in Indonesia

are, of course, an exception. Table 1 presents the number of anthropologists in Indonesia

in 1985. The category "Other" under national training refers to those who did not have

a full training in anthropology mentioned above, and had only taken a course in introduc

tory anthropology.

TABLE 1 THE NUMBER OF ANTHROPOLOGISTS IN INDONESIA

1985

Training Number of Anthropologists

Domestic : Sarjana 1 160

Sarjana 2 15

Dr. 16

Other 96

Overseas : MA 9

Dr., Ph.D. 4

Exclusively overseas : MA, Drs. ?

Dr. 1

Note: Some of the anthropologists classified under "Overseas" may have had a domestic

Sj degree. On the other hand, there are S^ degree lecturers who have had some

additional non-degree training abroad. These are classified under "Domestic".

Anthropological Textbooks, Teaching Materials and Libraries

The lack of adequate textbooks, readings, and other teaching materials is a principal weakness in Indonesian universities in general, and in the training in anthropology in

particular. The only place where for reasons of library facilities an anthropology depart ment can actually set up a doctoral programme is Jakarta. The undergraduate student

usually finds the needed material for his study in the libraries of their respective faculties.




Because their number is still limited, graduate students are still able to make use of the

libraries which include specialized anthropological journals, owned by their lecturers and

professors.50 The national library in Jakarta has the best prewar collection on Indonesian

cultures, societies and languages, and so do the national archives and the National Center

for Documentation, which are all located in Jakarta.

Departments of Anthropology in other cities, however, do not have access to adequate libraries, whereas their own university library is usually below any minimal standard.

Occupation of Anthropologists in Indonesia

Since the past decade there is an increasing demand for anthropologists. In general their main occupation is at the various universities and the schools for higher learning

mentioned above; but since the establishment of various government universities as well as private institutes for socio-cultural or economic research in the 1970's, to many

becoming a research worker is another important occupation. I have also noticed that in

the national planning bureau as well as in a number of provincial ones, anthropologists are employed as consultants on the socio-cultural aspects of development. There are a

number of anthropologists who have become consultants in the Bureau for the Coordina

tion of Family Planning, whereas many have only become civil servants. An important

occupation, not only in Jakarta but particularly in the provinces is work in museums. Last

but not least, Indonesian anthropologists also proved to be excellent journalists.

IV. ANTHROPOLOGY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Applied Anthropology

Before the war, anthropology in the broader sense did not only include ethnography and ethnology but also the study of adat law and the study of agricultural and peasant economics of the various ethnic groups in Indonesia. The results of these studies were

utilized by the colonial administration to administer the country. However, after the Second World war, working closely together with sociology,

anthropology has studied problems of nation building, which, in a developing country like Indonesia, is considered "urgent anthropology". Therefore, the meaning of this term differs significantly from that perceived in developed countries, where "urgent anthropology" is considered to be the study of vanishing cultures due to culture change.

When Indonesia became fully committed to economic and national development after 1965, anthropological research activities were also oriented towards a number of

important problems, such as those in the areas of: (1) community development, (2) popu lation dynamics, (3) ecology and environmental problems, (4) national integration, (5) education, (6) socio-cultural change, and (7) administrative reform. These research activities were relevant for anthropological research projects, and were best approached and analyzed by anthropological or sociological concepts and methodology.

Problems of Community Development

The problems of community development are basically anthropological or sociological ones. Although on the surface they concern illiteracy campaigns, the introduction of new

techniques of agricultural production, peasant labour, marketing, agricultural services,

50In Indonesia it is customary that university lecturers and professors lend the books and articles to their students to read. Those books and articles are then photocopied by the students.




cooperatives, crops in the subsistence, cash crops, as well as estate sectors, public health, and ecology, the core of the problems, however, concern the change of traditional value

orientations. Many routine surveys on illiteracy, illiteracy campaigns, and the results and

consequences of these activities, have been carried out by the Ministry of Education of

the Republic of Indonesia. Numerous studies that relate to the other rural problems have

been carried out by the rural sociologists of the Center of Research in Rural Sociology; those at village level have been done by the Ministry of Interior, and other programmes for the study of rural problems, such as the Agro-Economic Survey51 have been carried

out by many of the students of various faculties of social sciences as well as Departments of Anthropology who need the data for their sarjana examination papers (Skripsi

Sarjana).

The Study of Population Problems

These problems concern resettlement programmes (transmigrasi), control of urbaniza

tion, unemployment and disguised unemployment; and are areas where anthropological research has contributed much to reach an understanding. Also in research that con

cerned the socio-cultural'aspects of family planning, always a main project in all three

National Development programmes (PELITA I, II and III) managed by the government

agency called the Badan Koordinasi Keluarga Berencana Nasional (BKKBN)52 since 1979,

anthropologists have played a dominant role. The head of the Center for Population Studies of Gadjah Mada University, for example, is the anthropologist Masri Singarim bun; whereas the Department of Anthropology of the University of Indonesia offers the

graduate training programme in economic and population anthropology. Indonesian sociologists have also made some contribution to family planning research,

although mainly on the knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP studies) of family

planning among the population, for which they work together with public health officers. The anthropologists, however, have mainly studied indigenous midwives, the status of women in family and kinship systems, the household composition at various places in

Java53 whereas excellent studies on the problems mentioned above and other studies

relating to the socio-cultural aspects of fertility, have been conducted by anthropologists who had participated in the so-called Serpong Project. This joint project between the

University of Indonesia and the University of Leiden, to study and evaluate traditional as

well as contemporary contraceptive methods, the significance of the rural public health

clinics for the follow-up of acceptors, and the total complex of socio-cultural factors which

interfere with or stimulate family planning, was carried out in a district to the west of

Jakarta, called Serpong. A series of over 20 reports have been published, among which

the most outstanding are those on the role of traditional midwives in rural Jakarta

communities.54 There is a remarkable study which focuses on the role of women in family

51Information on the history, objectives, organization and affiliations of Agro-Economic Survey is

included in articles by Sajogya, the First Director of the project: Summary of Agro-Economic Activities from

September 1963 to October 1969 (New York: The Agricultural Development Council, 1969); "Penelitian

Ilmu-Ilmu Sosial dan Aplikasinya", in Metodologi Penelitian Masyarakat, Koentjaraningrat (ed.) (Jakarta: LIPI, 1973), pp. 423-53; E. de Vries, "The Economic Survey of Indonesia", in Bulletin of Indonesia

Economic Studies V (1969): 73-77.

52The name of the agency means: National Agency for the Coordination of Family Planning Programmes.

53BKKBN, LP3ES, PKBI, Kumpulan Ichtisar Hasil-Hasil Penelitian Keluarga Berentjana 1961-1972

(Jakarta: BKKBN, LP3ES, PKBI, 1972), pp. 60-71, 79-80, 82-85.

54F. Lubis, A. Bokent-Niehof and Pudjiastuti, Laporan Survey Dukun Bayi di Kecamatan Serpong

(Jakarta: Universitas Indonesia, 1973).




planning in Indonesia, carried out in seven areas in Sumatra, Java and Bali, by a team of women anthropologists and sociologists. Other remarkable studies on the value of

children in peasant households, the participation of women in the labour force, the

postponement of the marriageable age among peasants, were conducted in joint projects under the auspices of the Center for Population Studies of Gadjah Mada University.55

Ecology

The rapid increase of population growth and the necessary increasing of the utilization

of contemporary technology for rapid economic development in Indonesia, have had a

negative effect on the ecosystems, and the need for an immediate economic gain has

lately led to an unbalanced exploitation of easily available natural resources.56 The

Indonesian government, however, has already in its Second Five Year National Develop ment Plan (initiated in 1974) recognized the necessity of better resource management

policies for environmental protection and preservation. One of the recent implementa tions of that policy is the establishment of centers for environmental studies in many of

the state universities throughout the country, jointly sponsored by the Ministry of

Environment and the Ministry of Education and Culture.

The most important constraint for the real implementation of those ecological studies

and the development of proper nationwide programmes for environmental management and protection, however, is the serious shortage of well-trained manpower who are

capable of carrying out the required research on environmental problems and of for

mulating the appropriate programmes for environmental protection and modern resource management and development.

Along with the conventionally trained biologists who study the natural resource aspects of environmental problems, other specialists are urgently needed, i.e. the human

ecologists and anthropological ecologists, to study the interactions or mutual influences between people and their environments. In this connection the Department of

Anthropology of the University of Indonesia has in 1980 offered the two-year graduate programme in anthropological ecology. With a visiting expatriate staff, the programme started its first generation of students who were recruited from interested staff members of provincial universities of various parts of the country. This year a number of very

interesting studies in human ecology have been carried out for their M.A. theses.

National Integration

Interethnic relations and relations between religious collectivities are problems of

great interest to anthropologists, and can be studied in rural as well as in urban situations,

55B. White, "Peranan Anak Dalam Ekonomi Desa", Prisma II/4 (1973): 44-59; "The Economic Impor tance of Children in a Javanese Village", in Population and Social Organization, ed. Moni Nag (The Hague:

Mouton, 1975); "Production and Reproduction in a Javanese Village" (Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia

University, New York, 1976); "Population, Employment and Involution in Rural Java", Development and

Change VII (1976): 267-90; A. Stoler, "Some Socio-Economic Aspects of Rice Harvesting in a Javanese Vil

lage", Masyarakat Indonesia II (1975): 51-87; "Struktur Kelas dan Otonomi Wanita di Pedesaan di Jawa", in Masyarakat Indonesia IV (1977): 85-110; "Class Structure and Female Autonomy in Rural Java", in

Woman National Development: The Complexities of Change, Wellesley Editorial Committee (Chicago:

University of Chicago Press, 1977), pp. 74-89; T. H. Hull, "Rapid Fertility Decline: A Comment",

Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies XII, 2 (1975): 106-116; T. H. Hull and V. J. Hull, "The Relation

of Economic Class and Fertility: An Analysis of Some Indonesian Data"population XXXI, 1 (1977):43-56. 56For a bibliography on population studies in postwar Indonesia, see M. Singarimbun, The Population of

Indonesia, 1930-1968 (London: International Planned Parenthood Federation, 1969).




using qualitative as well as quantitative methods. In this respect, anthropologists can also

be of particular importance in the promotion of a better understanding between the ethnic

groups and between the religious collectivities in Indonesia, by writing contemporary

ethnographies. These can become source books for popular literature, novels, children

books etc., where themes on ethnic customs and beliefs may promote a better under

standing among the peoples of different ethnic groups and different religious com

munities in Indonesia. There is of course a vast ethnographic literature on many of the

ethnic groups of the Indonesian Archipelago; however, most of that literature has now

become obsolete, and due to the fact that it is for the greatest part written in Dutch, it

has become virtually useless to most Indonesian intellectuals under the age of 50.

Moreover, certain areas of Indonesia have never been adequately described. There are

quite a number of gaps in the ethnographic literature of Indonesia, e.g. on the Priangan

Highlands of West Java, i.e. the area of 20 million Sundanese; on the population of the

smaller East Indonesian islands, such as Flores and South Maluku; most of North

Sulawesi; Central and East Kalimantan; the coastal population of Kalimantan; the

Lampung area in South Sumatra; and most of the Malay population of East Sumatra.

Studies to compile ethnographic data can best be carried out within the framework of

Ph.D. study programmes. The dissertation serves as a goal and a stimulator to motivate

graduate students to do the required anthropological field work during which they are to

do intensive observation and do qualitative study of one particular ethnic culture for one

year. From the University of Indonesia two anthropologists have done this kind of

field work, i.e. Junus Melalatoa, whose dissertation is on the Gayo of North Sumatra57

and J. Danandjaja on the non-Hindu Balinese of Trunyan.58 An anthropologist from

Satyawacana University in Salatiga, N. L. Kana, has written his dissertation on a struc

tural ethnography of the people of Sawu.59

The best way to study inter-ethnic relations is in urban environments, where people of

different ethnic backgrounds meet and compete for limited economic, educational, and

political opportunities, or where processes of cultural adjustment, accommodations, assimilation or amalgamation occur. Such studies have been carried out in Bandung by a

team of anthropologists directed by E. M. Bruner from the University of Illinois, who has

earlier worked on similar problems in the city of Medan. Some interesting reports have

appeared from this study, e.g. by Bruner,60 by ParsudiSuparlan,61 by Hirokoshi,62 and by

DjuwariahUtja.63 The study of relations between religious categories and groups has not yet been done

on the basis of anthropological or sociological approaches. After Geertz's book, The

57Melalatoa, "Paroh Masyarakat Dalam Kebudayaan Gayo" (Dissertation, University of Indonesia,

1983). 58J. Danandjaja, Kebudayaan Petani Desa Trunyan di Bali: Lukisan Analitis Yang Menghubungkan

Praktek Pengasuhan Anak Orang Trunyan Dengan Latarbelakang Etnografisnya (Jakarta: Pustaka Jaya,

1980). 59N. L. Kana, "Dunia Orang Sawu: Satu Lukisan Analitis Tentang Azas-Azas Penataan Dalam

Kebudayaan Orang Mahara di Sawu, Nusa Tenggara Timur" (Dissertation, University of Indonesia, 1978). WE. W. Bruner, "The Expression of Ethnicity in Indonesia" (Champaign: University of Illinois, 1971)

(mimeographed manuscript). 61Parsudi Suparlan, "The Javanese in Bandung" (Champaign: University of Illinois, 1971) (mimeo

graphed manuscript). 62H. Hirokoshi, "The Changing Ethnic Attitude in an Indonesian City: Bandung" (Champaign: Univer

sity of Illinois, 1971) (mimeographed manuscript).

63Djuwariah Utja, "Sundanese Organization in Pasundan" (Bandung, 1971) (mimeographed manuscript).




Religion of Java, no major study on the anthropology or sociology of religion has ever

been carried out in Indonesia, although some excellent studies have appeared on Islamic

religious education and schools as well as a number of specific studies for doctoral dissertations in theology,64 such as the one by Schreiner on missionary activities among the Batak,65 the same by Ukur among the Ngaju of Central Kalimantan,66 or some

data collection on social facts about Christianity as done by F. L. Cooley67 and Widya pranata.68 It is hoped that more intensive anthropological studies on the interaction

between religious groups in Indonesia will follow.

The Socio-Cultural Problems of Education

Not much anthropological work has been done on these problems in Indonesia,

although there is an urgent need for information on problems of anthropology of educa

tion, e.g. the great number of different local perceptions of the national educational

system at the local level; discrepancies between national ideals and the actual practice of

education in different ethnic cultures and local situations; the socio-political function of the school as a non-traditional institution in the local community; political, economic, social and ideological impediments to equality of educational access; the teaching and

learning processes in formal as well as in informal educational systems; the nature of the

interpersonal relationship between teacher and student, teacher and parents, teacher and

government administrators, teacher as informal leader in peasant communities. On the latter problem, a study has already been done by a Dutch anthropologist, J. Tieken.69

Culture Change

Problems of national integration and education are very closely related to those of culture change. There are in the first place the problems of adjustment of the great number of Indonesian ethnic cultures to a national metropolitan culture, which develops

mainly in the provincial capitals, the national capital, and in the recently developing industrial centers. More specifically, those that have to be studied are the changes in the various traditional customary adat law systems, in the process of the adjustment of these

systems to the newly developing modern national law. Other examples are the changes in traditional ethnic systems of social stratification based on primordial principles, into the

contemporary stratification based on educational advancement, professional status and income level. Several studies on this topic have been done for Ph.D. dissertations, such as the one by Hasan Walinono on changes in the social stratification of the Buginese of

^Dawam Rohardjo, Pesantren dan Pembangunan (Jakarta: LP3ES, 1974); Z. Dhoffier, "The Pesantren

Tradition: A Study of the Role of the Kyai in the Maintenance of the Traditional Ideology of Islam in Java"

(Ph.D. dissertation, Australian National University, 1980). 65L. Schreiner, Adat und Evanglium: Zur Bedeutung der der altvokischen Lebensordnungen fur Kirche

und Mission unter der Batak in Nordsumatra (Guttersloher Verlegshaus: Gerd Mohn, 1972). "F. Ukur, "Tentang-Djawab Suku Dajak. Suatu Penjelidikan Tentang Unsur-unsur Yang Menjekitari

Penolakan dan Penerimaan Indjil Dikalangan Suku-Dajak Dalam Rangka Sedjarah Geredja DiKalimantan

(1835-1945)" (Dissertation, Theological School, Jakarta, 1971). 67F. L. Cooley, Indonesia: Church and Society (New York: Friendship Press, 1968).

^S. H. Widyapranata, Benih Yang Tumbuh, Suatu Survey Mengenai Geredja2 Keristen Indonesia, Jawa

Tengah (Yogyakarta: Lembaga Studi dan Penelitian D.G.I., 1973). 69J. Tieken, Guru Desa. Een Sociologisch- Anthropologische Benadering van de Sociale Postie van Onder

wijzend Personeel en Zijn Rol in de Dorpssamenleving van Midden-Java (Amsterdam, 1976).




South Sulawesi,70 and by Pajung Bangun on changes in social stratification of the Batak

Karo of North Sumatra.71

Studies that should be done, which are closely related to those of changes in social

stratification, are the studies on changes in the concept of power and patterns of leader

ship in the various areas of Indonesia. These studies should be carried out in an interdis

ciplinary cooperation between anthropologists, sociologists, and political scientists.72

A great deal of attention has on the other hand been paid to problems of changes and

variations in cultural value orientation among various ethnic groups in Indonesia, for instance by teams of various provincial universities in Indonesia, coordinated by

Koentjaraningrat.73 Recently studies are being done on variations in value orientation of

Indonesians of specific occupations, e.g. teachers, managers, or other occupations, for

Ph.D. dissertations.

Research on problems relating to the reorganization of administration also need the

help of anthropologists, especially where it concerns the human element, the value

systems behind the administrative structures,74 principles, perceptions and conceptions about cooperation, competition and leadership, corruption etc. However, despite the numerous studies made in the field of public administration, of which many are doctoral

dissertations, only few focused on the human element from a particular anthropological

point of view. However, a dissertation by H. A. Abdulrachman75 of Padjadjaran Univer

sity has utilized certain sociological concepts on leadership and management, and so is a

dissertation by S. P. Siagian.76 National and regional planners in Indonesia frequently make use of anthropologists as

consultants, where the latters are invited to participate in meetings of special committees

of government departments or bureaus or of the armed forces. A special committee of the

Ministry of Internal Affairs, for example, has been assigned to draw up a new law on

village committees, to which an anthropologist was consulted on the problem of diversity and typology of Indonesian villages.

V. BASIC RESEARCH IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

The question has often been asked whether there is still an opportunity for basic

research in Indonesia. If we take a look at the basic policy for budget allocation at the

70Hasan Walinono, "T??ete: Suatu Studi Sociologi Politik" (Dissertation, Hasanuddin University, Ujung

Pandang, 1979).

71Pajung Bangun, "Pelapisan Sosial di Kabanjahe" (Dissertation, University of Indonesia, 1981). 72A study on the concept of power in Javanese society has been done by a political scientist, B.R.O'G

Anderson, "The Idea of Power in Javanese Culture", in Culture and Politics in Indonesia, C. Holt,

B.R.O'G. Anderson and J. Siegel (eds.) (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1972), and criticized by

Koentjaraningrat, "Javanese Terms for God and Supernatural Beings and the Idea of Power", in Man,

Meaning and History: Essays in Honour of H.G. Schulte Nordholt, R. Schefold, J. W. Schoorl and

J. Tennekes (eds.) (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1980), who has subsequently developed a framework for

the study of power in transitional societies. See Kepimpinan dan Kekuasaan: Tradisional Masakini, Formal

dan Informal (Jakarta: Perguruan Tinggi Ilmu Kepolisian, 1978).

73Koentjaraningrat, Rintangan Mental Dalam Pembangunan Ekonomi di Indonesia, Occasional Papers, LIPI Nr. 1/2 (Djakarta: Bhratara, 1969); Kebudayaan, Mentalitet dan Pembangunan (Jakarta: Gramedia,

1974). 74Such as the study on variations in value orientation of Indonesian managers mentioned above.

75H. A. Abdulrachman, "Suatu Pendekatan Kearah Pembinaan Kepimpinan Kerdja di Indonesia"

(Doctoral dissertation, Pendj ad jaran University, Bandung, 1973). 76S. P. Siagian, "The Development and Problems of Indigenous Bureaucratic Leadership" (Ph.D. disser

tation, Indiana University, 1964).




various national research agencies in Indonesia, e.g. the National Institute for Sciences, the various research departments of the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the

various study centers of the main universities, it appears that indeed little attention is

being paid to basic research. In anthropology, however, the collection of ethnographic data is essentially a part of basic research in culture, and although there is little sense

of urgency among people in the government as well as in academic circles to describe

vanishing cultures, a national cultural policy to study the Indonesian cultural heritage and

to describe and collect elements of Indonesian traditional cultures is felt as a general need

to strengthen the Indonesian national identity. Besides collecting ethnographic data, many studies on culture change and problems of

development are carried out for examination papers, for S2 papers, or for S3 doctoral

dissertations. A great deal of theoretical analysis is therefore required from those who

carry out those applied anthropological studies, and theoretical analyses quite often

touches on basic issues and basic problems of the discipline.

VI. PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND PREHISTORICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Physical Anthropology

As the site of more than 60 Pithecanthropine fossils of over two million years old, Indonesia in general and the island of Java in particular is, next to China and East

Africa, a very important country for research on the problems of the early evolution of man. However, still following the continental European academic tradition, physical

anthropology in the Indonesian universities is part of the Department of Anatomy of the

Medical Faculty. This is also the case at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, with

the renown Indonesian physical anthropologist, Professor Teuku Jacob, on its staff.77

Contrary to the continental European tradition, however, the Institute of Technology of Bandung also has some interest in physical anthropology, although it is only a part of

palaeontology. The palaeontologist, Professor Sartono, head of the laboratory, has done some research in human evolution.78

The Department of Anthropology of the University of Indonesia, although focusing on cultural anthropology as mentioned earlier, also offers a course in introductory

physical anthropology, and a course in human evolution, whereas a course in palaeo

ecology is offered at the S2 programme. Recently the Department is also planning to

develop physical anthropology as a subdiscipline of anthropology, and in this connection one staff member is being sent to Berkeley for a Ph.D. study in physical anthropology. This person is a medical doctor and anatomist who developed an interest in physical anthropology, and has studied biological anthropology at Sorbonne, for which he

obtained the degree Docteur en Troisi?me Cycle. In another three or four years, physical

anthropology will be a part of the Department of Anthropology of the University of

Indonesia.

77He became known because of his study and analysis of the 12 skulls of the Javanese Pithecanthropines which have been excavated in the early 1930's by H. R. von K?nigswald, and which have already been returned to Indonesia as the country's cultural property. See Jacob, Teuku, Some Problems Pertaining to the

Racial History of the Indonesian Region (Utrecht: Drukkerij Neerlandische, 1967). 78S. Sartono, "Notes on a New Find of a Pithecanthropus Mandible", in Publikasi Teknik Sari Paleon

tologi, 2 (Bandung, 1961).




Prehistoric Anthropology

In Indonesian universities, prehistoric archaeology is part of the Department of

Archaeology. This department includes the socio-cultural history of the period in

Indonesian history prior to the existence of written sources, and also of the period prior to the colonial domination, before Indonesian history could be studied from European archival and written sources. This in fact includes the period of the domination of Hindu

Indonesian empires, the history of which can be studied from an abundance of indigenous as well as Chinese written sources (the 4th?15th centuries) and the period of transition

during the decline of the Hindu-Indonesian empires and the arrival of Islam, which can

be studied from indigenous Arabic but also European written sources (the 15th?17th

centuries). Because of the aforementioned division, Indonesian prehistoric archaeologists have

until quite recently very little contact with Indonesian anthropologists, although students

in anthropology do have to take a course in Introductory Indonesian Prehistory. This lack

of contact in turn explains why the works of renown Indonesian prehistoric

archaeologists, e.g. R. P. Soejono, head of the Indonesian Institute for Prehistoric

Archaeology (not connected with the University) have mainly focused on excavation

and classification, but.very little on interpretation and explanation. The weakness has however been observed by the younger generation of Indonesian

prehistoric archaeologists, but they are also aware of the fact that interpretation and

explanation of pre-historical materials can only be fruitful if a closer cooperation be

established between prehistoric archaeologists and anthropologists. Plans are now under

way to develop a graduate interdisciplinary training programme where pre-historic

archaeologists can study anthropology more intensively and also the other way around.

Structurally, however, pre-history will remain part of the Department of Indonesian

Archaeology.



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