Discourses of ethnic accommodation: Issues of othering in Indonesia

211 Pages·2016·1.45 MB·English

Discourses of ethnic accommodation:
Issues of othering in Indonesia

Susana Widyastuti

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

Department of Linguistics
Faculty of Human Sciences
Macquarie University
Sydney, Australia

April 2016

i

Acknowledgements
The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the support and
encouragement of several special people. Hence, I would like to take this opportunity to show
my gratitude to those who have assisted me in a myriad of ways.
First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor, the late Emeritus Professor Christopher
Candlin, who passed away four months before the completion of this effort. He was a really
special person, and I will never forget his affection and support. He was always prepared to sit
and listen to my troubles and always made me feel as if my work mattered. I owe further
gratitude to my current supervisor, Dr. Peter Roger, for his valuable advice and guidance to
improve my thesis and to finalize everything at the closing stages of my thesis. This thesis
could not have been completed without his indispensable direction and encouragement. The
willingness of both my supervisors to offer me so much of their time and intellect is the major
reason this thesis has been completed.
This thesis is dedicated to two precious persons who have made this all possible – my
husband, Jalu, who has been a constant source of love, support and encouragement, and my
daughter, Revive, who, as her name suggests, always revives my soul and cheers up my day.
I would like to thank my parents, brothers and sisters for keeping me in their prayers. I
have also had the good fortune to study with some wonderful people, especially Pei Soo,
Daniel Changpeng Huan, Agus Maradona, and Dahlia Sartika from whom I have learned a
lot. Their ability to remain always upbeat despite their own difficulties provided me with a
balanced perspective that will always remain. My debt is also extended to my Hillsong
Church and Indonesian Christian Macquarie Fellowship friends who have made my life in
Sydney so enjoyable. I would like to thank them for sharing their life genuinely and for
praying for me continuously.
I would like to extend my appreciation to DIKTI (the Indonesian Directorate General of
Higher Education) for its generosity in granting me a full PhD scholarship. I also would like
to express my gratitude to the important people at Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia –
the rector, International office staff, and my colleagues at the Department of English
Education – for their invaluable support.
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Abstract
This discourse-based research investigates discourses of ethnic accommodation within
the context of ethnic othering of Chinese Indonesians in Indonesia. The overriding purposes
of this research are twofold, to identify and illuminate discursive indications of ethnic
accommodation; and to formulate actions that can be taken to reduce the effects of othering so
as to create more accommodative environments, particularly through discursive means.
The research adopts a multi-perspectival approach by incorporating multiple analytical
perspectives with relevant theories, methods and data and by taking interdiscursivity as a key
apparatus in the research. Integrating the principles of discourse analysis, ethnography and
social psychology as its theoretical and methodological underpinnings, the research
incorporates five studies representing four analytical perspectives: (1) the social historical
perspective; (2) the semiotic perspective; (3) the participants’ perspective; and (4) the
analyst’s perspective. Two types of data are examined, namely, government policies and
narratives of personal experience which are drawn from three key sites, i.e. schools, churches,
and businesses. By incorporating the micro and macro dimensions of discourse, all the
perspectives are embraced as a unified whole in order to provide grounded and all-embracing
explanations, rather than simple descriptions or interpretations, of situated discursive practices
of ethnic accommodation.
The discourse analytical findings of the five studies can be synthesized into two main
points, which are best explained within the social historical context of the construction of the
Chinese Other under three Indonesian regimes, the Old Order, the New Order, and the
Reform. Firstly, with respect to indications of ethnic accommodation, the semiotic perspective
suggests that, at the state level, Indonesia has ideologically moved away from othering and
towards accommodation of Chinese Indonesians. This ideological change is enacted by the
Reform regime and is demonstrated through the foregrounding of human rights protection and
the annulment of othering practices through the Reform policies. The participants’ perspective
articulates the societal level of ethnic accommodation. Participants’ perceptions of social
reality can be distilled into four interconnected focal themes – equality, acceptance, tolerance,
and trust. Within these themes, the Reform period is perceived as more accommodative than
the New Order era, although some traces of subtle forms of othering practices are still
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evident. In reacting to social reality due to othering, participants demonstrate positive
behaviours, e.g. hard work and resilience, to overcome it and, to manage their relations with
the majority society, embrace adaptation into mainstream society while retaining aspects of
their Chinese identity. These behaviours, this research argues, may contribute to fostering the
accommodation of Chinese Indonesians within that wider Indonesian society.
Secondly, this research argues for the urgency of further practical actions in order to
address the gaps between the ideal and real world, or the state and societal level, of ethnic
accommodation so as to create ethnically accommodative environments. The research
proposes relevant discursive actions to constitute ‘integrated strategies of ethnic
accommodation’ which, it is argued, can be effective if implemented by and through various
levels of society – the state, organizations, and individuals; and targeted at and practised by
both the minority and majority groups. These actions flow from a key finding that has
emerged in this research, i.e. achieving ethnic accommodation entails political support by the
government, social change in society, and behavioural change by individuals.
In this research, ethnic accommodation emerges as a complex, contested, and co-
constructed social phenomenon, particularly within its political, social and psychological
dimensions. The research concludes by suggesting that discourse analysis, through a multi-
perspectival approach, offers an overarching resource for addressing social problems of ethnic
accommodation and for reflection that is of practical relevance for the Indonesian
government, Indonesian society at large, and Chinese Indonesians in particular.
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Certificate of Originality

I hereby certify that this work is the result of my own research and that the work has not
been submitted for a higher degree to any other institution university or institution. I certify
that sources of information used and the extent to which the work of others has been utilized
have been indicated in the thesis.
This research was granted approval by the Macquarie University Human Research Ethics
Committee (Reference no. 5201200311) and conducted in accordance with the guidelines
stipulated.

Susana Widyastuti
April 2016
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... i
Abstract …………………………………………………………………………… .... ……ii
Certificate of Originality …………………………………………………………………iv
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ v
List of Figures ………………………………………………………………………....…. ix
List of Tables ……………………………………………………………………………... x
Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Research objectives ................................................................................................ 5
1.2 Key themes in the study ......................................................................................... 5
1.2.1 Ethnicity and identity ................................................................................... 5
1.2.2 Ethnic othering: The Self and the Other ...................................................... 7
1.2.3 Ethnic accommodation ................................................................................ 9
1.3 Approaching discourses of ethnic accommodation ............................................. 13
1.4 Overview of chapters ........................................................................................... 14
Chapter 2 A multi-perspectival approach to discourses of ethnic accommodation:
From ontology to methodology .................................................................... 15
2.1 On the ontology ................................................................................................... 16
2.1.1 Delineating discourse ................................................................................. 17
2.1.2 Approaching discourse .............................................................................. 19
2.2 On the methodology: Charting the research map ................................................ 23
2.2.1 The socio-historical perspective: The construction of the Chinese Other . 27
2.2.2 The semiotic perspective: The politics of ethnic accommodation ............. 27
2.2.3 The participants’ perspective: Voices of the minority ............................... 30
2.2.4 The analyst’s perspective: Envisaging practical relevance ........................ 37
2.3 On interactive data analysis ................................................................................. 38
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2.4 On research validity ............................................................................................. 40
2.5 Concluding remarks ............................................................................................. 41
Chapter 3 The socio-historical perspective: The construction of the Chinese Other43
3.1 Ethnicity and its discourses in Indonesia ............................................................. 45
3.2 The Chinese Other: Constructed or given? .......................................................... 47
3.3 The construction of the Chinese Other in different regimes ................................ 49
3.3.1 The Old Order (1945-1967): Discourses of ethnic segregation ................. 49
3.3.2 The New Order (1967-1998): Discourses of ethnic othering .................... 50
3.3.3 The Reform (1998-now): Discourse of ethnic accommodation ................ 56
3.4 Chinese Indonesians in the contemporary Indonesia ........................................... 57
3.5 Concluding remarks ............................................................................................. 59
Chapter 4 The semiotic perspective: The politics of ethnic accommodation ............ 61
4.1 Understanding discourse in relation to ideology, genre, and intertextuality ....... 62
4.1.1 Discourse and ideology .............................................................................. 62
4.1.2 Discourse and genre ................................................................................... 64
4.1.3 Discourse and intertextuality ..................................................................... 66
4.2 Materials .............................................................................................................. 71
4.3 Findings and Discussion ...................................................................................... 76
4.3.1 Key words and the ideological underpinnings........................................... 77
4.3.2 Key words and social change .................................................................... 83
4.3.3 Politics and identity construction ............................................................... 87
4.4 Concluding remarks ............................................................................................. 88
Chapter 5 The participants’ perspective: The social reality of ethnic accommodation
........................................................................................................................ 90
5.1 Understanding social reality through discourse ................................................... 91
5.1.1 Engaging with voices from multiple sites ................................................. 91
5.1.2 Linguistic Ethnography ............................................................................. 93
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5.2 Membership Categorization Analysis (MCA) ..................................................... 94
5.3 Findings and Discussion .................................................................................... 100
5.3.1 Thematic categorizations ......................................................................... 100
5.3.2 Temporal categorizations ......................................................................... 112
5.3.3 Envisaging ethnic accommodation through focal themes and history .... 114
5.4 Concluding remarks ........................................................................................... 117
Chapter 6 The participants’ perspective: The social psychology of ethnic
accommodation ........................................................................................... 118
6.1 Approaching social psychological issues through discourse ............................. 119
6.1.1 Behaviours, identity, and accommodation ............................................... 119
6.1.2 Discursive Social Psychology .................................................................. 121
6.2 A step further on Membership Categorization Analysis (MCA) ....................... 123
6.3 Findings and discussion ..................................................................................... 126
6.3.1 Behaviours towards social reality and the majority group ...................... 126
6.3.2 A framework for the construction of behaviours and identity ................. 142
6.4 Concluding remarks ........................................................................................... 145
Chapter 7 The analyst’s perspective: The integrated strategies of ethnic
accommodation ........................................................................................... 147
7.1 Revisiting identity and its construction ............................................................. 148
7.2 Learning from the past ....................................................................................... 150
7.3 Identifying the gaps between the ideal and real world of ethnic accommodation151
7.3.1 Dealing with subtle forms of othering and stereotypes ........................... 155
7.3.2 Dealing with distrustful relationships ...................................................... 156
7.3.3 Dealing with socio-cultural difference in inter-group interaction ........... 158
7.4 Formulating actions for accommodating the ethnic minority: The integrated
strategies ............................................................................................................ 159
7.4.1 Actions by the government ...................................................................... 162
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7.4.2 Actions by organizations or institutions .................................................. 163
7.4.3 Actions by individuals ............................................................................. 166
7.5 Concluding remarks ........................................................................................... 168
Chapter 8 Conclusions ................................................................................................. 169
8.1 Key findings ....................................................................................................... 169
8.1.1 Study 1 The socio-historical perspective: The construction of the Chinese
Other ........................................................................................................ 170
8.1.2 Study 2 The semiotic perspective: The politics of ethnic accommodation171
8.1.3 Study 3 The participants’ perspective: The social reality of ethnic
accommodation ........................................................................................ 172
8.1.4 Study 4 The participants’ perspective: The social psychology of ethnic
accommodation ........................................................................................ 172
8.1.5 Study 5 The analyst’s perspective: The integrated strategies of ethnic
accommodation ........................................................................................ 173
8.2 Limitations of the study ..................................................................................... 174
8.3 Recommendations for future research ............................................................... 175
8.4 Final remarks ..................................................................................................... 179
Reference ………………………………………………………………………….. 181
Appendix ……………………………………………………………………… … 197