SOCIAL SCIENCES IN ASEAN PERSPECTIVE

By L. Visser
The seminar which was held from 24th to 26 November 1993 in
Amsterdam was organized by Dr Nico Schulte Nordholt (University
of Twente) and Dr Leontine Visser (University of Amsterdam/CASA),
with the assistance of Karin Peperkamp of CASA. The guest of
honour was Professor Soediono M.P. Tjondronegoro from I.P.B.
(Agricultural Institute, Bogor), who retired earlier in 1993.
About 40 social scientists from Southeast Asia (Indonesia,
Malaysia, The Philippines), the Netherlands, and Europe/U.S.
participated at the seminar.
Various national and international agencies, including The Royal
Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam University,
CASA, the Free University of Amsterdam, the Ministery of Foreign
Affairs, and the Ford Foundation Jakarta provided financial
support.
The seminar discussions focused on the role and position of the
social sciences and social scientists in the different Southeast
Asian countries, like Indonesia, Malaysia, and The Philippines.
A key-note paper on this issue was prepared by Dr Ignas Kleden
(Bielefeld), and this was reacted to by the Indonesian scholars
(Dr Taufiq Abdullah, Dr M. Din Syamsuddin, Dr George Aditjondro),
by Professor Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin from Malaysia, and by Dr
Cynthia Banzon Bautista from the Philippines. These papers were
commented upon by Dr Willem Wolters (Nijmegen) and Professor Dr
Otto van den Muijzenberg (Amsterdam).
The open discussion, especially between the Southeast Asian
colleagues themselves, showed that the political, social, and
economic histories af the respective countries to a large extent
still determinate the role and position of the social sciences.
Differences also exist regarding the influence of social science
concepts on national development policies. In Indonesia
especially the Social Sciences appear to be a science of the
state rather than a science for society. There is no community of
social scientists. Yet, there is a merked difference between
those who have a job at universities or other national
institutions, like LIPI, and those who work for NGOs or who are
active elsewhere in the Indonesian society.
In the discussion about values and the reflexive character of the
social sciences, the question about the role of the younger
generation of foreign-trained social scientists in terms of 'self
restraint', or the extent to which they retain their capacity to
use theretical and methodological insigths in a creative manner
was raised.
Finally the topic of the 'identity' of the social sciences was
raised, firstly recalling the 'indigenization' issue of the 1980s
in The Philippines. This can refer to an emancipatory process of
creating/regaining identity, like for example the Philippines vis
… vis the United States. The identity issue also touches upon the
problem of 'domestication' that is, the loss of ethnic autonomy,
as for example in Malysia. Finally, it may refer to the realm of
politics and ideology, including the issue of the human rigths
and enviromental problems, like in Indonesia.
The third day of the seminar was a more open, festive character.
Professor Tjondronegoro's personal views on the social science
agenda for the 1990s were preceded by Drs. J.K.M. Gevers,
chairman of the board of the University of Amsterdam. The seminar
closed with a reception at the Trippenhuis, hosted by the Royal
Netherlands Academy of Sciences, in  honour of Professor
Tjondronegoro.
The organizers have agreed to prepare the papers of this seminar
for publication. Funds are available to publish an English as
well as an Indonesian/malay version, the latter financed by Ford
Foundation, Jakarta.