The Graduate School of Social Sciences
Valuing the
Environment
The relation between the Indonesian
middle class and environmental activism
Willem van der Muur
University of Amsterdam
56343777
First Reader: Gerben Nooteboom
Second Reader: Mario Rutten
July 2010
Inhoud
1)Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 3
Methodology and structure ..................................................................................................... 5
2) Civil society and the middle class in Indonesia ..................................................................... 6
The debate on civil society: Two contrasting views............................................................... 6
Civil Society and democracy in the developing world ........................................................... 7
Civil society and the Indonesian middle class ........................................................................ 9
3) Environmental activism in Indonesia, a historical background ........................................... 14
Social movements in pre-independence Indonesia ............................................................... 14
From Guided democracy to the New Order ......................................................................... 15
The emergence of environmental activism in Indonesia ...................................................... 17
4) The relation between the middle class and environmental activism .................................... 21
The middle class and environmental activism: literature overview ..................................... 21
5) Analysis and conclusion ...................................................................................................... 26
Introduction of the interviewees ........................................................................................... 27
Middle class values and resources ........................................................................................ 28
The middle class as framing experts..................................................................................... 32
Environmentalism as a means for upward social mobility ................................................... 34
6) Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 37
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 39
2
1)Introduction
‘Authoritarian rule may offer the initial stability necessary for economic growth,
but, as fully developed modernity approaches, it becomes increasingly redundant
and reluctantly withers away. Depending on one's theoretical preference, the overt
or covert hand promoting this change is an articulate, urban, and self-confident
middle class.’1
‘the environment had become a legitimate ground (for a period at least) for the
expression of dissent on broader issues – government corruption, social inequality,
and democratization.2
The two citations placed above signify the process of political change in contemporary
Indonesia. Two distinct factors in this process are brought forward. The first quote identifies
the middle class as the crucial factor for the promotion of change. The second citation points
at the environment as a means through which discontent can be uttered. Central to this thesis
is the relation between these two factors: the Indonesian middle class as the prominent actor
demanding change on the one hand, and the environment as a means for the expression of
discontent on the other hand.
The existence of an Indonesian middle class is widely acknowledged in social science.
Yet its nature, main characteristics and essential features are met with significantly less
agreement and are till this day the topic of fierce debate.3 An important reason for disputes on
the nature of the Indonesian middle class is that the term class itself is an unclear, fluid
concept, of which the definition depends highly on the adopted perspective. While some
define class by the level of education and the level of income, others stress that class is also a
concept related to cultural behavior. For that besides socioeconomic commonalities, a class is
tied together by common values.4
The assumption of common values makes the Indonesian middle class relevant for this
study, because values are an indicator of behavior. It is often perceived that a typical middle
class value is a commitment to social equality. In line with this notion, the middle class is
pointed out as the advocate for the common good.5 It remains however difficult for scholars to
1
Jones, 1998: 147
Warren, 1998: 180
3
Dick, 1990: 63
4
Dick, 1990: 64
5
Jones, 1998: 147
2
3
speak of a single middle class in terms of culture, values and economic position, given the
diverse population, ethnically, religiously and economically.6 To speak of a commitment to
social equity as an essential feature of the Indonesian middle class therefore will almost
inevitably imply a broad over-generalization.7
Yet, in much of the work published on the middle class in developing countries,
theories have been presented suggesting that a focal quality of the emerging middle class is
the adoption of democratic values. 8 These values are believed to be articulated
predominantly through the middle class’ involvement in civil society, which is to be
understood as the active participation of citizens outside of the state apparatus in the form of
nongovernmental organizations or labor unions. These theories reason in the following way:
the process of economic growth under an authoritarian regime leads to the establishment of a
sizable middle class. This middle class, educated and relatively wealthy, then demands the
regime to reform by expressing their liberal and democratic values. It has been noted that
shared values among the Indonesian middle class pertain a commitment to development,
equality and democratic means such as the freedom of speech.9 In other words, the middle
class believed to advocate for the common good in society
This assumption, generally argued from a structural perspective, leaves an important
question open. What constitutes the middle class’ motivation for social change? Put
differently, why would members of the middle class, a class indicated as generally well off,
want to serve the common good? Although impossible to answer this question clear-cut in this
thesis, I seek to provide some insights to the matter by further exploring the role of the middle
class in Indonesia. I will make an account of Indonesian civil society by exploring the relation
between the Indonesian middle class and environmental activism. Central to this exploration
is the following question:
How is environmentalism as an expression of middle class participation in civil society to be
explained?
There are a number of reasons why I have chosen to focus on environmentalism. The
environmental problem is a collective problem. Concerns for the environment then constitute
at first sight a concern beyond personal interest. A second reason why environmentalism is
6
Dick, 1990: 66 More authors to be added.
Tenter & Young, 1990: 7
8
Haynes, 1997, Cox, 1999, Chau & Myers, 1994
9
Dick, 1990: 67
7
4
the focus of the thesis is because environmental activism exists in Indonesia for a relatively
long period, longer than 30 years. While most forms of activism were either banned by the
government or regarded as highly controversial, environmental activism has been received
with a surprisingly high degree of legitimacy within Indonesia and thus was one of the few
ways of expressing critique towards the government. The capacity of environmental NGO’s to
exert political pressure has become very evident in recent decades.
Methodology and structure
Goal of the thesis is to further explore the nature of the middle class by studying the role of
the Indonesian middle class in environmental activism. I will make an account of the question
why an Indonesian middle class would involve itself in environmentalism. For as the
structural approach on the Indonesian middle class and civil society leaves the above
described questions unanswered, I argue that a less macro approach might provide useful
insights to the debate. I will therefore adopt an agency approach by conducting interviews
with Indonesian environmental activists. The thesis then is structured in the following way.
First I will discuss the debate on the civil society, in particular with regard to the Indonesian
middle class, by providing an overview of the literature. I will distinguish two opposing
scenarios of the Indonesian middle class. The first portraits the middle class as contributing to
democracy, the second views the middle class as rather conservative. Then I will make an
account of the historical background of environmentalism in Indonesia followed by a more
specific section on the relation between the Indonesian middle class and their
overrepresentation in environmental activism. Next I turn the chapter in which an overview is
given of the literature on social class and environmentalism. In the final chapter I present
three case studies of Indonesian environmentalists. Through these case studies a number of
hypothetical assumptions are tested. As stated above, an Indonesian middle class is hardly
definable. For that a working definition is needed to realize the thesis I count to the middle
class those people with higher incomes and higher educations.
5
2) Civil society and the middle class in Indonesia
Since the 19th century there has been a large and unresolved debate on the nature of civil
society. Two contrasting points of view are at the heart of this debate. The first views civil
society as a crucial element for the establishment of democracy, while from the second view it
is argued that civil society’s main practice is the perseverance of the status quo. 10 In this
section I will give an account of the debate on civil society. I will point out both the two
opposed views on civil society in general, after that I will specifically focus on civil society in
Asia and furthermore the role of the middle class in civil society, in particular in Indonesia.
Civil society is anything but a fixed concept. As Robert W. Cox has pointed out, it is
important to acknowledge the historic variations of civil society, as well as the variations
between different places in the world. 11 The concept came into being during the European
Enlightenment, and was referred to as ‘the realm of the interests of the bourgeoisie’. One of
the earliest notions on civil society as it is generally perceived today stems from Alexis de
Tocqueville, a French philosopher who was, upon traveling through the United States,
surprised by the number of voluntary associations to serve the common good, set up by
people outside of the state.12 It is this phenomenon, the establishments of associations and
movements and other forms of collective action external of the state apparatus that is called
civil society today. As Cox puts it: ‘So ‘civil society’ has become the comprehensive term for
various ways in which people express collective wills independently of (and often in
opposition to) established power, both economic and political’.13 Civil society is generally
defined as the sum of formal organization outside of the state, while others also include
informal movements, rallies, protests and other forms of non-organizational action. Civil
society in this sense is the space in which citizens can express their opinions.
The debate on civil society: Two contrasting views.
The debate on civil society is characterized by two contrasting structural points of view. The
first approach, which has its roots in the mode of thought of liberalism, argues that civil
society has the ability to contest general notions of the existing social order by offering
10
Haynes, 1997, Cox 1999,
Cox, 1999: 5
12
Cox, 1999: 6
13
Cox, 1999: 10, Jones, Haynes
11
6
counter notions from the bottom up. Such processes characterize the innovativeness of civil
society as an opposing force to state dominance, often initiated at the grass root level.
Furthermore, civil society increases mutual trust among various actors in society and so
breeds ground for the emergence of democratic values.14 In this sense, civil society functions
as a bottom force, able to redistribute power by coercing the elite to account for democracy.
The second approach views civil society as an instrument of the state to maintain its
power, inspired by the Marxist idea that nothing altruistic is to be expected from the
bourgeoisie as it is a class essentially driven by self-interest. Cox gives the contemporary
example of state subsidies to NGO’s and so indirectly influences the objectives of such
organizations. In this understanding civil society does not function as an actor independent of
the state, but as a top down vehicle in favor of state power in order to preserve current power
relations.15
Civil Society and democracy in the developing world
Most contemporary ideas on civil society have emerged in relation to events in the developing
countries. The notion of civil society as a consolidating force for democracy is a relatively
new idea that began to flourish in the late 1980’s when mass mobilizations against
authoritarian regimes occurred in many of the developing countries in Latin America and
Asia.16 Thus the idea of civil society’s potential for democracy emerged in direct relation to
events in the developing world. Prior to these civil movements, political elites were often
brought forward as the most important force for the establishment of democracy rather than
civil entities. Beginning in the 1980’s, not only was now civil society perceived to be essential
for the consolidation of democracy, but also to strengthen institutions.
Since then, Civil society’s potential lies especially in the lesser developed countries,
where an authoritarian regime or weak democracy is installed. In these countries associational
life outside the state has the potential to form a counterforce to the power of the ruling elite.
In this regard, some scholars are very optimistic about civil society in the developing world.
In his book, Democracy and Civil Society in the Third World, Jeff Haynes explains how there
is potential for civil society to fill the current gap between state governments and their
citizens. Most state governments of developing countries are viewed by their own citizens as
14
Cox, 1999: 11, Fioramonti & Fiori, 2010: 85
Cox, 1999: 11, Fioramonti & Fiori, 2010: 85
16
Fioramonti & Fiori: 2010: 86
15
7
being driven by self-interest, serving only a very small elite. The majority of the population is
living under poor conditions and receives little as to no support from their governments. As a
result, people tend to organize themselves collectively outside of the state through
nongovernmental organizations, human rights movements or labor unions to pursue their
collective interest. The author’s enthusiasm about the many voluntary organizations in the
contemporary Third World bears similarities with Toqueville’s optimism about associational
life in 19th century America. Haynes refers to these movements as action groups, first,
because they attempt to achieve a goal by collective action and second because they form a
group through collective features such as socioeconomic class, ethnicity, gender etc. Their
actions are ultimately an attempt to achieve something bigger, that is to transform society by
making demands for democracy. 17
Furthermore, Haynes states that there has been a parallel development in the 1980’s
between the degree of democracy and the number of action groups. Action groups’ demands
for democracy have created the political space to openly politicize which in turn leads to the
establishment of more action groups. For Haynes then, these action groups assure the growth
of civil society: ‘Third World action groups … are contributing to the slow emergence of the
democratic process by strengthening and enlarging civil society’.18 Thus according to Haynes,
people can, by organizing collectively, successfully pursue a common goal. Doing so, they
ultimately exert pressure on national governments, who then often see no choice but to
reform. It is this phenomenon that is essential for the initiation of a process of democratization
which ultimately brings more balance in the power relation between the powerful and their
subordinates. 19
Contrary to this view, other scholars argue that it is too simplistic to view civil society
as a uniform force against hegemonic state power, because civil society itself is also a field of
power relations, sometimes even linked to the state.20 With this in mind, Haynes perspectives
on civil society might form a convincing account of its transformative capacity; these
perspectives yet tend to generalize civil society as a somewhat uniform bloc against the
powerful elite, abstracting it from social class relations. Two notions are important here. In
the first place it has been argued that civil society tends to be divided by different objectives,
resulting in the fragmentation of associations and continuous conflicts over available
17
Haynes, 1997: 1-5
Haynes, 1997: 15
19
Cox, 1999: 15
20
Cox, 1999
18
8
resources.21 In this sense then, civil society does not function as a united counter bloc against
state power, but is rather a power field of self-interested action groups struggling for
resources. Here we can think of NGO’s fighting over funds from donors.
The second point is the matter of class relations. Civil society tends to be significantly
stratified by social class. It has been argued that civil society is socially exclusive as
participants in civil society are predominantly drawn from the middle class. John Harris for
example has done a quantitative study of participation in civil society in Indian cities and
concludes that people with a high income and high level of education are more likely to be
active in civil society. In other words, in India it is the middle class that ‘dominates the sphere
of civil and social organizations’ which is an indication for social exclusion.22
In short, theories on civil society and democratization proclaim that civil society
breeds ground to produce democratic values in society and in that way has the ability to adjust
power relations and strengthen a country’s institutions. On the other hand there is the view
that civil society is merely an instrument of the state. A set of critique on the former point of
view is that civil society is on the one hand strongly divided and not a uniform force and on
the other hand stratified by social class in which the middle class dominates. In the next
section I will go further into the debate on civil society by focusing on Indonesia, in particular
the relation between civil society and the Indonesian middle class.
Civil society and the Indonesian middle class
As stated in the introduction of this thesis, the nature of the middle class of developing
countries remains a controversial topic; the Indonesian middle class is no exception. It has
often been pointed out that its real significance is constituted by its role in civil society. Many
scholars account that the middle class is the leading force in democratization of developing
world.23 In addition, as noted above, empirical research conducted in India shows that
participants in civil society are predominantly members of the middle class. However the
concept middle class is yet to be precisely defined which makes it even harder to speak about
the role of the middle class in civil society.
21
Schmitter, 1993, 14-15, Cox, 1999: 25
Harris, 2006: 461
23
Jones, 1998: 147
22
9
How can the Indonesian middle class be characterized? Can the middle class indeed be
pointed out as the most important force in the conquest for democracy? In this section of the
thesis I will first make an analysis of the different perspectives on the Indonesian middle
class. Doing so, I attempt to further line out the debate on civil society by focusing on the role
of the middle class.
First of all, how can a middle class be defined? In a Marxists sense, there is no middle
class. According to Marx there were only two classes, distinguished between owners of
production capital and those who do not own any capital.24 A notion often made is that in
Indonesia too there are only two classes, the tiny wealthy elite, and the poor masses. H.W.
Dick however states that in the mid 1980’s a new phenomenon in Indonesian society to be
observed is the emergence of a middle class, a development of which the roots can be traced
back to the 1920’s when higher education became more widely available to larger portions of
the Indonesian population. It was nevertheless in the early days of the New Order in the mid
1960’s, when the economy commenced its unprecedented growth that the middle class had
the opportunity to grow substantially. He writes: ‘This middle class has education, some
wealth and whatever power it has been able to win from the aristocracy’.25 Dick classifies the
middle class by two related factors: Occupation (mostly civil servants and professionals) and
consumption patterns. The latter term not only aims at the amount of money being spent, but
also the privatization of consumption, which has a behavioral, more cultural component: The
consumption of goods meant for strict personal use: goods are no longer being shared with the
entire village.
It is important to note that it’s not just an increase in income and purchasing power
that defines the Indonesian middle class. Dick points that new sets of values are another
distinct feature of the middle class, in particular with regard to social equality. Initially, in the
late 1950’s and early 1960´s, the emergence of the middle class was accompanied by a
commitment to socialism. After independence, a nationalist attitude went hand in hand with
an aversion to Western capitalism. Dick describes that both in pre-colonial as well as in
colonial Java a small elite exploited the masses, and concerns of equity were present only
when absolute poverty existed. The author concludes: “Although Western consumer
preferences have been absorbed more easily than Western middle-class values, in the latter
case there would also seem to be some convergence.
24
25
Dick, 1985: 72
Dick, 1985: 72,74
10
Yet, Dick, a historical economist, ultimately fails to specify how and which values
exactly characterize the Indonesian middle class. He speaks of changing values but does not
give a clear account of what this actually means. Furthermore, he is concerned with ‘changing
notions of equity of the middle class’ but does not specify in what direction these notion
might have changed or are changing. This is especially important when taking into account
that the middle class in Indonesia took its real acceleration during the first years of the New
Order, in which Suharto radically broke with the socialist past of Sukarno and implemented a
neoliberal economic policy, aimed at the opening of the Indonesian market to the global
economy, which indeed resulted in the emergence of a sizable middle class but at the same
time increased social inequality. Dick acknowledges this when he speaks about the growth of
the economy: ‘The benefits have flowed disproportionately to the relatively small urban
middle-class elite.’26 Here the notions of David Martin Jones become important who denies
that the middle class is concerned with social inequality or with subtracting the elite from its
power, because is it is precisely this elite that has created the opportunity for the middle class
to grow and flourish.27
Jones is, contrary to Haynes and Dick, more skeptical about the democratizing abilities
of the middle class in civil society in the developing world. Jones, aware of the general notion
that civil society plays an important role in the initiation of democratization process, states
that a crucial element in this assumption is indeed the rise of a sizable middle class, for they
have the necessary resources in order to mobilize. Yet, Jones argues that if civil society in
Asia is to be composed of the new middle class, little is to be expected from its transformative
capacity because the status quo is in their direct interest: the existence of the current
powerhouse is exactly what made it possible for them to have risen to middle class position.28
Gainsborough writes ‘it is not only the changing stance of individual classes brought about by
economic development that has a bearing on whether a country democratizes but also the
relationship among classes and their relationship with the state.’29 Jones notes that both in
Malaysia and in Indonesia the rise of the middle class has been a direct consequence of
economic policy by the state government. Jones speaks of the Indonesian middle class as
having ‘a stake in the economic and social progress that has been achieved, it has a stake in
26
Dick, 1985: 1985: 88
Jones, 1998: 155
28
Jones: 1998: 149-155
29
Gainsborough, 2002: 695
27
11
the status quo, in continuity.’30 In the case of Indonesia therefore a causality between the
middle class and democratization cannot be drawn, Jones argues, because the middle class is
often beneficiary of state policy, but in turn also strongly dependent of the authoritarian
system.31
In line with this notion, the author claims that a tradition of public debate and
opposition is absent in Indonesia. Moreover the Javanese tradition of ‘self control and lack of
initiative-seeking’ is consciously maintained and actively promoted by the government. In
accordance to this cultural explanation, Asplund points at the Javanese tradition of solving
conflicts by restoring the harmonious order, rather than by applying legal jurisdiction.32 These
traditions apply all the more to the in the New Order emerged middle class, who, in turn for
their economic prosperity made possible by the government, should be loyal and compliant to
that government. In other words, the more well off the middle class is, the less they will be
politically offensive. From this point of view, civil society is a rather conservative conforms
highly to the norms of the ruling elite, politically, economically and culturally: ‘Instead of an
urban bourgeoisie that forges an autonomous sphere of civil activity out of an otiose
authoritarianism, the middle class produced by the developmental state is effectively in its
thrall’ 33
Parallels can be detected to the Asian values debate, in which the argument is often
used that Asian values, for instance the emphasis on collectivism, differ essentially from
western values. Following this argumentation, democracy and the acknowledgement of
human rights are unsuitable for Asian societies, a claim that effectively facilitates the
legitimacy of authoritarian rule. Given the fact that Jones’ article was published shortly before
the fall of Suharto, arguably, the situation has changed in recent years, during which
Indonesia underwent heavy reforms towards decentralization and democracy. Asplund
however states that even after Reformasi, the transition period after Suharto’s demise,
‘cultural conceptions favouring collectivism, stratification, hierarchy, submission and
obedience may indeed be part of the outlook of many Indonesians.34 From Jones’ perspective
the question again could be rises again why would the Indonesian middle class involve itself
in social activism if the middle class is concerned with the perseverance of an authoritarian
30
Jones: 1998: 155
Jones,: 1998: 140
32
Asplund, 2009: 31
33
Jones: 1998: 156, 164
34
Asplund, 2009: 45
31
12
system? It leaves the phenomenon that middle class members are overrepresented in labour
unions, human rights movements and environmental movements unexplained.
In this thesis I seek to provide insights into the role of the Indonesian middle class in
environmental activism as an expression of civil society participation. Given the different
stances in the debate, analyzing why the middle class would feel the urge to participate in
environmentalism can contribute to the debate. It is first however of importance to make an
account of the political context in which activism for the environment emerged in Indonesia
13
3) Environmental activism in Indonesia, a historical background
Before turning to the analytical chapter, a survey of the history of environmentalism in
Indonesia is provided. I will briefly discuss Indonesia’s political history to outline the political
context in which environmental activism has emerged. Doing so, I will explain why for many
years environmental activism has been the only form of legitimate resistance to state power.
Furthermore, the evolution of Indonesian environmentalism, which ultimately resulted in the
rise of other forms of social activism, can be placed in the context of wider processes of social
change in Indonesia. Environmentalists have played a crucial role in this process, as
environmental activism paved the way for other forms of critique towards the state to be
increasingly allowed, thus creating the opportunity for political opposition. Much of the
insights brought forward in this section are drawn from Joshua Gordon, who has made a
useful account of the rise of environmentalism within the specific Indonesian context in his
article ‘NGO’s, the Environment and Political Pluralism in New Order Indonesia’.
Social movements in pre-independence Indonesia
In order to understand environmentalism and its influence on the Indonesian political climate
it is important shortly discuss Indonesian political history. On the road to independence,
Indonesia witnessed its first major protests: ‘Mass organization has played a central role in
Indonesian society since well before the country’s independence.’35 Indeed, it was through the
emergence of reformist social movements that sentiments of nationalism were uttered for the
first time. One of the earliest forms of such mass organization was an establishment of an
association in 1908 by a few Javanese intellectuals called ‘Budi Utomo’, meaning noble
endeavour. Although this movement had only a minor leverage against the Dutch colonial
rule, in Indonesia it is signified today as the first insurrection of organized protest and the first
expression of nationalism.36 Moreover, the early 20th century came to be known in Indonesian
history as the ‘zaman bergerak’, the era of movement.37 This era, characterized by the
mushrooming of Islamic anti-colonial nationalist movements, was lead by educated young
men such as Sukarno, who in 1927 established the PNI, the Indonesian Nationalist Party.
Significant here is that it were those who enjoyed an above average education that lead the
35
Gordon, 1998: 2
Leifer, 2000: 153
37
Gordon, 1998: 2
36
14
struggle towards independence. During the same era, labour unions, farmer associations,
youth bonds and other forms of nongovernmental organizations developed. 38 Independence
was proclaimed under Sukarno on August 17, 1945. International acknowledgement followed
in December 1949.
Since Indonesia’s independence, diversity has been a concept central to the Indonesian
nation. In the ‘Panca Sila’, the so called pillars of Indonesian society were documented in the
in 1945 established constitution and presented 5 basic principles. The task was to emphasize
the country’s diversity, yet to tactically unify the nation.39 The national motto Bhinneka
Tunggal Ika, meaning unity in diversity, marks Indonesia’s ethnic and religious
heterogeneousness. The new government’s main task was to solidify the sense of unity within
the population. The territory that inherits the nation, as formed in 1949, basically covers the
land that the Dutch ruled in the time of their colonial regime. It can be pointed out, as
Anderson has noted, that it is only a common history of a colonial ruler that the many ethnic,
cultural and religious groups of people in Indonesia have initially had in common. It is in
Anderson’s term the ultimate imagined community.40 An essential feature of the panca sila,
was the proclamation of democracy as a universal value, hence stressing the emphasis on
diversity. Democracy ‘had become part of the official philosophy of the Republic.’41 Political
diversity in the form of the allowance of political pluralism however was short lived, as in
1959 guided democracy was announced, which in fact meant the tacit transition to an
authoritarian regime.
From Guided democracy to the New Order
Although mass mobilizations in the form of nationalist activist groups have existed in preindependent Indonesia since the early 20th century, in the subsequent phase, Indonesia
underwent a long struggle towards politically balanced decision making. In the first postindependence years, Indonesia enjoyed a period of constitutional democracy. 42 The initial
political pluralism resulted in a political climate increasingly divided by class or ethnicity,
each represented by a major party whose interests were in line with the group it represented.
38
Gordon, 1998: 2, Mahasin, 1989: 26
Leifer, 2000: 159
40
Anderson, 1999
41
Feith, 1962: 38
42
Feith, 1962: 38
39
15
Hence, it was decided in 1959 by Sukarno that it was too early for political pluralism in
Indonesia to work, after Indonesia’s first president failed numerous time to form a cohesive
coalition. Guided democracy followed.43
The period of guided democracy meant the transition from a constitutional democracy
to the establishment of authoritarian policy making. When Suharto came to power, after the
counter strike of the military against a coupe supposedly committed by the communist party,
more steps were taken to make politics more restricted. Under Suharto’s New Order, starting
in 1965, the new aim was to place economic development above anything else, including
politics. Put mildly, Suharto was against political pluralism, as it threatened the nation’s
stability. The legitimacy of the state now relied on economic growth.44 The result was ‘the
steady weakening of political parties and other society-based forces, such as pressure groups,
social classes, and voluntary organizations such as NGO’s.’45 The only NGO’s that were
permitted were those with an agenda exactly in accordance to the state’s interpretation of
development, in particular with that of economic development. Any sign of political
opposition was restricted by the government. Thus as long as NGO’s were apolitical they
were permitted.
Political decision making however was kept restricted to a tiny elite closely affiliated
with Suharto. Although elections were held every five year, his party Golkar was beforehand
guaranteed of victory: ‘... Golkar, the government’s electoral vehicle, was assured of
overwhelming victory in every parliamentary election between 1971 and 1997 in which
democracy was registered in form and not in any substance’.46 Openly challenging the New
Order regime was out of the order, as any form of direct political opposition would be literally
eliminated. In the 1960´s, almost the entire left wing plus its supporters were hunted and
massacred by Suharto´s regime. Gordon describes how in this political climate, organizations
were afraid to be labelled NGO’s, as the term nongovernmental could easily imply antigovernmental leading to New Order suspicion.47 Thus, civil society was tolerated and even
promoted by the Suharto government, as long as it precisely followed in the steps of the
government.
43
Gordon, 1998: 3
Leifer, 2000: 164
45
Gordon, 1998, 4
46
Leifer, 2000: 156
47
Gordon, 1998: 5
44
16
The emergence of environmental activism in Indonesia
The Suharto regime was occupied with economic development and this was to be achieved by
adopting capitalist strategies. Indonesia now positioned itself in the world market. During the
first years of the New Order, Indonesia witnessed an unprecedented economic growth as
Suharto opened the nation’s borders and warmly welcomed foreign investment. Part of the
explanation why the economy underwent such a tremendous run, was because Suharto’s
government effectively began exploiting the countries abundance of natural resources. Oil and
timber became major export products.48 In terms of natural wealth, Indonesia counts as one of
the richest countries in the world with its abundance of flora and fauna. Indonesia’s
rainforests, which account for the second largest share of rainforest in the world, are since the
1970’s disappearing at a catastrophically high rate. It is worth to note that until that time, the
environment had in a global perspective barely been perceived as an issue. It was only a few
years prior to the massive forms of resource exploitation that the first environmental
movements such as Greenpeace emerged in the global north49.
With deforestation beginning to occur at a rapid pace, the negative effects of
environmental exploitation on such a large scale did not go unnoticed and were soon felt by
the government, but in particular by Indonesia’s rural population. Land erosion made soil
unsuitable for cultivation, villages had to deal with water pollution because of factory dumped
waste and deforestation lead to the intense decreasing of biodiversity, just to name a few of
the problems. Threatening direct growth and future prosperity but also as a result of
increasing international pressure, the government decided to turn to action. In 1978 the
Indonesian government established The Ministry for Development Supervision and the
Environment. Priority of this ministry was to keep economic development in a peaceful
relation with sustainability of the environment.50 The leader of the Ministry Emil Salim was to
much surprise a strong critic of the State’s practices in relation to the environment, and dared
to openly voice his opinion. Yet the Ministry failed to be of major influence to the behaviour
of the central State. The Ministry, under Salim’s leadership did manage however to formally
encourage NGO’s to be established and to speak up: the landmark Environmental
Management Act was drawn up in 1982, in which NGO’s were officially acknowledged as
having a valuable role in the development of the environment. Through Salim’s engagement
48
Gordon, 1998: 7
Morrison and Dunlap: 1986: 581
50
Gordon, 1998, 8
49
17
with both the government and national and international NGO’s, the Ministry of the
Environment became a unifying force for the different parties involved.51 Gordon states:
‘Encouraged by the Ministry for the Environment, the number of environmental NGOs
mushroomed over the course of Salim’s career.’52
To say that the government reacted less harsh to environmental NGOs is softly put. In
fact, the government even deliberately promoted the active participation of NGO’s. How did
this happen? First, environmental problems began to be perceived as an ultimate threat for the
above everything placed economic development. Environmental movements were therefore
seen a legitimate as long as they could be helpful. Secondly, funds from international NGO’s
such as Greenpeace and the WWF formed a lucrative income for the Jakarta government. ‘As
one of the only (somewhat) acceptable forums where such ideas can be forwarded in New
Order Indonesia, many environmental NGO’s have begun to serve as focal points for political
activism, particularly students.’ Having said this, Gordon writes that many NGO’s initially
established to improve the environment began to adopt more wider concerns in their agenda,
for example ‘distributional equity’ and ‘participation of all sectors of society in decision
making’ became main objectives. 53 Opposition to big state-led projects damaging the
environment often went, quiet logically, hand in hand with more wider critical sentiment
towards the ways and actions of the ruling elite, blindfolded by economic development,
dispensing traditional culture and taking over land which belongs to the local or indigenous
people. Carrol Warren gives the example of Bali, where construction projects to draw tourist
are locally perceived not only as environmentally damaging, but also culturally. 54 The
environment then showed an essential framing strategy for the uttering of critique.
One of the first and till this day the biggest environmentally concerned platforms is
WALHI, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, established in 1980. WALHI is an
umbrella institution which functions as a network: hundreds of NGO’s are connected,
nationally and internationally. On the one hand WALHI works at the grass root level by
operating with local groups in the outer islands such as Sumatra and Kalimantan.55 On the
other hand it had a definitive organizational core from which actions on a higher level were to
be undertaken. Its head office is located in Jakarta and granted its reputation when it filed a
51
Peluso et all, 2008: 384
Gordon, 1998: 9
53
Gordon, 1998 10
54
Warren, 1998: 197
55
Citations needed.
52
18
lawsuit against the national government in 1988. Although WALHI lost and was forced to
drop charges, the case symbolized the importance as well as the legitimacy that the
environmental movement had gained within Indonesia. Because of this legitimacy, activism
for environmental sake began to function as the mask under which other objectives of social
movements were hidden: to influence state policy.56
From the early 1990’s NGO’s increasingly began to link environmental problems to
the absence of democracy in Indonesia. It was claimed that the environment is ultimately an
issue linked to rights over the land. Concerns of environmental NGO’s were not only the fact
that natural resources were being exploited on a massive scale, but what also mattered was the
question, who has the right to exploit the natural resources? Thus, through environmentalism,
human right related issues such as rights over land became a topic which could be discussed,
of course under the guise of the environment: ‘During the New Order, where any political
opposition to the state was intolerable, environmental law and advocacy seemed – and proved
to be a safe arena for concerned activists working both to help local people and to advance
political agendas’.57
We see here that environmentalism formed a solid ground for the expansion of civil
society. Social movements acting on behalf of the sustainability of the environment became
part of a wider process of an increased legitimatization of political pluralism. Peluso et al
state: ‘Some activists and leaders moved easily among groups working on environmental,
indigenous peoples and agrarian reform issues’.58 The authors argue that through common
dissatisfaction with Suharto’s policies, activist movements were unified by having a common
cause. Although state power remained strong, environmental movements slowly gained
acceptance during the New Order era. These gains ultimately initiated the process of the
strengthening of civil society. For instance, after Suharto´s demise, a somewhat similar
process of agrarian movements that emerged. During the transition period known as
Reformasi, agrarian movements have, like environmental movement, sought to engage in
dialogue with the government in order to gain more land rights for farmers. This
phenomenon, which was unthinkable during the New Order, reflects on the one hand the
space that such movements now were allowed to have, and on the other hand can be viewed
as an extension of the historical trajectory of the environmental movements.
56
Gordon, 1998 Peuluso et all, 2008: Warren: 1998
Peluso et al, 2008: 383
58
Peuluso et al, 2008: 388
57
19
Overall, the results of environmentalism in Indonesia have up till now been
articulated more in terms of political achievements, by creating the space for political
negotiations, than in terms of actual environmental improvements. With the tight grip of
Suharto eliminating any form of political protest, the trajectory of environmental movements
has paved the way for people to voice their opinion, as has become evident with the
subsequent rise of agrarian movements.59 In this section I have explained why and how
environmentalism was the only acceptable form of legitimate protest. In other words, framing
issues as environmental was necessary to map other wider related issues. Slowly,
environmental concerns went hand in hand with the naming of issues aimed at changing
government’s policy and ultimately at changing the social order, for example by linking
environmental concerns to bigger problems such as authoritarianism. It has become clear that
environmentalism was the route to take to utter protest. In this explanation however, no
account has been made of class relations, and the question still open is why the well off would
want to engage in social activism? The political context in which dissent emerged is evident, a
class analysis however is still absent. Why was and still is the middle class overrepresented in
social activism? In the next chapter I will analyse this question by exploring a number of
structural explanations argued from an agency perspective.
59
Peluso et al, 2008: 383
20
4) The relation between the middle class and environmental activism
Is there a relation between the Indonesian middle class and environmental activism? In the
previous section of the thesis I have reasoned why environmental activism was and still is
such a persuasive form of activism for citizens in Indonesia. I have however not yet linked
this argument to the Indonesian middle class, although many theories accredit this social class
a transformative capacity through their participation in civil society. A number of comments
must be made here. For the case of Indonesia, I have not been able to find solid facts. To my
knowledge, no quantitave data on this particular issue exists. If such data existed, the
argument that environmentalism is a typical middle class phenomenon could hold firm
ground. Nevertheless various research projects conducted in other parts of the world have
shown that there is a direct link between middle class member ship and participation in
activist movements, which will be elaborated below.
Despite the lack of empirical evidence, in this chapter I present an overview of the
literature published on the relationship between environmentalism and class relationship. The
relation between the factors will be explored in the subsequent chapter by providing a number
of plausible explanations by analysing three case studies.
The middle class and environmental activism: literature overview
As I have stated above, no concrete data on the relation between the Indonesian middle class
and environmental activism is available. Some studies conducted in other parts of the world,
including some Asian countries, are nevertheless relevant for this thesis. These studies can
help us to think of in which precise ways social class and environmental activism might be
related to each other.
Morrison and Dunlap have done an interesting study on the relationship between
social class and environmentalism. The study, published in 1986, is somewhat outdated, as
arguably since then environmental awareness has over the decades spread over other fringes
of the population. Morrison and Dunlap state that the claim that environmentalism is an elitist
practice and has been an issue since the beginning of environmental movements in the early
1970’s. They offer some distinct theoretical concepts which make the issue more
understandable. Although these concepts are derived from research on American and British
environmental movements, they raise, besides empirical results, a few interesting theoretical
21
issues. The authors distinguish three different though inter-related forms of elitism:
Compositional elitism, ideological elitism and impact elitism.60 Compositional elitism refers
to the notion that environmentalists are mostly from the privileged social strata, that is upper
middle class or the elite. The authors state that core environmentalists, activists who are
actively engaged in formal environmental organizations, generally tend to be college
graduates. Their income is above average, but only slightly, which reflects the fact that
environmentalists are mostly occupied in the public sector instead of market related jobs. The
label ‘upper middle class’ is therefore a more accurate description of the average core
environmentalist than the term ‘elite’: ‘Core environmentalists are disproportionately drawn
from the upper middle socioeconomic middle class, but despite being highly educated, they
typically do not have incomes that qualify them as members of the economic elite.’61 An
explanation for this finding is that only the more privileged people in society possess the
necessary resources to be able to engage in activism: Time, money and knowledge.
A second form of elitism is ideological elitism, which suggests that the underlying
motive of environmentalists obtaining resources for personal benefit, rather than for the
common good. In other words, their demands for environmental reform are in fact moved by
self-interested purposes. The third form is impact elitism, and is the outcome of ideological
elitism, namely the accusation that environmental reforms have the consequence of unequally
distributing resources to environmentalists, while negatively impacting other groups, mainly
the poor, thus creating and maintaining social inequality. As the authors note, both of these
forms are very difficult to verify. Research however has pointed out that environmental
reform has caused more jobs than it reduced. The authors conclude by saying that no concrete
answers can be given to the three accusations of elitism. What can be said, derived from
empirical research, is that environmentalists do not constitute the socioeconomic elite, but
rather belong to the upper middle class, having obtained college degrees and being occupied
mostly in the public sector with a slightly above average income.
More generally, John Harris has conducted quantitative research on the relation
between social class and civil society participation in major South-Indian cities. He concludes
that people with higher incomes and higher levels of education are overrepresented in civil
society, which is defined here as the total of associational activities, falsifying the popular
60
61
Morrison and Dunlap: 1986: 581
Morrison & Dunlap, 1986: 581-583
22
notion that it is the urban poor who empower themselves through civil society.62 Another
interesting analysis is made by Emma Mawdsley, who has published on the relation between
the Indian middle class and the environment. A first notion is that those with higher incomes
make higher demands on the environment. On a global scale and within countries, especially
developing countries, there is an uneven balance of consuming power. The small minority
composed of those with the highest consumption power is the group who make the highest
demands on the environment.63 She furthermore verifies that in India the middle class is
highly influential in the public debate through their strong presence in civil society, mainly
NGO’s and formal state institutions. Mawdsley is aware of the complexity surrounding the
concept of class and mentions different approaches to define class, ranging from occupation
and income to cultural taste and westernized cultural patterns of behaviour.64 Mawdsley
reports on the wide range of literature published on civic indifference of the Indian middle
class. What is meant here is the indifferent attitude of the middle class, the middle class is a
self interested, self serving group, who, given their well off position, have no eye or concern
for the common public good. Since they are in a good economic position, why would they
care about others? Why would they value the environment?
The latter assumption does not correlate with the empirical facts. There is a sizable
proportion of the Indian middle class engaged in activism related to environmental concerns:
‘Although a minority, they are often a vocal one, and some sections can be extremely
powerful in pursuing their agendas – although at present and for the foreseeable future, these
interests are rarely pursued through formal party politics’.65 The author then presents three
reasons why the middle class would engage in such activism. The first explanation leans on
the postmodern notion that green concern is part of a new way of thinking, notably
accompanied by wealth and education. This argument seems to be in line with Morrison and
Dunlap’s concept of compositional elitism: environmental concern is a mode of thought of
those who can afford to have such concerns, in terms of money, time and knowledge. A
second explanation is self-interest, as pollution and bad air have become burdens for the
wealthier urban citizens as well. The final explanation given by Mawdsley is a more personal
one and emphasizes the experiences of the environmentally concerned, from which it
62
Harris, 2006: 455
Mawdsley, 2004: 81
64
Mawdsley, 2004: 86
65
Mawdsley, 2004: 90
63
23
becomes clear that environmentalism is often a lonely struggle. But this explanation could
also point at social distinction as a reason for environmentalism.
Tim Forsyth makes notice of the general assumption that environmentalism is
‘typically a politics of a class, but not on behalf of a class’.66 What is meant here is that those
involved in environmental politics have class positions in common, but their politics are not
aimed to represent or defend a certain social class, unlike the classic version of politics
described by Marx in which the proletariat would mobilize on behalf of their deprived
socioeconomic position. The author has empirically tested the matter by doing a case study of
media coverage of environmentalism in Thailand. Forsyth has analysed media reports on
cases of environmentalism in Thailand between the years 1978 and 2000 by counting the
social composition (socioeconomic class) of those involved in the particular case as reported
by the media article. He comes to the conclusion that the majority of the actors involved in the
particular time period are drawn from the middle class. In the last years of the time period of
research the presence of the lower class does grow significantly. The distinction between
green activism and red green activism is important here. Whereas the middle class is
predominantly involved in green activism, which aims to conserve wild nature, the lower
classes are mainly focused on red-green activism, which involves the conflict of who owns
which piece of land and who gets to exploit what natural resources. In other words, those with
higher socioeconomic positions are mainly preoccupied with keeping nature out of reach of
humans, while those with lower socioeconomic positions are concerned with the social
conflicts surrounding usage of the environment. It will be argued later it is likely that those
findings are not of presence in Indonesia, given its specific historical context of politics in
which the environment was as a lucrative topic to form a mask for other political issues.
In addition to the latter notion, framing political issues under the environmental
umbrella has been of great importance for Indonesian activists. In general, social movements
tend to draw up frames which help to convince that their cause is legitimate. A frame then can
be defined as the construction of meaning which accounts for the external presentation.
Sydney Tarrow has argued that the primary function of a movement is the construction of
meaning. The nature of those frames, depends on the specific political context. Changes in the
political climate might provide social movements with opportunity to proceed to collective
action. Tarrow has stressed both the importance of the external political climate as well as the
66
Forsyth, 2007: 2111
24
need for social movements to draw up a framework that entails an objective for collective
action.67
The term framing expert is a concept introduced by Pablo Bose who has linked
Tarrow’s framing to environmental activism. Bose has made an account of what he calls
framing experts in the struggle for refraining the Indian government of building the Narmada
dam. These framing experts can be identified as spokespersons speaking in the name of the
villagers who oppose the project but whose voice cannot be heard because they supposedly
lack the means and necessary resources. Bose describes the framing experts furthermore as
having the ability to ‘understand the complex processes of nationalism, international
development and globalization.’68 Bose’s specific focus is on the two leaders of the struggle
Medha Patkar and Arundhati Roy. Both have enjoyed an above average education and come
from middle income families. The author refers to them as framing experts in that they were
perfectly able to pull the attention of the wider public by framing the issue in the wider
context of social justice. They have however been criticized by other intellectuals. There is
the accusation that the two framing experts were outsiders from the city who have initially
nothing to do with such issues. By interfering with the matter, they are glory seekers acting
out of self interest. Because they are not part of the community they represent, but come from
a wealthier urban environment, they can impossibly advocate their interests.69
From the above discussed works two specific issues are worth noting. First the one of
values and resources. Those with higher education and above average levels of income tend to
be overrepresented in environmental movements. Although most of the quantitative
publications offer plausible explanations for the relation between this phenomena, mainly
implying characteristic middle class values. It remains however difficult to define such middle
class values. Structural accounts fall short here. The second issue is framing. Besides the
empirical results, Bose brings forward that framing intellectuals, in his study above average
educated individuals, can utilize their framing capacities through involvement in
environmental movements. In order to further explore these two matters I present in the next
section three case studies of Indonesian environmental activists. My arguments are based on
the integration of the discussion of a theoretical framework, the discussion of literature of the
previous sections and conducted interviews.
67
Tarrow, 1998: 18
Bose, 2004: 135
69
Bose, 2004: 150
68
25
5) Analysis and conclusion
In this section I will present three cases. I have conducted interviews with three
Indonesian environmentalists. All three of my respondents have been active in
environmentally concerned NGO’s for a number of years and have had successful careers
doing so. While my respondents held different functions in different NGO’s, all three have
had working experience abroad (all three in the Netherlands) by either being in employed in
an international NGO or by participating in a research project connected to a Dutch
university. It must be acknowledged, as noted by one of the respondents, that the lifeline of
their careers does not necessarily represent the careers of the majority of environmental
activists in Indonesia. By combining insights from literature and interviews, structural
approaches are complemented with a more agency oriented outlook. First I will outline two
hypothetical assumptions which clarify the relation between the middle class and
environmental activism.
The first assumption is that environmental activism is intrinsically linked the Indonesian
middle class because of typical middle class values. Although I have in this thesis cited
numerous scholars, such as Morrison and Dunlap, Dick and Foryth, who have made this
comment, none have succeeded in specifying these values. It is on the other hand the middle
class’ capability of engaging in environmental movements because middle class members
have the necessary resources (education, financial independence) to do so. The second
assumption, derived from Pablo Bose, is that framing is a skill belonging to the middle class.
This makes them both suitable and wanted for such a job. Especially in the case of Indonesia,
the need for framing in relation to the specific political climate has shown to be of great
importance and fits with the theoretical framework described in the previous chapter. The
specific political context of Indonesia, namely the exceptional legitimacy that environmental
movements have gained by the state in contrast to other social movements were a reason to
frame other political issues under the guise of environmentalism. Tarrow’s concept of
‘political opportunity structure’ clarifies why in Indonesia environmental NGO’s boomed
after permission of the Ministry of Forestry, as it reflects the political opportunity that
appeared. For NGO’s then, in order to advocate for broader political issues, the environment
could function as their public transcript, to use Scott’s terms. Hidden transcripts then were
other political issues, too controversial to openly address, such as human rights, land rights or
the lack of democracy. Thus in the case of Indonesia external framing has been of crucial
26
importance. Moreover, in Indonesia, environmental justice has since early on been interwoven
with social justice. The concern over the sustainability of the environment goes hand in hand
with the matter of who has the right to use and exploit the natural resources. A general notion
is that indigenous people traditionally have better habits of using and living peacefully with
the environment than State actors or enterprises. Protecting and advocating the rights of
indigenous or local people therefore was very much interwoven with attempts to protect the
environment in Indonesia. Labeling such issues as environmentalist was in other words a
framing strategic to make it appear as apolitical.
By presenting three cases of Indonesian environmentalists, the relationship between
middle class membership and environmental activism can be explored as I attempt to test the
above described hypothetical assumptions.
Introduction of the interviewees
Before providing the analysis of the conducted interviews I will shortly introduce the
respondents I have interviewed. The selections of respondents was based on my personal
network of university contacts and also handiness: Ginting and Julie were in the Netherlands
at the time of interviewing, Sandra could be interviewed via skype.
Longgena Ginting
Ginting grew up in Pematangsiantar, a sizable town in the province of North-Sumatra. His
parents came from a farmer family, but his father ran a local business, providing agricultural
tools to local farmers. After his parents sent him to Jakarta for high school he left for
Samarinda, East-Kalimantan, to study forestry. While in college, he soon became involved in
local NGO’s, working at the grass root level as advocates of land rights of indigenous people.
Being that the NGO was a member of WALHI, Ginting had the chance to work for WALHI
in Jakarta since 1997. In 2002 he managed to become elected as director of WALHI. In 2005
he was offered a job at Friends of the Earth, a global network of environmentally concerned
NGO’s, for which he moved to Amsterdam. After spending 5 years of working in the
Netherlands, Ginting returned to Sumatra in may 2010, where he was offered the job to
oversee an international project on environmental justice.
Sandra Moniaga
27
Sandra Moniaga was born and raised in Jakarta. Her parents worked as business professionals.
After graduating from the faculty of law in Jakarta she immediately began working as a
program coordinator for an environmental NGO named SKEPHI, of which the main objective
is to wisely manage resources. After two years of working in SKEPHI, she joined WALHI for
the following four years, where she too functioned as a program coordinator. Next she went
into the field, joining Institute of Community Legal Resources Development in Pontianak,
West-Kalimantan. In 2004 she became a Phd candidate at the University of Leiden. The focus
of her research was adat, customary law. She is now living in Jakarta again, finishing her
dissertation. Besides that she is member of the boards of a number of NGO’s.
Julie Joel
Julie grew up in Pontianak. Her parents, both ethnic Chinese, come from a small village in the
area but moved to Pontianak for work. She studied in Pontianak were she was trained as an
English teacher. After graduation she first worked as an English teacher. After the outburst of
the conflict between the Dayaks and Madurese in Kalimantan, the region witnessed the
mushrooming of NGO’s. Julie was asked to work as an English translator on freelance basis
for a British NGO named ‘Save the Children’. After that she continued her works in NGO’s,
joining Institut Dayakologi in which her function began to include a wider range of tasks.
Institut Dayakologi aim is to advocate the rights of the indigenous Dayak people, which were
mainly related to environmental issues. This NGO was a member of WALHI, through which
she was granted a scholarship among others to join a research project at the ISS, The Hague,
for three months. After this period she applied to do a master degree at ISS and was given
admission and a second scholarship. After her masters her plan is to continue in NGO’s in
Pontianak.
Middle class values and resources
‘When I made trips to West-Papua and West-Kalimantan in the early 1980’s I first witnessed the environmental
degradation that was occurring there. I felt pity for the people dependent of the environment living there. There’s
too much social injustice. My personal economic situation is much better than those people. So I believed I had
to do something for the environment and at the same time for those people.’ (From interview with Sandra
Moniaga)
28
The notion that concern for the environment is a typical value of the middle class stems from
the assumption that the middle class tends to advocate for the common good.70 Moreover,
concern for the environment has also often been regarded as an component of Asian
cultures.71 Academically, both assumptions are hard to prove and tend to rely on simplified
generalizations. In this section I claim that environmentalism in Indonesia might indeed be a
typical middle class phenomenon, in the sense that the middle class may have on the one hand
been in the socioeconomic position to adopt environmental concerns as a value and on the
other hand possessed the necessary resources to participate in such movements.
One of the main aims of the conducted interviews was to trace the origin of the
interviewees’ affinity with and commitment to the environment. First of all, all three of my
interviewees come from urban areas. Sandra is from Jakarta, Julie is from Pontianak, the
nation’s capital and a provincial capital city respectively. Ginting is from Pematangsiantar,
which is not a major city, but relatively still a densely populated urban area. Ginting and
Julie’s parents owned small businesses, Sandra’s parents worked in Jakarta as professionals.
The ability to spend leisure time in nature happened to be crucial for the construction of their
affinity with the environment.
Sandra: ‘probably it started when I was little. In our free time my parents used to take me to the mountains and
the sea. Later when I was at the highschool: I joined a "nature lover" or pencinta alam of the local church. When
I joined there my interest in the environment became stronger. We would go out with people and go mountain
climbing.’
Sandra would during her childhood, while growing up in Jakarta, regularly make trips
with her parents out of town to nature. Trips like these demand a certain economic position
from which it is possible to make such leisure trips. Ginting tells a similar story:
‘I like to tell you that when I was a child, my grandparents very often picked me up from my parents’ house, in
the weekends basically, to spend weekends with them, cause their children already moved out, and I was so
happy every time to stay with them, they always bring me and my sister to either nice places or to the village
where they came from. And in that village was still a lot of forest. And even the tigers, they were still running
there. I also learned that some of the buffalos of the village, including my grandparents buffalos would be eaten
by tigers, sometimes when you’re not lucky. This is true. It means that the forest is still good, cause there are
tigers, but it also means that there is not enough food for them. Of course the villagers were very upset and some
put the poison in the buffalo, cause first the tigers kill them and leave it for a couple of days and then they come
70
71
Dick, 1985, Haynes 1997, Jones, 1998
Kalland & Persoon, 1998: 1
29
back to collect it. I was fascinated by that. And I asked my grandpa, can I go with them? He said no he didn’t
allow. I was like wow, this is a tiger, this is the forest!’
Ginting’s fascination for the environment clearly emerged during the trips made with
his grandparents. Similar to Sandra’s youth, Ginting would regularly make visits away from
the city, being that his grandparents were in the position to pick him up and take him to the
forest and other ‘nice places’. Moreover, after elementary school, Ginting was sent by his
parents to Jakarta for high school, because of the comparatively better education
opportunities. In Jakarta, Ginting could further explore his interest in nature as he joined a
high school science club, with whom he made regular trips to national parks. Affinity with the
environment here is established through middle class membership, in the way that the
possibility to go out of the city and enjoy nature, rather than being dependent of nature, is
typical for the more well off city residents. The ability to have leisure time is in accordance
with Pierre Bourdieu’s thesis on cultural capital in relation to art. He states that those with
higher incomes are able to have leisure time and regularly visit a museum. Doing so, their
interest in art grows and at the same time their knowledge of art grows too. These visits in
other words help to accumulate their cultural capital.72 The same can be said of visits to
nature. In this sense, leisure time enhances being in touch with nature on an enjoyment basis,
which helps to establish affinitive ties with the environment. Free time and financial means to
make trips then are a precondition for the development of a such an attitude towards the
natural environment.
But this does not explain why they would become actually active in environmental
movements. When asking what constituted the motivation for joining an environmental NGO,
all three respondents mentioned the occurrence of ‘injustice’ as a driving force to become
active.
Sandra:’I didn’t have my own family, and my family, my parents and my brothers had their house. So I thought
well I can live a simple way, and I had a place to sleep at that time so I already had the necessary facilities back
then. So I think I had obligations to the disadvantaged people, cause my position was more advantaged than the
majority of the victims. I was obligated because, well I can say, obligated because obligations are for everybody,
but in that sense, I had no obligations at that time. For example I had no obligation to support my family
financially, because they have their own sources of finances. Like many other people they have to support their
brother, or their parents ya?’
Because Sandra was well off enough to be self-reliant and because of the fact that she
didn’t have to take care of the people in her direct circle, she felt obligated to help the in her
72
Bourdieu & Darbel, 1991 18-20
30
eyes disadvantaged people because of environmental degradation. Moreover, her travelling to
Kalimantan and Papua New Guinea made her aware of the problems. Her resources, time and
money to travel, made her conscious of social problems related to the environment. The
economic position of herself and her family made it one the one hand possible for her to
devote time and energy in helping these people. It is, on the other hand, precisely her own
economic position that made her feel obligated to do so:
‘My personal economic situation is much better than those people. So I believed I had to do something for the
environment and at the same time for those people.’
Julie Joel shares with Sandra Moniaga the personal sense of injustice towards the
people dependent of their surrounding environment. A difference is that Julie was asked to
join an NGO, rather than actively applying for it, because of her proficiency in English. Being
ethnically Chinese, she witnessed while in the NGO the discrimination and disadvantaged
treatment of the Dayaks to be quiet similar to the discrimination of her own ethnic group, the
Chinese Indonesians:
Julie: ‘In the NGO, I learned that, oh the Dayaks are being treated the same as my community, their identity is
also being undermined. In a way, it answers a part of the questions that have been bothering me all along since
high school time, all the injustices against the Chinese, it makes me curious to experience of all those dynamics,
and that’s what I get when join a local NGO.’
Julie moreover describes herself as coming from a middle class family (although I
have not explicitly asked her this). She believes that in terms of education and resources,
being middle class facilitates the process of being active in an environmental movement. She
speaks of the dayak middle class, who established the NGO she worked for, the Institut
Dayakologi. They did so, because they had the resources and information to organize
themselves into a movement:
Julie: ‘Being middle class, then you have a better space to move, to analyze and to get a better picture of a whole
situation and to be able to analyze and to be able to find the cause and effects of one another, then yes. There is
this issue with access to information, that makes the people not able to voice out what they want, even to travel
out of their village, is so difficult, while the dayak middle class, which are already in the town, they have more
information, and a better analysis of a larger picture, so it enables them, to mobilize.’
When it comes to values, my interviewees indeed share a concern for the public good,
in terms of injustice, and also affinity with the environment. I have argued that valuing the
environment can be explained in relation to their socioeconomic situation, which enabled
them to go to nature on leisure basis in their childhood. The opportunity to enjoy nature made
them value nature. Furthermore, the occurrence of injustice towards people inclined them to
31
become involved in environmental NGO’s. But again, this notion of injustice, is inherently
related to their own well being. The ability to travel and witness injustice, the feeling of a
moral obligation as a result of one’s own good position compared to those disadvantaged, and
the space and access to information in order to see ‘the whole picture’ are all related to a
relatively stable socioeconomic situation. This set of phenomena then, may constitute an
explanation for compositional elitism, as noted by Morrison and Dunlap. Environmental
concern can only be adopted by those who can afford to be occupied with the environment in
the first place. In line with Mawdsley’s notion, these cases show that relative wealth and
education function as an important condition for the establishment of concern over the
environment. Having said this, the three cases presented here confirm Morrison and Dunlaps’
concept of compositional elitism: An affinity and commitment to environment is a value
which is to be seen in relation to resources: those with the money, time and education.
Besides these values and resources, middle class members can play an important role
in the framing of an environmental movement. It has been shown that just as much as
environmental concern, social injustice towards people has too been driving for people to join
NGO’s. I will now argue framing is crucial for environmental movements, especially in
Indonesia, given its political historical context.
The middle class as framing experts
In this section I will elucidate on the assumption that one of essential tasks of any social
movement, but in particular for environmentalist movements in Indonesia, is to frame its
objectives strategically to the external world. Those with higher education, which generally
functions as an indicator of middle class membership, are arguably more capable in the
framing activities of social movements.
With regard to Bose’s account of framing experts and the legitimacy of environmental
movements over other forms of social protest in Indonesia it is my assumption that Indonesian
environmentalists have been preoccupied with framing. Bose stressed the higher level of
education of the framing experts, which made them adequate advocates of the people they
attempted to represent. With regard to this, the role of the middle class for environmental
movements again becomes evident. The environmentalists I have interviewed have, like the
leaders in the dam struggle, an above average level of education. Sandra is a law graduate,
specialized in adat, customary law. Hence she has the precise knowledge, network and skills
32
to convincingly advocate the rights of those disadvantaged by environmental degradation.
Julie has studied English, and because of her proficiency, she was asked by a local NGO to
translate, but soon after her function also included the actively advocating the rights of
Dayaks. Ginting explains an important task of his work:
Interviewer: ‘How did you deal with environmental problems of local communities?’
Ginting: ‘We knew that they needed info, the people. And then they don’t know where to address the problem
and tell them their rights. We did para legal training for them. Write the cases and the rights they have, and link
them with people who have experience, and address the relevant ministry they could speak with and also the
media .We provide tools we saw there are ways and tools. But it’s risky cause its directed at the government, we
have to be aware of that, so we should tell them the risks, but also the opportunities. We cannot say let’s do this
now and then the next day the police beat them up. So they have to be organized, that’s what we come in for.’
Ginting mentions a number of interesting things here. As an environmentalist, he tells
the local people where to go with their problem. His consciousness of the risks when
addressing problems to the government and the importance of addressing the media displays
the awareness of the importance of framing. He calls himself and his colleagues responsible
for the organization of the ‘people’. In other words Ginting’s task is to make sure that the
locals externally frame themselves as a collective and that their problems are directed
strategically and presented effectively.
Sandra Moniaga is specialized in law and stresses that one of the important features of
her work in environmental NGO’s has since early on been the linking of wider issues such as
land rights and human rights to environment, a relatively safe arena:
Interviewer: ´Tell me, you have been occupied with land rights of indigenous people?´
Sandra: ´Yes, and also when I was working with WALHI, I was occupied with problems such as pollution and
brown and green issues. But every time when we worked with green issues I encountered the claims of the adat
(customary law) of the local communities. Since the beginning we always linked the environment with human
rights. If you look at our demands since then, we keep demanding for land rights recognition, and we also
addressed the human rights violation. So we kept expanding the issues all the time during Suharto’s last years.´
While in WALHI, an NGO essentially aimed at the preservation of the environment,
Sandra witnessed that the range of problems that were adopted as part of the organizations of
aims expanded. Precisely because of her expertise in law she was the right person to relate the
environment to broader social issues. Similar to the case of the Narmada Dam project in India,
where the framing experts linked the issue to broader social justice, Sandra Moniaga describes
how WALHI framed human rights concern under the umbrella of the forum of the
33
environment. In Indonesia, environmentalism has since early on been intrinsically linked to
social issues. For environmentalists as well as local communities who are negatively affected
by state policy with regard to the environment, a major task was to present issues externally
within the allowed boundaries of the state, yet to expand the range of issues from green
environmental concerns to human rights. In order to do so, specific skills and knowledge are
necessary. It are those with special expertise through education that have these skills, and
indeed are to be pointed out as framing experts. Environmentalism and social class are then
related in the sense that knowledge, network and skills are qualities more likely to be
possessed by those from the higher social class, given their above average education. The
second assumption, derived from Pablo Bose’s account of the Narmada Dam, is especially
applicable to the case of Indonesian environmentalists, given its specific political context with
relation to the environment.
Environmentalism as a means for upward social mobility
A third and final relation between environmental activism in the middle class emerged during
the course of conducting the three interviews, although this relation has not been made
explicit in the literature discussed in the previous chapters of this thesis. Besides speaking up
for the environment, involvement in an NGO might also entail a lucrative career. In the case
of Ginting, Sandra and Julie, their careers in environmental movements eventually lead them
to jobs or studies abroad, in these particular cases the Netherlands. Participating in
environmental movements has not only been a means for people to let their voice be heard,
but also a means to make a living. The people I have interviewed had successful careers in
NGO’s and have gotten as far as working for international organizations abroad. The third
explanation of my analytical chapter is therefore concerned with environmentalism as a
method of upward mobility. A good example is Ginting, who started his career in a small
NGO in West-Kalimantan, but found himself elected as chairman of WALHI several years
later, which in turn lead to his job in Amsterdam. Julie had, through her work in the Dayak
oriented NGO in Pontianak, gotten the opportunity to study at the ISS in The Hague.
Ginting on his job in the Netherlands:
34
‘ I thought this is another challenge for me to work in a global network. I applied in Indonesia for this job here
at friends of the earth, of which WALHI is a member, so I agreed with their political approach. It was another
step, it was a chance, it was a dream job that could fulfill my political ambitions.’
Originally, Ginting decided to study forestry not only out of commitment to the
environment, but because the environment was a booming industry with many future
oppurtunities:
Ginting:’At the time, forestry was new, about 20 years old but a booming industry, but everbody was like wow
forestry, and saw the green dollar. Everybody viewed it as the very promising sector.’
Sandra describes how in recent years many new NGO’s have been established, not
necessarily out of an idealist motivation, but because of the lucrative aspects of being
involved in an environmental NGO:
R: well you can see many NGO’s, but you should also look at the quality of their work. What do they actually do
for the environment? Cause in my experience, there are so many of the members who do not do any thing related
to the environment.
I: But why do they claim to be environmentally concerned then?
R: Well, they like to be part of networks, there are hundreds of those networks in Indonesia. People join these
networks for building alliance and to see whether it can be useful. Of course you have also some genuine groups,
sincere groups who really do work for the environment. But there are many other groups also working for the
environment but they are not part of WALHI.
Being involved in an environmental NGO can be useful and helpful to spawn a
successful career. Moreover, those with a higher education have a bigger chance to enjoy a
successful career through NGO membership. Specific skills, framing expertise, network and
knowledge are necessities to gain a higher position. Although many peasants from local
communities join local NGO’s, they rarely enjoy such lucrative careers as my three cases:
Interviewer: are these positions seated by these peasants?
Sandra: I think there are a few program coordinators who are coming from the region. Although they are
struggling ya, when they are in Jakarta. The first is the language problem, the second is ehm about
aculturilization, the getting used to the pluralist lifestyle in Jakarta, so you can see some people who survive in
the higher levels of WALHI, are mostly people from Jakarta or other bigger cities.
But is this a typical middle class phenomenon? John Harris argues that the middle class
involvement in NGO’s can be explained predominantly because of their own personal
benefits they can get from it rather than a commitment to the environment or the common
good. The author claims not only that those active in NGO’s are mostly middle class
members, but that activism is a significant feature of what it means to be middle class.
35
Activism in other words defines the middle class. However participating in civil society
through NGO’s is not necessarily an act on the basis of values for the common good. By
engaging in activism, they mediate the relations between the powerful elite and the poor
masses: ‘Such middle class people have responded to their impotence in the political sphere
by devoting their energies to activism in civil society’. 73In this sense, the middle class forms
literally the middle between two classes: the elite and the poor masses. Harris goes further in
stating that it is actually one of the middle class’ main characteristics to be active in NGO’s
and civil society in general. It is their ‘space’, as they are unable to compete in elite politics.
Middle class activism is not aimed at empowering the masses and ultimately establishing
democracy, but rather the ‘perpetuation of hierarchy’, arguing that activist group are in reality
the watchdogs of the government. 74 Harris explains middle class activism not as an act out of
commitment or concern for the poor, but rather as the self-assertion of the middle class by
vacating the space of mediation.
73
74
Harris, 2006: 461
Harris, 2006: 461
36
6) Conclusions
Is it typically middle class in Indonesia to be active in an environmental movement? This
question has been central to this thesis, in which I have sought to explore the relation between
the Indonesian middle class and environmentalism. The topic stems from the interesting
debate on civil society, both in general as well as in Indonesia particularly, and the role of the
middle class herein. At the heart of this debate are two contrasting views, in the sense that one
view sees the Indonesian middle class as the leading actor in the promotion of change, while
the other views the Indonesian middle class as rather conservative, holding on to the current
power house. Environmentalism has a long history in Indonesia, and has for decades been the
only somewhat legitimate form of social protest. Through environmental concern, a concern
that in essence concerns all and is therefore a collective concern, other issues such as land
rights could be brought under the environmental umbrella and so could be mapped in
Indonesia as well. During the course of time the agenda of environmental organizations in
Indonesia has ever expanded. Hence, if change is to be promoted by the middle class in
Indonesia, then it is likely that environmental activism is the predominant way through which
this is done.
There is however a serious gap in academic literature on the issue. First of all, a
middle class in Indonesia is hardly definable, and the second point is that if there was a
definable middle class, no quantitative data is available on their involvement in NGO’s. A
helpful hand then is the literature on the relation between environmental activism and social
class from other countries. Analysis of this wide range of literature leads up to the following
hypothetical assumptions: First, environmentalism is typical middle class because of the
middle class’ set of values and resources. Second, those with an above average education are
seemingly very useful for environmental NGO’s, given their specific knowledge and
expertise. With these skills, they may function as framing experts, as they are the
spokespersons of local communities and represent them strategically to the external world. To
frame wider issues under the environmental umbrella is essential for the expansion of the
agenda for Indonesian NGO’s.
Looking at three cases of Indonesian environmentalists, these assumptions tend to be
broadly confirmed. Being in touch with nature on an enjoyment basis is crucial for the
development of an affinity with the environment. This distinguishes the middle classes from
the poor masses, as the former can afford it to make leisure trips. With regard to the
37
assumption of framing, it can be said that specific knowledge and expertise are useful factors
possessed by the more educated facets of society, likely the middle class. Especially in
Indonesia, where framing wider issues under the guise of the environment has been a major
task. Furthermore, taking account the three cases it has become evident that involvement in
NGO´s may entail a fruitful career. It therefore forms a vehicle for upward social mobility.
With regard to the debate on civil society, it remains difficult to make any hard
statements about the nature of the Indonesian middle class. To state that the middle class in
Indonesia is the focal force for the promotion of change would imply a broad
overgeneralization, ignoring the diversity of the middle class, if there is a single one. But, as
noted before, the aim of this thesis was merely to make an exploration of the middle class,
their values and their role in environmental movements. Through the case studies I have made
an indication of values that tend to be typical middle class. Being in a stable position, not
being preoccupied with self survival enables the possibility to take care of others. In this sense
the environmentalists I have interviewed are indeed advocates for the common good, although
being an environmentalist is just as much a profession as it is an idealist act. The tiny bulk of
literature published on social class and environmentalism indicates at the gap in academics. I
suggest therefore that extended research should be done, both quantitative and qualitative, to
further investigate the matter, so that more can be said about the middle class and its role in
civil society.
38
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