ANY3230 - Culture and Conflict in Indonesia

Leader: Brett Hough

Offered

Clayton First semester 2008 (Day)

Synopsis

Indonesia is a plural society made up of many groups distinguishable on ethnic, religious, linguistic and other cultural grounds. It is also a modern nation-state undergoing considerable social, political and economic transformation. This unit will analyse the processes of democratisation and conflict within the context of the political economy of structural change in Indonesia. It will examine the cultural mediation of conflict, the cultural reproduction of group identity, and the dynamics of social movements engendered by modernisation - mass movements which draw on the symbols of Islam, ethnicity, nationalism, and various political ideologies.

Objectives

Students in this subject can expect to develop:

1. An awareness of the unity and diversity of Indonesia.

2. An understanding of the significant social, political, historical and economic forces that have shaped (and continue to shape) contemporary Indonesia.

3. The conceptual tools for understanding these processes.

4. A sense of their own personal and cultural reflexivity as they use material written from different theoretical perspectives.

5. The critical and expressive resources to make use of the material to write independent essays on the topics provided or chosen for assessment.

Assessment

Seminar participation: 25%
Essay (3000 words): 25%
Major essay (6000 words): 50%

Contact hours

3 hours (1 x 1 hour film screening and 2 x 1 hour seminars) per week

Prerequisites

Appropriate first-year ANY sequence or by permission