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Neoliberalism in Indonesia
Writer
Vregina Diaz
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Hi Folks, have you heard of the Neoliberalism theory? This understanding is actually pro and contra for the economy in Indonesia. Before discussing how Neoliberalism in Indonesia, let’s first find out what the definition and a brief history are.
About Neoliberalism
According to KBBI, Neoliberalism is a political economic stream that emerged after World War I, marked by a heavy emphasis on the positive aspects of a free market economy, along with efforts to reduce government intervention and the concentration of private power in the economy.
It can also be interpreted as an economic ideology that prioritizes the capitalist system and favors certain parties to control the economy. In short, according to one Tirto article, this ideology thinks that the government has limited ability to regulate the economy, so it’s better for economic affairs to be run by individuals.
This ideology also has several main objectives, namely:
The development of individual freedom so that they can compete freely in the market.
Acknowledging private ownership in the factors of production.
Market prices are not natural events but are the results of market regulations conducted by the state through laws.
It turns out that Neoliberalism also has negative impacts, as this ideology creates disparities between the poor or groups without interests, compared to the interests of capitalists, or investors. In conclusion, this ideology also seems to displace the poor; people's development is not inherently aligned with economic development.
Neoliberalism in Indonesia
Neoliberalism in Indonesia was once associated with the ideology of an individual who served as an economic advisor to the government during President Suharto's era (in the early 1960s). This advisor is known as a graduate of the Doctorate program from University of California, Berkeley. This ideology is considered quite standard because the United States is a country that adheres to liberal economic principles.
However, it turns out that the neoliberal economic theory at the Faculty of Economics in the United States also has many differing opinions. Starting from the term saltwater economist (Saltwater Economist), freshwater economist (Freshwater Economist), or other terms such as Chicago Economist and Berkeley Economist. All of this always returns to the main teachings, which are understood as economic neoliberalism and are recorded in textbooks on Economic Principles, Macroeconomics, and Microeconomics. Similarly, some universities in Indonesia also use books by Michael Parkin and Robin Bade, N. Gregory Mankiw, Paul Krugman, and Ben Bernanke as lecture guidelines.
When attempting to refer to the education of officials or economic/financial managers in Indonesia, about 38% of them are graduates from the United States, while around 31% are graduates from local universities. This graph also shows that the distribution of the economy in Indonesia is not entirely dominated by economists who graduated from America.
So we need to know that this neoliberal economic ideology only discusses market economy and will not relate it to the state's role. Thus, what happens now is that the ideology and policies of the Indonesian government still often contradict Neoliberalism.
Implications of Neoliberalism on Indonesian Workers
It turns out that this ideology is also present in the workforce, as seen in the layoffs case at PT. KIA Keramik Mas Gresik, East Java, around the years 2015-2017. Like the discussion in Merysa Desy Permatasari Journal which mentions that research and data analysis regarding the operational companies that have implemented cost efficiency, as well as wage cuts for employees. All of this is similar to the understanding of Neoliberalism that discusses the interest of the contractual work system in companies. Industrial relations often experience differing opinions and interests between employers and workers/laborers.
This layoff case is actually regulated by law, which discusses the rights of workers who receive protection to obtain their rights. The aim is to protect workers from injustice by employers, and this is all enacted under Law No. 13 of 2003 on Manpower. However, laws are just laws, as layoffs still occur frequently in Indonesia to this day. Even since the pandemic began in early 2020, many layoff cases have been found in several job sectors affecting workers/laborers.
So according to all of you, has the understanding of Neoliberalism in the Indonesian economy been appropriate? Hmmm, maybe ask the swaying grass, they might know.
Written by Vregina Diaz
Source:
Merysa Desy Permatasari Journal
Tirto Article: Neoliberalism and the Indonesian Economy
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Cho Nam Joo menjadikan esainya dalam bentuk buku berjudul Her Name Is… Berisi banyak cerita dari berbagai perempuan. Cerita-cerita mereka banyak mengangkat isu ketidaksetaraan gender yang cukup kental dalam kultur Korea Selatan.
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Sojin yang resah tidak tinggal diam. Ia memutuskan untuk melaporkan kasusnya. Mulai dengan melapor pada manajer tim. Namun solusi yang ditawarkan adalah dengan memindahkan Sojin.
Buku Cho Nam Joo - Her Name Is…
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Sayangnya, alih-alih dibantu, Sojin justru disudutkan dan disalahkan dalam proses tersebut. Bahkan ia dipersulit oleh pelaku yang adalah atasannya, dan dikucilkan di kantor.
Sojin meneruskan perjuangannya sampai ke Kementerian Tenaga Kerja, bahkan sudah mendapat surat tembusan agar perusahaan menghukum pelaku. Tapi tidak dilakukan oleh perusahaan.
Mengapa Korban Enggan Melapor
Hasil riset Never Okay Project di tahun 2022 memiliki beberapa temuan kunci. Salah satunya menyebutkan bahwa hanya 10,94% korban yang berani melapor ke Manajemen atau divisi SDM kantor.
Sementara sebanyak 42,55% memilih untuk diam saja dan tidak melapor kejadian kekerasan dan pelecehan seksual yang mereka alami di lingkungan kerja.
Salah satu alasan mengapa mereka enggan melapor adalah karena para korban (45,61%) merasa bahwa pihak Manajemen tidak akan melakukan apapun.
Angka-angka ini adalah alarm keras. Ketika mayoritas korban merasa lebih aman untuk diam daripada melapor, itu tandanya ada yang salah dengan sistem pendukung di tempat kerja tersebut.
Bukan tanpa alasan korban enggan bersuara. Sering kali, saat laporan dibuat, mekanisme internal perusahaan justru berfokus pada "menjaga reputasi" daripada "mencari keadilan".
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Mengapa Saksi Sering Memilih Diam?
Meskipun angka saksi ini sangat tinggi, kenyataannya ada banyak juga saksi yang memilih diam. Mengapa demikian?
Menjadi saksi atau bystander memiliki beban mental tersendiri. Beberapa alasan utama mengapa saksi enggan melapor atau bertindak antara lain:
Takut kariernya akan terhambat atau dikucilkan oleh lingkungan kantor.
Merasa manajemen tidak akan mengambil tindakan tegas meski sudah melapor.
Takut dianggap terlalu ikut campur.
Keberanian Itu Bukan Fiksi
Tim Never Okay Project menemukan salah satu scene menarik dalam drakor 18 Again (2020). Scene ketika Jung Da-Jung (Kim Ha-Neul) melihat senior kantornya diam-diam merekam rok rekannya sesama karyawan magang. Kejadian yang berlangsung di dalam lift itu mengejutkan Da-Jung.
Tanpa berpikir panjang, ia langsung memelintir tangan pelaku dan memaksanya keluar dari lift. Da-Jung juga mengkonfrontasi pelaku untuk membuka ponselnya untuk diperiksa. Setelah bukti-bukti dipastikan, pelaku tersebut kemudian digiring keluar oleh polisi untuk diamankan.
Apakah aksi berani seperti ini fiksi dan hanya bisa dilakukan di dalam adegan-adegan film? Tentu, tidak.
Menjadi Saksi yang Berani Beraksi
Kamu juga bisa menjadi saksi yang berani beraksi. Tapi, sebelum itu, ada hal yang lebih penting untuk diutamakan, yakni keamanan dan keselamatan diri.
Merespons kekerasan dan pelecehan seksual di depan mata tidak selalu harus menggunakan cara yang Da-Jung lakukan. Berikut adalah beberapa hal yang dapat kamu lakukan.
Jika kamu rasa situasinya aman, kamu bisa mengkonfrontasi dan mengedukasi pelaku.
Jika kamu rasa situasinya tidak aman, ini yang bisa kamu lakukan:
Saat kejadian:
Alihkan perhatian atau topik pembicaraan.
Minta rekan kerja senior untuk menegur pelaku.
Dokumentasikan kejadian tersebut.
Setelah kejadian:Tenangkan dan tanyakan keadaan korban.
Tawarkan bantuan pada korban.
Jadi saksi pada pelaporan ke atasan atau HR.
Gunakan hasil dokumentasi untuk bukti pelaporan.
Pantau perkembangan laporan.
Cerita Jung Da-Jung dalam drama mungkin fiksi, namun tantangan yang dihadapi para pekerja di Indonesia adalah nyata. Menciptakan ruang kerja yang aman bukan hanya tugas manajemen, tapi juga tanggung jawab kita sebagai saksi yang berani beraksi.
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Just Pretend to Be Good: About the Well-being of Lecturers in Indonesia
Lecturers so far seem to have no problems, maybe it’s because we are in denial. We pretend to be okay. So it’s like (we need) awareness that we are not okay, awareness that something needs to change, awareness that we are the working class who are very likely to be oppressed in our work fulfillment relationships.” – Nabiyla Risfa Azzati, representative of the Lecturer Welfare Research Team (2023)
The teaching profession, which is considered promising, does not guarantee worker welfare. A survey from the Lecturer Welfare Team shows that there are still lecturers who are dissatisfied with their salaries. This research was released in commemoration of Labor Day and National Education Day 2023.
Survey by the Lecturer Welfare Research Team (UGM-UI-Unram, 2023) shows that 42.9% of lecturers earn below Rp3 million. About 35% of them feel that their monthly income does not match their workload and qualifications as lecturers. Moreover, nearly one-third of respondents reported spending monthly living costs of Rp3-5 million.
Not All Lecturers Live Prosperously
The representative of the Lecturer Welfare Research Team, Nabiyla Risfa Azzati, stated that this research shows the fact that many lecturers are not prosperous. The labor law lecturer at UGM noted that more than 40% of lecturers earning below Rp3 million is a red flag.
“This speaks about a profession that on one hand requires very high qualifications to enter, therefore its barrier is very high, while on the other hand, this profession also becomes the backbone of knowledge creation,” emphasized Nabiyla when met by the Never Okay Project (NOP) team.
Issues of Lecturer Welfare Rarely Discussed
Nabiyla revealed that the welfare of lecturers is rarely raised. This is why this research was conducted: to make this issue mainstream so that the parties concerned can be more open and acknowledge that there are problems.
“Because if we can acknowledge that there is a problem, we can start from there, we can look for solutions together. If we don’t even admit there’s a problem, it’s very difficult, right?” she said.
Nabiyla realizes that discussions about salaries are still considered taboo, especially for the teaching profession, which is considered noble and carries a certain social status. She also acknowledges that it is not difficult to find prosperous lecturers. However, that does not mean we should turn a blind eye to the 42.9% of respondents who earn less than Rp3 million.
“If my life is used as an example, lecturers are fine. But there are many other lecturers who are not okay,” she said.
Lecturers No Longer an Attractive Career Choice
The results of this research also seem to answer an assumption that being a lecturer is no longer an attractive choice. “How can we attract quality individuals to work in a profession that in its early stages cannot provide welfare. Like it’s impossible,” she said.
Nabiyla also mentioned the high resignation rate from CASN (Civil Service Candidates) lecturers. This indicates that something is wrong.
“This actually shows that there’s something wrong, we do not value people who actually want to dedicate their time to knowledge creation in Indonesia,” she explained.
Read also: Violence Against Journalists: From Sexual to KBGO
Ideal Salary Standards for Lecturers
Discussing ideal salaries for lecturers is quite complicated. This is because the benchmark for fair wages in Indonesia refers to the minimum wage, which in this context is the standard of Decent Living Needs (KHL). However, this context is considered less suitable when talking about lecturer salaries.
“Why? Because first, the barrier to becoming a lecturer is high, so this should be seen as a profession that should not be valued at bare minimum,” explained Nabiyla.
She compared it to other countries that generally do not value lecturer salaries at minimum wage. The reason is that lecturer salaries there are negotiated. In Indonesia, sector-based negotiations are nearly non-existent, so the Lecturer Welfare Research Team cannot answer how to provide an ideal standard for lecturers.
Comparing Lecturer Salaries with Neighboring Countries
The Lecturer Welfare Research Team attempted to compare lecturer salaries in Indonesia with comparable neighboring countries, namely Malaysia and Thailand. The results are quite shocking. The average lecturer salary in Malaysia is Rp 20-25 million and in Thailand is Rp 38-42 million. Nabiyla revealed that initially, the team felt those figures were not suitable for this job because they were too high. However, the main problem is that Indonesia does not have a standard for lecturer salaries.
“The comparison with Malaysia and Thailand should not be a very far comparison, but seeing that we currently do not have a standard, if we were to present at the Ministry of Education and Culture, we’d face ridicule. It’s strange how we don’t have standards; we are even afraid to mention a figure that isn’t too high at all, it’s actually quite normal,” said Nabiyla.
Lecturers are Workers Too: Fighting Not to be Oppressed
The survey results from the Lecturer Welfare Research Team also show that the lecturer profession is a labor profession. Therefore, it is necessary to fight to not be oppressed.
“Call us professional workers, call us white-collar workers, call us knowledge producers, whatever the name, at the end of the day, we are workers, we are laborers,” said Nabiyla.
Source:
Lecturer Welfare Research Team. (2023, May 4). How much do lecturers earn? Here are the results of the first national survey mapping the welfare of academics in Indonesia. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/berapa-gaji-dosen-berikut-hasil-survei-nasional-pertama-yang-memetakan-kesejahteraan-akademisi-di-indonesia-203854 accessed on May 21, 2023.
Interview with the representative of the Lecturer Welfare Research Team, Nabiyla Risfa Azzati. May 17, 2023.
Writer: Yanti Nainggolan
Editor: Imelda
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