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• 1 2021-07-07T21:42:08+00:00 A History of Collectivism in Indonesia 2 plain 2021-07-08T13:47:23+00:00 “The government has established agencies and undertaken measures for the modernization of village society and its enterprise which uniformly stress communal ownership of resources, collective labor patterns, and throughgoing cooperation” (Van Der Kroef Justus M., 1953)
  
  Collectivism is deeply rooted in Indonesian society, history, and tradition. The quote above is from after the Indonesians expelled the Dutch colonial forces. The “communal ownership” “collective labor patterns” and “cooperation” is vital because it “provides a haven in need, in which the individual almost gladly submerges himself...some form of cohesion is sought, and it is found in the severely communal form of existence” (Van Der Kroef Justus M., 1953).
  
  Indonesia is influenced by many factors including Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islamic, and other neighboring East Asian and Southeast Asian countries. Indonesia is the largest Muslim majority country, and their many ethnic groups, including Javanese, Sudanese, Balinese, Batak, Madurese, Minangkabau, and Betawi, contribute to a richly diverse population (Indonesian Culture, 2016). Different cultures, religions, languages, and traditions become intertwined with one another. For example, “one can observe dominant Indonesian culture to largely reflect characteristics of Javanese and Islamic society. Yet, the Balinese population, occupying the Island of Bali, are mostly Hindu.” (Indonesian Culture, 2016). From Asian tradition and society, Indonesians gain the importance of reputation, dignity, honor, and respect, which are common aspects of collectivist culture. (Indonesian Culture, 2016).
  
  Indonesian collectivism was assessed by six different dimensions: power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and indulgence. The study argues that Indonesia has “1. high value of the group (Collectivism) 2. Placing high importance on seniority (high Power Distance) 3. Preferring stable conditions and situations, not liking ambiguous conditions (high Uncertainty Avoidance) 4. Having a clear cut between gender roles, that nevertheless do sometimes overlap (Masculinity/Femininity) 5. Having a time orientation that is more about the past and present (Short Term Orientation).” (Mangundjaya, 2013). Each of these findings contributes to an overall collectivist society in Indonesia.
  
  The graph below also exhibits ratings of the United States for reader comparison.