[SEA-TALK #41] Book Discussion Series #5 on “Social Science in the Age of Transformation and Disruption: Its Relevance, Role and Challenge”

“Social science research is hardly objective in studying the knowing subject and has always been subjective in some respects”, said Melanie V. Nerzt and Vissia Ita Yulianto, authors of a book chapter “Shifting Positionalities: The Shades of being inside and outside in Social Science Research” (2020).

Drawing mostly on experiences in conducting anthropological tandem fieldwork as an Indonesian and a German researcher on the islands of Sulawesi and Java, Indonesia, in the course of 2010 and 2011, Melanie and Ita sets out the roles they took and were ascribed in various contexts of the field and explores the implications of being an insider and an outsider researcher. read more

Pada hari Sabtu (20/5/21), Pusat Studi Sosial Asia Tenggara (PSSAT) UGM kembali mengadakan webinar Digital Society. Menjadi agenda webinar yang kedua, kali ini PSSAT berkesempatan untuk mengundang Sony Setyarso selaku Founder & Director dari 360 Solusi Teknologi. Tidak lupa juga untuk moderator dalam agenda ini adalah Lidwina Mutia S.I.P., M.A. dari Departemen Ilmu Komunikasi Universitas Gadjah Mada.

Webinar kali ini dibuka dengan sambutan oleh Prof. Aris Ananta selaku salah satu penggagas Digital Society. Beliau menegaskan bahwa Bapak Sony Setyarso sudah banyak pengalaman dalam dunia perbankan. Ini juga ditegaskan kembali oleh moderator bahwa “Bapak Sony Setyarso memang sudah mempunyai pengalaman banking selama 31 tahun terhitung dari tahun 1989”. Dalam kesempatan kali ini, Bapak Sony akan memaparkan materinya yaitu, ‘Pergeseran Perilaku Nasabah pada Kondisi Covid-19 Meningkatkan Ketidakpastian Perbankan dan Menimbulkan Risiko Baru’. read more

Pusat Studi Sosial Asia Tenggara (PSSAT) UGM menginisiasi kegiatan dalam kerangka webinar Digital Society. Agenda pertama ini mengundang Prof. Aris Ananta dan Ibrahim Kholilul Rohman Ph.D yang keduanya sebagai pembicara dari Universitas Indonesia. Webinar Digital Society #1 dimoderatori oleh Dr. M. Falikul Isbah dari Universitas Gadjah Mada. Kegiatan webinar kali ini telah sukses dilaksanakan pada Sabtu, 13 Maret 2021.

Dalam kesempatan kali ini, Prof. Aris Ananta akan menjelaskan materi tentang “Mobilitas Penduduk, Persebaran Infeksi, dan Perekonomian”, sedangkan Ibrahin Kholilul Rohman Ph.D akan menjelaskan “Understanding Indonesia’s Digital Economy: Statistical Perspective”. Webinar ini diawali dengan penjelasan dari moderator terkait latar belakang terbentuknya diskusi Digital Society, sekaligus menegaskan bahwa diskusi ini merupakan suatu diskusi informal namun tetap mampu mengedukasi berbagai disiplin ilmu. read more

Pusat Studi Sosial Asia Tenggara (PSSAT) Universitas Gadjah Mada kembali menyelenggarakan SEA TALK #39 : Book Discussion Series #3 pada Selasa, 20 April 2021. Dalam kesempatan ini, PSSAT berkerjasama dengan Fakultas Hukum UGM untuk membahas “Studi Sosial terhadap Hukum: Peran dan Tantangannya” yang telah termuat dalam buku “Social Science in the Age of Transformation and Disruption: Its Relevance, Role and Challenge”. Pembicara yang dihadirkan ialah Dr. Rikardo Simarmata, S.H. dari Fakultas Hukum UGM, sekaligus selaku penulis dari salah satu chapter dalam buku ini dan Prof. Sulistyowati Irianto dari Universitas Indonesia. Sesi pembicara dan diskusi yang berlangsung, dimoderatori oleh I.G.A.M Wardana, Ph.D dari Fakultas Hukum UGM. read more

ASEAS Webinar “How to publish an article with ASEAS”
2021-04-14
Thursday, 22. April 2021

9-10 am Vienna (UTC+2hrs) | 2-3 pm Jakarta (UTC+7hrs) | 7-8 pm Auckland (UTC+12hrs)

The editorial board of the Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies (ASEAS) kindly invites potential authors to participate in our one-hour webinar on how to publish an article with ASEAS.

This webinar shall offer an overview on (1) ASEAS author guidelines, (2) quality standards and key requirements, and (3) publication timeline. read more

In Indonesia, terrorism is a threat that affects the nation’s social/political order and bring light to tensions existing in the country. Indonesia has the largest Muslim majority globally; however, Indonesia is a secular country adopting a liberal reform of Islam and accepting religious tolerance towards other minorities. However, terrorist groups have voiced their radical opinions on Indonesia’s secularism calling for the country to be an Islamic state and achieve these goals through violence. The Indonesian government has taken counter-measure to tackle these terrorist threats, but these measures are criticized by Human Rights Organisations (HRO). Because Indonesia has created many anti-terror repressive laws, violating the freedom of speech and the task force Densus 88 has broken many Human Rights Violations (HRV). This brings into question is terrorism the overall threat towards Indonesia, I would argue no but state that terrorism must be a risk that does possess a threat, however, cannot endanger Indonesia’s democratic institution. I would argue that Indonesia’s anti-terror laws are a danger to Indonesia’s democracy and Indonesia’s Counter-Terrorism (CT) agencies violate human rights laws (HRL). These are the overall threats that endanger Indonesia’s democracy and why treating terrorism as a risk can be approached with de-radicalization programs. I will explain how Indonesia can treat terrorism as a risk and not an existential threat like climate change and can be mitigated with soft-approach policies, and I will outline the dangers of the hard-approach undertaken by the Indonesian government. read more

Terrorism is often an act of violence, or threat to act, that is politically or religiously charged. A true worldwide definition of terrorism does not currently exist, yet there are specific characteristics that we can link to the concept. One of the struggles of understanding terrorism in academic debates stems from the lack of a solid definition. It has been argued by many scholars that such a definition cannot ever exist (Jackson et al. 2011). Difficulties scholars have agreeing on a definition of terrorism come from it being contextually determined, and definitions in this area can often include political bias. Over-generalized definitions are mostly what we have been left with around the world. Indonesia’s Anti-terrorism Law (ATL) of 2002, gives a description of terrorism. This law does not define terrorism in any strict sense but instead claims that the crime of terrorism can be any act that fulfils elements of the crime under this law. There are critical terms left undefined and therefore subjective to various interpretations, such as ‘widespread atmosphere of terror or fear’. Widespread is not defined to a radius, neither is fear define to a degree. The vague terms included in this description has been criticized for being applicable to various cases that may not involve terrorism (Butt, 2008). A lecturer at Murdoch University, Dr Ian Wilson (2020), argues that there are no terrorist organizations, there are only political groups that use terrorism as a tactic. This is important to understanding the link between terrorism and politics in Indonesia. The motives of these groups are politically charged and stem from a discomfort with Indonesian democracy. read more

Just like other part of the world, “Social science has been shaped by dynamic competition between academic and political power” argued by Prof. Jian-Bang Deng in our second book series (19/3/2021) entitled above.  Entitled “Social Science and Transformation of Society: An Observation from Sociology Development in Taiwan”, Prof. Deng – a professor of sociology in Tamkang University and a former visiting professor in the PSSAT/CESASS – identifies three stages in the development of sociology in Taiwan, and covers three main roles of sociology: sociology as a marginal science, sociology as a challenger to the state power, and sociology as a reflective science. read more

[SEA-TALK #37]

Book Discussion Series #1 on “Social Science in the Age of Transformation and Disruption: Its Relevance, Role and Challenge”

The first – from eleven – book discussion series on CESASS’ edited volume: “Social Science in the Age of Transformation and Disruption: its Relevance, Role and Challenge” was lively on Monday (1/1/2021). Prof. Dr. Hermin Indah Wahyuni, the director of Cesass opened the discussion. Strongly committed to revitalizing social science, she invited more engagement for social scientists now and in the future. The book is originated from an international symposium on social science organized by Cesass in 2018 (https://ugm.ac.id/id/agenda/431-international-symposium-on-social-science-2018). Consisting of eleven chapters from fourteen international authors, this first discussion was a tribute to the late Dr. Herry Priyono, SJ., who contributed his thought on: “Social Science and the Pedagogy of Transformation” (chapter 5). read more

SOCIAL SCIENCE IN THE AGE OF TRANSFORMATION AND DISRUPTION: Its Relevance, Role, and Challenge

Edited by Hermin Indah Wahyuni and Vissia Ita Yulianto

In soul and spirit, the social sciences seek not to take things for granted, but rather critically understand our social world both in theory and in practice. There are huge challenges ahead, as increasingly complex social issues are entangled with the most interdependent global society ever. Within this context, the social sciences must bring about a more just, equal, and inclusive society by conducting more grounded interdiscipilinary research in responding to the critical issues of our time. read more