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Beyond Predatory Productivism?: The Political Economy of Welfare Capitalism in Post-New Order Indonesia

  • Asia Review
  • Abbr : SNUACAR
  • 2016, 5(2), pp.157~184
  • Publisher : 아시아연구소
  • Research Area : Social Science > Social Science in general

Andrew Rosser 1 Maryke van Diermen 1

1University of Adelaide

Candidate

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the evolution of welfare capitalism in Indonesia inrecent decades and the political dynamics that have shaped this processby using an analytical framework that understands the nature of welfarecapitalism in terms of contestation between competing political and socialforces and the balance of power between them. During the New Orderperiod, Indonesia developed a form of welfare capitalism that was bothproductivist and predatory in nature and this has continued into the post-New Order period. We argue that this outcome reflects the continued political dominance ofpredatory military and bureaucratic officials, domestic and foreign businessgroups, liberal economic technocrats, and controllers of mobile capitalthroughout the New Order and post-New Order periods. Democraticdecentralization following the fall of the New Order has created anelectoral incentive for political leaders to introduce pro-poor socialpolicies while opening up spaces for the poor and their allies in the NGOmovement to push for such measures as well. But the ruling coalitionhas retained sufficient political strength to ensure that the government’s social policy initiatives remain limited, focused on areas that contributeto economic growth, and/or subject to capture by predatory networks. Accordingly, we suggest that welfare capitalism in Indonesia has remained essentially productivist and predatory in nature, as it was under the NewOrder, even as the introduction of several new social programmes hasserved to give it progressive features.

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