Research-Based Democracy Promotion
May 3, 2008
Olle Törnquist Professor of Political Science and Development Research, University of Oslo
Learning from an Indonesian Pilot Programme with Demos, in co-operation with UGM and UiO (The Indonesian Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies and the Universities of Gadjah Mada and Oslo respectively).
Special report commissioned by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) with the Norwegian Embassy to Indonesia.
First edition dated March 8, 2008
PREFACE
By the early mid-90s, my comparative research on Indonesia (and India and the Philippines) on popular based politics and democracy proceeded beyond concerned academic scholarship to also include the design and direction of research-based democracy promotion. The background to this was that critical actors in the movement against the Soeharto regime had asked Professor Arief Budiman and myself to produce a study in co-operation with colleagues and committed students on the role of various possible actors in democratisation based on human rights and civil society.
Before we could begin however, Arief and a number of his colleagues were dismissed from their academic positions and the students lost direction. Around the same time, the regime also clamped down on moves towards more independent and investigative journalism. These conditions called for the development of alternative strategies.
Thanks to the trust of and support from hard pressed democracy campaigners - as well as remarkable trust and financial support from first Swedish Sida and then Norwegian NORAD (and later on the Ford Foundation too, amongst others) - it was possible to initiate independent efforts in the albeit infamously poorly organised but nevertheless dynamic human rights and alternative media organisations to promote democracy by way of strictly applied academic research.
This combination of disciplined research and democracy promotion has been challenging and difficult at times, yet undeniably fruitful and exciting. If I was to write my memoirs, a vital section might well be called ‘Quarrelling with Indonesian Democrats’. Quarrelling over everything from missed deadlines to poorly applied concepts as well as lost opportunities to build a broad educational movement. Yet, while this is all true, the remarkable thing is that we kept on quarrelling. Bonds were strengthened, not broken, enabling us to continue this next to impossible and often frustrating task because we understood just how meaningful and important it is - and because giving up is not an option.
This report covers the period from 2002 on only, when Demos was formed. First of all, warm thanks to Helena Bjuremalm at Sida, who stated form the very beginning that a report was a ‘must’, for donors, scholars and activists alike - to learn from and to find ways of going ahead. While this was encouraging, writing has, in parts, been painful. Trying one’s best to apply stringent academic standards in reviewing one’s own work, experiences - and dreams - is inevitably painful, but also revealing.
Literally hundreds of colleagues and friends who have participated in the work of Demos and its partners have helped me to recall, review and understand the pros and cons of what we have done and continue to do. It would be impossible to list everyone here. It would take several pages and I would inevitably leave someone off the list. Let me just say, that I remain moved by the trust that have been vested in this endeavour and thank you sincerely for all the time that you have spent trying to make me understand. I hope that the report will be useful.
Of course everyone involved in the Demos team and organisation has been supportive and had a crucial part to play. The same applies to the democracy consortium at the Gajah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta and all the concerned colleagues in academia involved in the previous international network for the study of contextual politics in developing countries (CPD), many of whom are now continuing our joint efforts in new forms.
Most important of all however have been the discussion with activists on the ground who have and are contributing to, improving upon and making use of the results of the Demos research from around the country during 2006 and 2007 - from Banda Aceh in the west to Tual in the east, and from Kupang in the south to Kotabaru (in Kalimantan) and Poso in the north. And special thanks to Nusya for making those discussions possible; thanks to Birgitta for asking about all those things that I don’t see anymore, because I have become too used to them; and thanks to Teresa for reading and correcting with patience and qualified understanding of the substance.
Maybe the most difficult process ahead of us now (with the help of the donors) is to find a way of returning to academia with those parts of the research that belongs there (but which we had to handle ‘underground’ during the Soeharto regime) - without losing the absolutely vital co-operation between the experienced democracy activists on the ground and the collaborative work with campaigners in refining the results and facilitating the implementation of the recommendations. And then, of course, we must finally get down to really facilitate the broader research based educational movement that we have both kept talking about but also postponed, because of constant emergencies and deadlines. Finally, on the day of concluding this first edition of the report, it may be appropriate to recall the crucial importance of more women engagement in these efforts - c.f. the relevant sections on pages 73f, 78 and 142 in particular.
Kungshamn, March 8, 2008
Olle Törnquist
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Full report Executive summary Appendix
