A Letter to Carmelita

Nikolaus Loy

Oleh Nikolaus Loy

Dear Carmelita,
          Your letter has provoked me to consider carefully what I was learning some years ago. At that time, I agreed partially with your opinion about the benefits of globalisation. However, in order to make a fair judgement, firstly and foremost we has to understand the object and abstract concepts that symbolize the object. In my opinion, globalisation has two conceptual and factual dimensions:. As a concept, ‘globalisation’ is a fuzzy concept.
          Different experts propose different meanings of globalisation. I simply define globalisation as a process that unifies different parts of the world into a global system. This fuzzy concept represents cross national boundaries unification of different aspects of human life. It refers to the trans-national integration of economic, culture, information, social movement and migration.

               Your definition of globalisation covers merely on economic aspect characterized by the downsizing of state role and the adoption of export strategy as key factors. It seems that you are a true believer of the benefits of globalisation. In one hand, I share some of your opinions about the positive effects of economic globalisation such as low information and transportation costs that foster the movement of capital, managerial skills and human resources across geographic boundaries. Economic integration as a key process of globalisation increases economic welfare of some countries in the Asia-Pacific Regions. In other hand, I tend to say that this is a rough generalisation about the effect of globalisation.
Suppose you were watching New York from the 123th floor of the late empire state building. From the tower you might see all high and magnificent buildings that constitute the landscape of New York. It is a glorious picture of a wealthy city in the heart of world capitalist system. If you follow the streets in the city, you will find that the beautiful landscape also contains some gloomy parts in the form of petty traders, criminals, homeless urban dwellers, street prostitutes; all you can not see from the tower.
Do you understand what I mean? If you follow ‘streets’ of countries in the peripheral region of Asia- Pacific region, you will find the fact that globalisation has different faces in different countries, in different places, in social classes and gender in a country.The first face of economic globalisation is selective integration. It integrates certain places that are beneficial for capital accumulation and excludes other places. Global corporations, for which your company provides guarantee, are the prime mover of foreign direct investments in the Asia Pacific region. Their economic tentacles are touching different places in Indonesia, China and Thailand. However, their tentacles only touch the places where there are abundant natural resources or economic facilities. In Indonesia their operations are concentrated in some bounded zones in Java and Sumatra. The free market as the basic mechanism of globalisation does not evenly distribute welfare to whole places and regions.     

            The second face of globalisation manifests in the increasing competition between countries and between places in a country. Since private investments prefer to come to countries or places in a country that provide incentives, economic globalisation intensifies competition among countries and places. To attract more investments. countries in the region are forced to adopt some economic policies that are contrary to the interest of most part of their population. Regardless to their level of development and the ability to compete, governments in the regions have to adopt liberal economic policies by cutting social expenditures and launching privatisation. In Indonesia, these have caused the long social and political destabilization. I believe that the increasing radical movement in Indonesia is partially caused by the fact that there are too many young unemployed people. Moreover, the need to attract investments also reinforces the competition among places. In Indonesia, the downsizing of state role forces local government to find alternative sources of revenue. They are trying to increase private investment by providing facilities and open their regions to foreign capital. The impact is catastrophic. In Riau, uncontrolled investments in mining, logging and plantation have caused environmental degradation and the destruction of social and cultural heritages of indigenous communities in the region.

                  I see the third face of globalisation in the contrasting picture of cities in the region, in class and rural urban inequalities. You may know a city named Jakarta. You do remember the city since UBS had to pay much money to cover assets of some American companies lost in the big riot from 14 to 15 may 1997. Do you also remember Friedman’s world city hypothesis? As Friedman said, the economic shapes the development of cities. Jakarta is located in heart of tropic region; most days are warm and sunny; its people live in big families and their communal sense is very strong. However, if you look at the style of building along Sudirman and Thamrin, two main streets in Jakarta, you will find a colony of glass and iron boxes. The buildings represent the style western modern architecture that is individualistic in character and emphasize efficiency of material and spaces. Why should Jakarta imitate New York? The reason behind the imitation is a dream and an interest to play a role as a centre of financial market and trade in the Southeast Asia Region.
              Moreover, Jakarta is competing with Kualalumpur and Manila in attracting foreign companies. A huge amount funds have been allocated to build city infrastructure. As an impact, foreign investment comes to Jakarta, but at the same time thousand of poor people from rural areas in and out of Java invade the city through a process of desa-kota migration. The impact is that the growth of squatter settlement, the shortage of public facilities, traffic congestion and the worst is the deterioration of environmental quality. I tend to say that Jakarta is not a city, it is a big village with some high buildings as landmarks. Why? There is no fixed border between urban areas and rural areas around Jakarta. Technically saying it is an extended metropolitan region (EMR). Ironically, while Jakarta transforms itself as an EMR, the city planners, most of them graduated from United States, remain believe the conventional principles of city planning in which a city usually has a fixed border. The complexity of problems may hinder the fulfilment of Jakarta’s dream to be a global city.
           Fourth face of globalisation is a gendered face. One key factor in the economic success of countries in Asia-pacific Region, particularly in East and Southeast Asia is the ability to exploit their comparative advantage in labor cost. The majority of labors is low paid women. You may be wearing your favourite blue jeans, Lea or a pair of Nike. How much you buy them. Do you know that Your Nike and Lea were woven by thousand nimble fingers in Tangerang, an industrial park near Jakarta?. The owners of fingers are ‘factory daughters’ who are paid only about US$ 2 for a full day work.
I should stop my discussion of globalisation. However, there is one question left. What are the alternative thoughts and strategies to deal with development and environment in the region? The different impacts of globalisation in the region are caused by the fact that the global economic processes have worked trough different social, cultural, political and geographic contexts of the countries in the region. Therefore, any efforts to deal with development and environment in the region must take into account the social, cultural and political context. Firstly, at regional level, development cooperation is institutionalised in the form of a reinvented region. This is a region that share the same cultural character. Most regions that share the same cultural character generally existed as a part of a political and geographic community in history. The SIJORI growth triangle is one of reinvented regionalism. Secondly, development process at local level must involve the local people and their needs. 

             Therefore, development planning and environmental management must be built on the participatory model. This model provides a possibility to incorporate local values and interests into development planning. In relation to environmental management, the indigenous tribes in Riau have their own system that guarantee the environmental sustainability. The collective ownership and the selective cultivation of forest among Petalangan tribe in Riau secure two things: (a) economic values of forests and (b) the preservation of forest to keep natural biodiversities for the interest of next generation. Therefore, local wisdoms (values and traditions) in managing nature, in my view, are not in conflict with commercial interest of modern firms.
             Carmelita….Studying globalisation has widened my perspective about how global processes determine local dynamics of social, political and culture life. It gives a new way of understanding the study of international relations by focusing more on non-state relations and it impacts on localities. I want to end my letter by quoting an old Chinese proverb, countries in the economic globalisation like ‘two people who are sleeping in the same bed but have different dreams in their heads’.

Melbourne, 2010

Photo : koleksi pribadi