Militaristic Discourse in Secondary Education History Textbooks during and after the Soeharto Era

Abstract

This study examines the year-to-year development of militaristic discourse in Indonesian secondary education history textbooks since 1975. Historical descriptions written since the fall of Soeharto’s military regime and its replacement by a civilian government in 1998 tend to emphasize Indonesia’s military history and pay little attention to its civilian leadership. To what degree did political change influence the production of historical discourse in recent textbooks in Indonesia? This article attempts to answer this question by applying Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to textual sources, in order to expose their historical and socio-cultural dimensions. The results show that in the post-Soeharto era, militaristic perspectives continue to dominate discourse production in history textbooks, denying the role of civilian leadership. This glorification of the military demonstrates that the Indonesian army continues to influence the country’s history textbook production in the modern era.

The Intertwining of Educational Dualism in post-New Order Indonesia

“…Yet, as Jackson and Parker note (2008), "…modernity poses huge complex questions about authority and truth, about sources of knowledge, the role of divinity and faith, political legitimacy, the proper relations of the state and religion and how education mediates these two realms" (p. 46). (Purwanta, 2017). Another study highlights that attempts have been made to change the representations of the past in selected national events (Suwignyo, 2014) to diverge readers attention from the responsibility of the New Order regime pertaining to the mass killing in 1960s.…”

Peran Operasi Militer Dalam Mendukung Upaya Diplomasi dalam Pembebasan Irian Barat

“…Perjanjian Linggar Jati disepakati sebagai suatu perjanjian untuk mengatasi sengketa antara pihak Belanda dan Indonesia yang ditetapkan pada tanggal 15 November 1946. Saat itu pemerintah Belanda sudah terlihat gelagat yang mencurigakan dengan menjajaki berbagai kemungkinan untuk menguasai wilayah Irian Barat terlepas dari wilayah Indonesia (Purwanta, 2017). Pada tanggal 10 Desember 1946, Menteri Jonkmann menyampaikan sikap pemerintah Belanda kepada seluruh anggota parlemen Belanda untuk memasukan klausal tambahan dalam pasal 3 dan 4 perjanjian Linggar Jati tersebut.…”

Untitled

“…It is because, as mentioned by Carretero (2011) andBentrovato, Korostelina, andSchulze (2016), the shadows of historical conflicts still useful for contemporary collective struggles such as for nationalism, radicalism, separatism, or even terrorism. The contestation and negotiation mostly locate the question about the role of history textbooks, whether the history textbook serves as a material for strengthening integration and supporting social justice inside of a nation or it is merely used to legitimate the political regime and violence (Purwanta, 2017).…”