This article observes the competition between two groups of technocrats in Indonesia during the New Order era that has hitherto afflicted national policy making. The first group is the engineers who advocate technology-based development strategy. The other group is the market-oriented economists who promote a comparative-advantages approach in development policies. The rivalry between these technocratic groups occurs in the arenas of policy-making process and bureaucratic structure. To explain how such a clash has emerged, this article offers a notion of disunity of technocracy to examine different logics, rationalities, and argumentations used by each group. It emphasizes that this confrontation is rooted in the epistemological foundations of technocratic expertise.

Link to Bulletin of Science, Technology, and Society

Australian observer of Indonesia Harold Crouch argues that the weak condition of the post-Soeharto state is mostly caused by the abrupt disappearance of patrimonial structures that heavily underpinned Soeharto's power for three decades. Once the regime fell down, the state institution underwent unprecedented destabilization that consequently led to deformation of authority structures running from the central government in Jakarta all the way down to local bureaucracy. read the whole article here

p.s.
it's good the jakpost didnt change my wording but too bad they cut two substantial paragrahps in the end. but if you want to read the whole article, just go here

that day, i was looking at my vitae on my newly designed homepage and then something struck me. i suddenly realized how terribly serious my research interests sound: nuclear, politics, nationalism,  social movments, development, and stuff like that. why dont i do something fun? the next day all i know is that i proposed a new project in line with the estalishment of a new research institute at ntu that deals with interactive digital media.

voila....i came up with a proposal to study game and entertainment sociologically. that is, the sociology of fun. today i did a laptop presentation to pitch my ideas and got intriguing responses from colleagues from other schools. some even invited me to join their research project. that's cool.

a new exploration has begun and it should be exciting.
because the sociology of fun is a fun sociology, right...   

Politics is founded upon -- according to Arendt and using Plato's concept -- vita active; the actual political experience of humankind. Arendt warned the treating of politics and democracy as mere tools could create a depoliticized situation. This was actually what Karl Marx achieved when he sought to create a classless society, which became bureaucratic authoritarianism as in other socialist-communist countries. Such a similar situation is still fresh in our collective memory, cast by our thirty-year experience with the New Order regime. During that period, Soeharto ruled our political lives by systematically depoliticizing public affairs from Jakarta all the way down to the village level across the entire country. The result was a prolonged political nightmare that we certainly do not want to repeat.

read the article here

"Budaya membaca dan menulis masyarakat Indonesia sekarang jauh menurun jika dibandingkan dengan masa penjajahan Belanda. Keadaan ini, antara lain, disebabkan oleh orientasi pembangunan pemerintah yang terlalu bersifat materialistis." Demikian disampaikan penyair Taufik Ismail di Kantor Habibie Center, Jakarta, Senin (3/12). Berkat usahanya menumbuhkan minat baca dan menulis di kalangan pelajar sejak beberapa tahun terakhir, tahun 2007 ini Taufik mendapat anugerah Habibie Award untuk bidang budaya.

taken from Budaya Baca dan Menulis Turun Drastis

cum'on pak taufik, where have you been? kids are reading and writing more and more these days. not on paper, but on the internet. so use your habibie money to get a macbook and get connected. you will see the world in a lot different way.

This is just a tentative concept, so that's all I have for now.

there appears a disconnect between technology policy and the public. The way the ministry determines technological choices is quite elitist so that people are marginalized in research decision-making and implementation. The so-called "socialization of technology" is one indication of this elitism. "Socialization" here means more about how to make people blindly accept technology than to shape technology according to social conditions. The nuclear project currently underway is an example of how the government attempts to persuade people to accept a technological choice the government has already made.

complete

image taken from here

Apa yang paling menyesakkan dada dari sebuah tragedi yang memakan biaya sosial ekonomi yang luar biasa? Jawabannya adalah jika tragedi tersebut dapat dihindari. Inilah yang sedang kita saksikan bersama dalam peristiwa blow out lumpur panas di Sidoarjo, Jawa Timur. Ratusan keluarga harus meninggalkan tempat tinggal mereka dalam keadaan yang sangat memprihatinkan. Mereka harus kehilangan sawah, ternak, dan barang berharga lainnya yang mungkin tidak seberapa tetapi sangat berarti bagi mereka. Kerusakan ekosistem yang mencapai titik irreversible menambah daftar ongkos yang harus ditanggung tidak hanya untuk hari ini, tetapi juga untuk jangka panjang ke depan.

Beberapa skenario telah dilakukan oleh pihak Lapindo dan pemerintah untuk menghentikan luapan lumpur panas tersebut, tetapi sampai hari ini hanya kegagalan yang menjadi cerita. Kemungkinan terburuk adalah menunggu luapan lumpur panas itu berhenti secara alamiah. Kapan itu terjadi, tidak ada yang bisa menjawab dengan pasti.

selengkapnya

Pada level tertentu, angka statistik dapat membantu kita dalam menentukan kebijakan publik. Tetapi, sejarah sains menunjukkan bahwa angka bukanlah tanpa masalah. Angka adalah representasi dari suatu realitas yang terbentuk dari pemaknaan suatu besaran yang didapat dari observasi empiris. Artinya, ada proses interpretasi realitas melalui perangkat simbolik yang digunakan untuk mengonstruksi sebuah "fakta". Secara etimologis, kata "fakta" atau "fact" merujuk pada sebuah kata Yunani yang berarti "membuat". Jadi, fakta bukanlah lahir dari sesuatu yang konkret dan objektif yang berada di luar pengamatan manusia, melainkan terbentuk dari proses imajinatif atas suatu realitas.

Konsekuensinya, fakta dan realitas adalah dua entitas yang berbeda. Jika realitas adalah objek yang diobservasi dan berada di luar imajinasi manusia, fakta berada di domain nalar manusia. Dengan demikian, angka sebagai simbolisasi dari fakta tidaklah menempel langsung pada realitas, melainkan terbentuk melalui mediasi proses nalar manusia yang subjektif dan penuh dengan bias sosial.

baca lengkap

Selama puluhan tahun, Amerika telah menghabiskan puluhan triliunan dolar AS untuk mengembangkan teknologi pembunuh massal yang tidak pernah terbayangkan sebelumnya. Lebih dari 60 persen belanja riset dihabiskan untuk sektor militer. Berbagai institusi riset dan universitas terkenal seperti MIT, Carnegie Mellon, dan Stanford ikut terlibat di dalamnya. Kesemuanya itu dilakukan bukan semata-mata untuk pertahanan dalam negeri, tetapi untuk tujuan politik dominasi yang dilakukan Amerika terhadap bangsa-bangsa lain. Tumbangnya rezim komunisme tidak mengurangi upaya Amerika menciptakan jenis senjata baru. Justru penciptaan teknologi pemusnah semakin intensif untuk mendukung legitimasi kekuatan politik Amerika di segala penjuru dunia.

baca lengkap

just another rewriting of my old thought on what we should do on our technoscience policy. since this is for republika, a habibie-oriented media, i gotta soften my critical tone.

enjoy it here.

ps. dont bother asking about the anime picture. i just came across it and wanted to pose it here.

suatu sore di ym
sulfikar: din, ipodku kamu pake ya
dinadarwis: gak tuh
sulfikar: lho, bukannya kamu bawa tadi pagi

10 menit sebelumnya:
gw dengan santai masukin semua pakaian kotor ke laundry box. termasuk training gw yg kemarin gw pake workout. gw cek kantung, kosong. biasanya ipod gw masukin disitu soalnya. udah deh langsung menuju laundry room sambil bersiul-siul.

kembali ke ym:
sulfikar: kalo begitu, ipod gw kemana ya
dinadarwis: kemarin kan abang pake workout. kali masih di celana.
sulfikar: oh my god.....!!!!!!

gw langsung kabur ke laundry room sambil berharap airnya belum penuh. begitu mesin gw buka, air udah menggenang walaupun belum tinggi. gw bongkar sana-sini dan akhirnya kutemukan juga celana training biru. gw cek kantungnya dengan lebih teliti. badan gw langsung lemes.....ipod spesial itu sudah basah kuyup dan kedinginan. kasihaaaan banget. gw langsung keringin pake baju dan bawa pulang ke rumah sambil berharap dia masih bisa diselamatkan.

setelah gw semprot pake dryer, gw konek ke komputer. yes...lampunya menyala. tapi gak lama. itune di notebook langsung error. lampu hijau di atas ipod itu kedip-kedip dan mati. innalillahi wainnailaihi rojiun.....ipod kesayangan gw telah pergi selama-lamanya.

ada tiga penjelasan kenapa ini bisa terjadi. pertama, penjelasan paling gampang, gw emang orangnya stupid dan ceroboh banget. kedua penjelasan metafisik dari dina. dia yakin kalo tragedi ini ada kaitannya dengan mesin cuci ajaib itu lho. kebetulan emang waktu tragedi ipod itu, gw lagi make mesin cuci itu. jadi kata dina, ya itulah harga yg harus dibayar setelah make mesin cuci itu secara gratis. artinya, ada semacam kekuatan mistik yang bekerja disitu.

nah gw sendiri punya penjelasan yang lebih "rasional", yakni emang sudah saatnya gw beralih ke ipod nano....hahahahahhahaha

yessssssss......capitalism is sweet indeed!!!!!!

Kandungan asam lambung Jaksa Agung Alberto Gonzales sedang meningkat drastis. Beberapa hari ini, dia harus mondar-mandir ke Capitoll Hill untuk membela keputusan Presiden Bush yang mengizinkan National Security Agency (NSA) menyadap pembicaraan telepon tanpa izin peradilan. Di depan Komite Peradilan Senat AS, Gonzales yang sangat setia dengan Bush itu berargumen bahwa penyadapan dilakukan demi keamanan nasional. Dalam situasi perang seperti sekarang, kata Gonzales, Presiden Bush membutuhkan otoritas yang lebih besar untuk mengambil tindakan-tindakan preventif tanpa kendala birokrasi.

Kasus penyadapan telepon (eavesdropping) pertama kali merebak ke publik setelah New York Times menurunkan laporan khusus pada Desember 2005. Laporan yang sempat tertunda setahun atas perintah pejabat NSA itu memaparkan bagaimana para agen NSA menyadap pembicaraan telepon warga Amerika. (baca lanjut)

Konsep negara dan masyarakat adalah produk sejarah Eropa. Institusi negara memperlakukan orang-orang yang berada di dalamnya pada situasi yang sepenuhnya berbeda dari situasi di rumah mereka, tempat mereka bisa menikmati privasi. Para pegawai pemerintah memiliki identitas ganda, yakni sebagai pelayan publik sekaligus sebagai penduduk (citizen). Dengan mekanisme ruang dan waktu dalam dunia sosial, kedua identitas itu tidak pernah bersinggungan. Dengan demikian, batas antara wilayah publik dan wilayah privat terjaga secara konsisten.

Ketika masyarakat pascakolonial mengadopsi institusi politik modern, batas antara negara dan masyarakat itu lalu menjadi semacam kategori imperialisme (imperialism of categories) yang diterapkan dalam masyarakat pascakolonial. Masalahnya, rasionalisasi birokrasi serta pemisahan wilayah publik dan privat di Eropa, seperti yang dijelaskan Max Weber, tidak dialami masyarakat pascakolonial. Implikasi dari benturan institusi politik modern dengan budaya lokal adalah kolapsnya batas antara negara dan masyarakat. Dalam hal itu, wilayah publik berbaur menjadi satu dengan wilayah privat di tangan kaum birokrat yang seharusnya menjadi pelayan publik. <selengkapnya>

gambar dari sini

gw angkat keranjang laundry yg udah disiapin dina sebelum berangkat tadi. dua kurcaci sedang teriak2 di depan tv yg sedang mati. nadya langsung minta kiss and hug waktu melihat gw membuka pintu apartemen, sesuatu yg selalu dia lakukan setiap kali gw keluar rumah. gw balas singkat, "i'll be back, just wanna go to do the laundry". nadya kembali teriak2 dengan adiva sambil membuat lukisan kecil di dinding dengan yoghurt.

[sejak pindah ke kompleks apartemen ini, kerjaan gw memang sedikit lebih berat. itu karena laundry room berada di gedung apartemen sebelah, bukan di lantai basement seperti di apartemen yang lama di troy. tapi gak papa kok, itung2 exercise. lagian jaraknya cuma beberapa meter]

begitu mendekati laundry room, tiba2 gw sadar kalo kunci laundry room ketinggalan di rumah. ah...sialan, pikir gw. tapi malas kembali lagi. lalu gw putusin buat terus jalan ke laundry room dgn harapan ada orang di sana.

benar. seorang laki-laki bule sedang sibuk memasukkan pakaian ke mesin cuci. ketukan kecil di pintu membuat dia rela meninggalkan kerjaannya untuk membuka pintu. langsung gw sapa, "thanks, i left my keys at home." "thats' alright", balasnya ramah.

lepas dari keramahannya, gw sedikit kesal dengan bule itu. kenapa? dia sedang menggunakan mesin cuci favorit gw. kok bisa ada mesin cuci favorit? ceritanya cukup panjang, but to make it short, one day i accidentally found that you dont need to put coins into the machine. it will work just by sliding in the coin box. sejak itu, gw gak pernah masukin koin lagi. lumayan, bisa hemat $1.25.

tapi setelah mikir2, ada perasaan gak enak juga sama laki2 itu karena dia udah baik membukakan pintu. gw lihat dia sepertinya tidak tahu kalo dia bisa hemat 5 quarters. muncul keinginan gw untuk bilang, "eh mas....mau tau rahasia nggak? sebenarnya mesin itu tanpa koin bakal jalan kok". kata2 itu sudah di kerongkongangku siap untuk keluar, tapi kemudian tertahan dengan suatu pikiran begini:

kalo dia sampai tahu rahasia itu, gw gak bisa jamin dia bakal simpan rahasia itu sendiri. jangan2 dia akan bilang ke orang lain dan bisa2 satu kompleks apartemen tahu. kalo semuanya udah tahu, landlord bakal curiga, kok listrik mesin itu jalan terus tapi koinnya cuma secuil. kalo udah begitu, pasti sang landlord bakal memperbaiki mesin itu atau menggantinya dengan yg baru. walah.....walah....walah....gw gak bisa menikmati lagi fasilitas gratis itu dong. akhirnya gw putusin dalam hati, "mas....bukan rejeki elo mas."

gw keluar laundry room dengan senyum puas. walopun kali ini fasilitas itu tidak gw nikmati, satu lagi pilihan hidup gw ambil dengan brilian. never never share your secret to people......ha ha ha ha

some people would think that having those three letters after their names would be very cool. yes, PhD it is. but let's talk about the reality of so much pain you have to suffer through just to make your name a bit longer to decipher (supposing you're getting a phd in a normal way, not "abnormal" one from those cheap degree-selling non-accredited institutions like many of Indonesian "respected" elites do for the sake of their political power).

there are a number of ways to get a phd depending on where you study (by this i mean what country). but let me just focus on american system with which i am familiar.

basically, there are three main stages those eager to get a phd have to deal with. first of all of course is how to get into a program. this involves taking headache-giving exams i.e. gre, toefl, etc, a bunch of recommendations, and so many others. remember, apply to only one school is not a wise strategy. the more the better. this means more money would be spent (application fee is usually around $40 to$60) that could make you practically broke.

if you're lucky, you will be accepted by one or two schools. but this doesn't mean your problem is over. in fact, it just gets started. most grad schools in america would provide phd students with financial aids in forms of teaching or research assistantships. if you're really brilliant like me (no way...just kidding), you could get a fellowship (too bad I enjoyed such privelege only in my last semester) which doesnt require you to teach or work. (wow....what a life that would be). so no need to worry much about how you're gonna fund yourself. as long as you get into a program in a good university, they will give you money. of course you need to maintain your academic performances. some schools require at least a GPA of 3.80 for their students to stay in the program.

ok now, let's talk about what you're gonna encounter during phd years. this is the second stage, which is how to struggle in the program. basically, the phd curriculum of most american universities consists of three steps: coursework, qualifying exam, dissertation. coursework is absouletly a painstaking process. you gotta take courses as many as a master's degree students have to take. the hours vary across schools. my school requires 30 credits, some may require more while others less. the bottomline is that it takes you at least two years to finish that coursework. and during that period of time you will be loaded with tons of papers, readings, discussions, not to mention gradings or lab reports if you're an TA or an RA. i remember i got a severe headache in early weeks of my phd program due to hundreds of pages i had to read every week.

assuming you survived the coursework, it's time to take qualifying exam. again, this exam varies across schools. the goal is to test your mastery of your field. some schools do the exam by giving examinees 4-8 questions that must be answered in 8 hours straight. in my dept, the exam is undertaken within one week in which students pick four questions out of eigth each of which is answered in ten pages. so the result is 40-page paper that you must defend orally within 2 or 3 weeks afterward. again if you're lucky, you will pass the exam and may continue to the next step. otherwise, you must retake the exam and if you fail again, i am so sorry to tell you that you will be kicked out from the program....:)

now take a deep breath and let it out.......i'm not finished yet. this time we go to the most important part: dissertation. some students are so idealist thinking that they're gonna produce a high quality of work for their dissertation. and then what happen..they end up staying in the program for.....ever. to avoid this unnecessary situation, i would suggest you to take a realistic and pragmatic view. doesn mean that this justifies low quality work. not at all. what i mean is that you should work on a topic that you have access to data and have been familiar with. dont do something that makes you start from scratch. that's a suicide. do something that you think you're competent to talk about it and have prior knowledge. of course it should be something you're fond of, otherwise your dissertation would become pain in the ass. it's better to start thinking your dissertation topic during first or second year. during that time you can also start collecting secondary data and relevant literature.

the only gratifying part in phd program is that when you're conferred an ABD. this acronym is only known in american schools, standing for All But Dissertation, a nickname of PhD candidate. Unlike in japan, australia, or europe where you're granted phd candidacy once accepted, you will get this status after defending your dissertation proposal. so be patient.

if you're really brilliant like her, you could finish up your dissertation in two years. well, some people do less than that but that depends on your field. if you're in social science, finishing your dissertation in two years is considered quite outstanding. i know some people did that in 5 to 7 years. what a waste...!!!

after completing all administrative requirements and dissertation, you're ready to defend your masterpiece before a group of mean examiners and curious audience. this is really daunting. but dont worry, once you pass the proposal defense you're practically a phd minus dissertation. so just be cool in your defense. usually it takes 2-3 hours for a defense to take place. and again, if you're lucky you will pass through this needle hole with one big saying:
"CONGRATULATIONS Doctor Fulan...."

But the pride only lasts one week. After that you have to deal with a big question: do you have a job? if yes, is it worth it with your phd? and many other questions that make your post-phd times full of anxiety. and this is the last stage inevitably you have to deal with.

still interested in phd...??

(animation from phdcomics.com)

Dengan prinsip oportunis pragmatisme itu juga, Golkar mentransformasi diri menjadi partai politik ketika rezim Orde Baru tumbang. Akbar Tandjung mengklaim Partai Golkar telah memutus hubungan sejarah dengan masa lalu. Itu adalah ilusi. Seperti penyulap David Copperfield yang menghilangkan tugu Monas dalam sekejap, Partai Golkar menghilangkan masa lalunya dengan begitu mudah. Kita tahu, ilusi bukanlah realitas.

Partai Golkar memang mampu meraih jumlah suara signifikan dalam pemilu kemarin. Tetapi, kemenangan itu bukan karena kesadaran demokrasi di masyarakat. Melainkan karena peninggalan infrastruktur politik Orde Baru yang masih dinikmati Partai Golkar. Juga karena amnesia sejarah di masyarakat yang tak mampu mengingat masa kelam ketika Golkar berkuasa.

selengkapnya

Lack of infrastructure and poor coordination among government agencies are hindrances to any effort to prepare for a bird flu outbreak. But more disturbing is that Indonesian politics could become a bottleneck to initiatives to combat bird flu. The current political constellation makes it doubtful Indonesia would be able to come up with a plan in case of a bird flu pandemic.

The political obstacles appear both in the executive and the legislative. The former results from the fact that the United Indonesia Cabinet is a product of political negotiations among a few political parties. The competition among the parties in the Cabinet could obstruct interdepartmental coordination which is essential to the handling of bird flu issues. (read the whole story)