Emergence of human rights activities in authoritarian Indonesia [electronic resource] : the rise of civil society / by Takeshi Kohno.

• Abstract: My dissertation focuses on the activities of the human rights organization LBH (Lembaga Bantuan Hukum, the Legal Aid Institute) in Indonesia as a case study to assess its role in the rise of civil society, and possibly democratization. I argue that the academic foci on democratization so far have been upon, in general, the importance of large macro-structures and political elites. Although the macro-level variables and political elites are important, there are critical links between the macro-level variables and micro-level variables, which have been left unexamined. In this dissertation, I propose a new approach to understanding the property and the dynamic workings of civil society by examining the state-society relations in authoritarian Indonesia between 1990 and 1998. I first examine both conservative and reformist elites in the Indonesian government, and how they find themselves in conflict, which creates a split within the state. Second, I argue that the split which took place in the Indonesian government has been occupied by the activities of LBH, both institutionally through the court system and functionally through personal networking. Once the penetration of human rights organizations into the state is successful, the state is no longer the same as the pre-penetration state and this new condition of the state sets an arena for another round of conflict between reformists and conservatives within the state. Through this series of conflict-driven cycles of change, the state and the society interact with each other, thereby creating and enlarging a relatively autonomous civil society. I endorse the view that human rights organizations and their activities are an important part of the development and maintenance of civil society, thus it is a vital element for democratic capacity and the possibility for democratization. I advocate the view that nonviolent actions, which are generated through social movements, provide a political arena in which democratic principles can be sustained and people are encouraged in an orderly fashion to move toward democracy. 

Ämnesord

Democratization  -- Indonesia. (LCSH)

Civil rights  -- Indonesia. (LCSH)

Indonesia  -- Politics and government -- 1966-1998. (LCSH)

Institutionsnamn

Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (Jakarta, Indonesia)