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Social Studies How Austronesian define and organize ethnicity

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Lannie avatar
Posts: 806
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(@meleona)
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Joined: 5 years ago

INTRODUCTION

This post will attempt to explain the differences in how Filipinos and Indonesians see ethnicity and the nature of the two societies. A couple of years ago I did some posts on the Philippines and Indonesia like TL: DR Reasons for the failure of the Philippines’s foreign policy,

The post will be organized as follows

  1. LATITUDINAL VS LONGITUDINAL ARCHIPELAGIC STATE

  2. AUSTRONESIAN CORE

    1. ETHNICITY AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT

  3. ETHNO-CULTURAL DIAGRAM

  4. RELIGIOUS-CULTURAL LAYERS

  5. MULTIPLE SOCIETIES VS MAINSTREAM FILIPINO SOCIETY

  6. HIGHLAND AND LOWLAND SOCIETIES

  7. BLOOD, LOCATION, AND CULTURE

Many, like Samuel Huntington's in his book Clash of Civilization (1996) label Indonesia as Islamic, and the Philippines as Western, but beyond these simple labels, people are left hanging. Little is done to describe the structure of the societies, how ethnic groups and religious minorities are organized. The four takeaways from this post are:

  • Indonesia is a longitudinal archipelagic state-aligned by trade and a shared lingua franca. The Philippines is a latitudinal archipelagic state orientated loosely by trade with China, and later on, shared religion.

  • In Maritime Southeast Asia, there are cultural layers, such as Sanskritization, Islam, and Christianity.

  • The Indonesian state believes Indonesia consists of multiple societies. While most Filipinos and the Philippines state assume there is mainstream Filipino society.

  • The Indonesian state defines ethnicity by blood and keeps detailed records of regions' ethnic composition. The Philippines' state doesn't keep such data.

This post will be the beginning of a series of posts I will do about Indonesia and the Philippines. The purpose of this particular post is to provide a very rough framework for looking at ethnicity, culture, and religion in Indonesia and the Philippines. I won't get into the "why", that will be for subsequent posts.

I decided to do this post, because Indonesia's importance to the Philippines is understated, and its importance will increase markedly after Indonesia moves its capital to Borneo. Secondly, in the past, their economies were remarkedly similar, because of their volcanic geologies. Indonesia and the Philippines were once sugar plantation economies. When their sugar exports collapsed, in the 1930s for Indonesia and the 1970s for the Philippines, it took 20-30 years for their economies to realign and recover. Lastly, Filipino academics and the media when talking about Indonesia don't provide context or background information, and if they do so from a Western viewpoint.

FOOTNOTES

LONGITUDINAL VS LATITUDINAL ARCHIPELAGIC STATE

Indonesia is a longitudinal thalassocracy like the Hanseatic League, united by trade that rides east-west trade wind. In the Malay archipelago, there are migratory trading communities, the most notable being the Malays and the Minang in Western Indonesia and Bugis in Eastern Indonesia. Starting from the 13th century, the Chinese would permanently settle in the North Coast of Java, and later on the rest of Indonesia, creating another network.[1]

 

r/Philippines - How Indonesia and the Philippines' Define and Organize Ethnicity

Members of these societies become migratory traders in part because of geography, war, and culture. For the Malays, their location in the Strait of Malacca and the poor soil of their homeland (lack of volcano) caused them to specialize, meaning they traded goods from China/India in exchange for foodstuffs (rice), most notably from Java. Malay entities like Sriwijaya, Malacca Sultanate, and today's Malaysia almost always ran rice deficits, which they would make up by trading. [2]

Another defining characteristic of a longitudinal thalassocracy in the development of a trading lingua franca. For the Hanseatic League, it was Middle Low German (MLG) and in the Malay archipelago, it was Malay. [3] In Indonesia, the influence of Malay was established even before it was adopted as Indonesia's national language. Malay creoles are spoken as the main language in many port cities from Jakarta to the Papuan Bird's Head. [4] Like their forefathers and the Hanseatic League with MLG, the Europeans in the VOC (Dutch East Indies Company) used Malay as the language of administration at the lower levels of their bureaucracy. Many languages in Indonesia have words adopted from Malay, just like many Scandinavian and Baltic languages have words adopted from MLG.

The Dutch colonial and the Indonesian government accelerated inter-island trade, use of Malay, and migration.

PHILIPPINES: LONGITUDINAL VS LATITUDINAL

On a map, the Philippines is orientated from north to south like Japan and the UK. However, unlike Britain and Japan, the Philippines' geography doesn't naturally favor north-south integration. Philippines trade winds run from Southwest and Northeast.[5] It's these trade winds that made Brunei the main point of contact with other civilizations in what is now Malaysia and Indonesia. The strongest currents run northeast as the Pacific Ocean merges with the shallow waters of the West Philippines Seas.

 

r/Philippines - How Indonesia and the Philippines' Define and Organize Ethnicity

While natives of the Philippines traded in a North-South direction, it rose significantly with the rise of trade with China. Chinese traders start to visit the Philippines on their ships starting from the 11th --12th century and made Manila its primary hub, where their goods would be redistributed by Chinese / Tagalog traders sailing southward.[6] When the Spanish arrived, they captured Manila and made it their capital. They strengthened this north-south axis through the Manila Galleon system. Their bans on other European ships arriving in the Philippines and their wars with the Moros cut trade with the rest of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, further cementing Chinese dominance.

AUSTRONESIAN CORE

When talking about ethnicity in Southeast Asia it's really about language and culture. Roughly 99% of Filipinos speak an Austronesian language and 98% of Indonesians do. While most Filipino are mixed Austronesian and Negrito stock, most Indonesians are part Austronesian-Austroasiatic (Western Indonesian) or Austronesian-Melanesian (Eastern Indonesian). [7]

 

r/Philippines - How Indonesia and the Philippines' Define and Organize Ethnicity

However, unlike in Malaysia with some Orang Asli groups speaking Austroasiatic languages, there are only linguistic and cultural fragments of the Austroasiatic influence in some ethnic groups in Indonesia and the Southern Philippines.[8] Similarly the Negrito in the Philippines have been Austronesized linguistically, with unique vocabulary ranging from 5-23%, that could represent lexical remnants from the pre-Austronesian languages.

Anthropologists use linguistics to define which groups are Austronesian rather than genetics. Besides linguistics, here are several dominant Austronesian cultural and sociological traits

  • Austronesians is predominately an island people, with only a few groups, most notably the Cham located in Mainland Asia.[9]

  • Most Austronesian societies are either coastal fishing-trading or farming societies. 90% of Austronesians worldwide live on volcanic islands.

  • Like most Southeast Asia linguistic groups, they have a mix of patrilocal and matrilocal residency customs, Whereas China, which these groups originate from, become predominantly patrilocal after the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD).[10]

  • The invention and use of the outrigger, either the double, single, or catamaran.[11]

  • Use of Salem or Mano is used across Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

ETHNICITY AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT

To understand ethnicity in Maritime Southeast Asia, one needs to understand the different anthropological approaches to ethnic identity. There are 6-7 different approaches, I am going to focus on three. The first is primordialism, which views ethnicity as fixed. While most anthropologists don't subscribe to this, some believe, like Clifford Geertz, that communities see ethnicity as fixed. [12]

The second approach is social constructivism, which focuses on the social nature of ethnic identity. Ethnic identity is created by social interactions between individuals and groups and is subject to change if the social conditions change. An example is the Toraja people native to the mountains of Southwest Sulawesi, Indonesia. Before the 20th century, the Toraja had no notion of themselves as a distinct ethnic group. The term Toraja was given by the lowland Bugis and means people of the uplands. In the 1920s, the colonial government recognized them as an ethnic group and demarcated their land as Tanah Toraja, the land of the Torajas.[13]

The last approach is instrumentalist, which understands ethnicity as a device used by individuals and groups to unify, organize, and mobilize populations to achieve larger goals. The term Igorot (Igolot) is derived from Tagalog meaning people from the mountain. In the past, most Igorot didn't use the term to refer to themselves, and many considered it derogatory. However, the younger generation uses this term as a means of self-identity/.[14]

ETHNO-CULTURAL DIAGRAM

Here is an ethnocultural diagram showing how ethnicity is organized in both countries, and interaction with external cultural forces.

r/Philippines - How Indonesia and the Philippines' Define and Organize Ethnicity

Here are some elaborations regarding the chart.

  1. This diagram is illustrative, so not all the ethnic groups are listed.

  2. The degree of Sanksrtization for groups that were formerly / weakly Sankritizated-Indianized. Most groups adopted Indian scripts, wedding customs, religious practices, etc. Low-land Filipinos like Visayas and Tagalog were once much more Sanrkitized than Bugis or Batak.

  3. The large rectangle or circle with smaller circles within them is to denote ethnic groups (like the Moro and Batak) that have been categorized by the government(s) or anthropologists as sharing similar culture, religion, and/or language.

  4. Moro refers to the 13 Islamized ethnolinguistic groups of Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan, native to the region known as the Bangsamoro. [15]

  5. Indigenous (or Highland) Filipinos refer to "indigenous" Filipinos who are ethnolinguistic groups that maintained partial isolation, or independence, throughout the Spanish era.[16}

  6. Percentage (%) shown in the Indonesian diagram, denotes the ethnic groups share of the population.[17]

  7. The dates like 1870-90s for Batak for example are to indicate when this majority of the ethnic group converted to Christianity / Islam.

The Sanskrtization layer in Indonesia has political ramifications. Even though the Javanese are predominately Muslim and Balinese are predominately Hindu, they vote for the same political parties.

Here is a map showing the distribution of religion in Maritime Southeast Asia. [18]

 

r/Philippines - How Indonesia and the Philippines' Define and Organize Ethnicity

DIFFERENT CULTURAL "LAYERS"

When talking about external influences in Maritime Southeast Asia one should imagine people and societies with an Austronesian / Melanesian cultural "core", and with later influences, whether Austronesian, Indic, Islam, and Christianity as "layers" that interact with the core and each other. This approach was used in Australia National University (ANU) Comparative Austronesian Series., were they all about Sanskritization, Islam, and Christianity, [19]

I am going to focus on three external cultural layers - Sanskritization-Indianization, Islam, and Christianity by illustrating how the layers impact the cultures of various groups as shown in the table below.

  JAVANESE TORAJA MARANAO TAGALOG
Population 97 Million 1.1 Million 1.3 Million 30 Million
Location Java, Indonesia SW Sulawesi Mindanao Luzon
Religion 96% Muslim, 3% Christian, 1% Hinduism, Buddhism and Kejawen 86% Christian, 8% Islam, 6% Hindu-Alukta* Predominantly Muslim Predominately Christian
Stratification Very Hierarchical Hierarchical Hierarchical Hierarchical
Religious and Cultural Worldview Dharmic-Abrahamic Animist - Christian Islamic Christian
Calendar System Javanese Calendar (Islamic-Saka), Pawukon (Indigenous- Hindu) Islamic, Gregorian, Saka Gregorian Calendar Islamic Calendar Gregorian Calendar
Writing Script Brahmi, Latin, Arabic Latin (only introduced in the 1920s) Arabic Latin, Brahmi
Names Sanskrit, Native, Arabic, Western Western, Native Native, Arabic Western, Native
Naming Conventions Mixed Surnames Surnames Surnames
Marriage Rites Religious and/or Indic-Native Religious and/or Native Religious and Native Religious-Western
Death Rites Burial or Cremation, Native Ritual Burial or Cultural Burial, Native Ritual Burial Burial
Mythology Indic-Native Native Native Native-Indic
Historical Highpoint Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit 1293-1517 N/A Lanao Sultanate N/A

NOTE: The reason Sankirtization-Indianization is used, instead of Hindu, is because the term Hindu originally was used to describe the Indus River. Then around the 15th century, it was used by some Indians to differentiate themselves and Muslims. Until 19the century, no "Hindus" in South Asia or Southeast Asia would describe the beliefs they were following as Hindu, but by the diety, they were worshipping ie Shiva, etc.

I have done a brief clarification of some of the categories.

Religion: Kejawen is the belief-philosophical system followed by almost all Javanese on top of their religion. It incorporates Animism, Hindu-Buddhism, and Islam into a belief-philosophical system. However, there are Javanese who only follow Kejawen. Some adhere to the rituals, while others focus on the philosophical aspects. Hindu-Alukta got its start in the 1960s when Indonesia required people to belong to five 'official" religions, Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Many people in Indonesia in the 1960s followed traditional beliefs and folk religions, so they picked one of the five official religions. Most Torajans picked Protestantism and Catholicism, but some lobbied the government to include their traditional beliefs as Hinduism. This was to ensure they would get state funding and support.[20]

Religious and Cultural Worldview: The Javanese, as well as the Sundanese to a lesser extent, have what I call a Dharmic-Abrahamic, while most other predominately Muslim ethnic groups in Maritime Southeast Asia have an Islamic worldview. Lowland Christian Filipino have a Christian worldview.

A good example is the current President of Indonesia, he is a devout Muslim, often doing regular fasts throughout the week. However, when he thinks about social relations, politics and power are little different than his Hindu-Buddhist ancestors of the 15th century. To them, the world is grey and morally ambiguous like the Indian epic, Mahabharata. [21]

To most Javanese the world is cyclical and linear, meaning history repeats itself as it travels on a linear path. This in contrast purely cyclical view of Indic astrology and the linear one held by Islam. The Javanese calendar which I talk about in the next section is both cyclical and linear.

Calendar System: While both Indonesia and the Philippines use the Gregorian for official purposes. in Indonesia/ The Javanese use 4 Calendar systems. First, they have the Javanese Calendar which is used for religious and cultural purposes, uses a lunar calendar like the Islamic calendar, but the base year is based on Indic Saka Calendar. The Islamic calendar is used by Muslims to determine Muslim religious holidays and the start and end of the fasting month. The Saka Calendar is used by Hindu Javanese. Finally, there is the Pawukon which is a special 210-day calendar used by both Javanese and Balinese for astrological purposes.

Writing Script: Brahmi script is a family of abugida writing systems, which all Indic and Southeast Asian scripts including Javanese's Hanacaraka, and Tagalog's Baybayin fall under. Hanacaraka is taught in schools in East and Central Java. The Javanese and the Maranao also use Arabic script to write their respective languages. However, for the Javanese, Javanese using Arabic script is only taught in the Madrassah (Pesantren).

Naming Conventions: The Indonesian government has no rules requiring people to have a surname or even a second name. However, certain ethnic groups or families do have surname/clan names. but most don't. The Philippines adopted a Western European convention. The use of fixed surnames wasn't common in Europe until 13-14th, names like Rodríguez were originally patronym.

Here is a list of names from both Indonesia and the Philippines

NAME OCCUPATION MEANING OF NAME NAMING CONVENTION RELIGION AND ETHNICITY
Fidel Valdez Ramos Fr. President of the Philippines Fidel (Faithful) Latin + Valdez (From the Valley) Asturian + Ramos (branch) Spanish Spanish: Given Name + Mother's Surname + Father's Surname Protestant Tagalog
Rodrigo Roa Duterte President of the Philippines Rodrigo (powerful) German Origin + Roa (wheel) Catalan + Duterte (hill) French Spanish Catholic Visayan
Jejomar Cabauatan Binay Fr. Vice President of the Philippines Jejomar is a portmanteau of Jesus, Joseph, and Mary + Cabauatan + Binay (Good) Tagalog. Binay - Sanskrit Origin. Spanish Catholic Tagalog
Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo Fr. President of the Philippines Maria (Mother of Jesus) Latin + Gloria (Gory) Latin + Macaraeg (he who beats) Kapampangan + Macapagal (he who last ) Tagalog + Arroyo (Stream) Castilian Spanish: Given Name + Mother's Surname + Father's Surname + Husband's Surname Catholic Tagalog-Kapampangan
Samira Ali Gutoc Politician Samira (She who is Loved) Arabic + Ali (Elevated) Arabic. Muhammad's Cousin + Gutoc (Family Name) Western: Given Name + Middle Name + Surname Muslim Maranao
Sukarno Fr President of Indonesia Su (Very) Sanskrit + Karno (Wise) Sanskrit Single Name Muslim Javanese. Father - Javanese Nobility. Mother - Balinese Hindu (Brahim Caste)
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) Fr President of Indonesia Su (Very) Sanskrit + silo (Moral) Sanskrit + Bambang (knight) Javanese + Yudho (War) Sanskrit + yono (Mission) Sanskrit Multi Word Name Muslim Javanese
Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono SBY's Son Agus (Born in August) + Hari (Attracts) Sanskrit + Murti (Divine) Sanskrit + Yudhoyono Western: Given Name + Middle Name + Surname Muslim Javanese
Joko Widodo President of Indonesia Joko (Boy) Javanese + Wi (Very) Sanskrit + Dodo (Healthy / Chest) Javanese Multi Word Name Muslim Javanese
Kaesang Pangarep Joko Widodo's Son Kae (He) + Sang (Is) + Pangarep (Leader) Javanese Multi Word Name Muslim Javanese
Abdurrahman Wahid Fr President of Indonesia Abdurrahman (Named after Caliph who brought Islam to Spain) + Wahid (The One) Arabic Arabic Naming Convention Muslim Javanese (Clerical)
Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie Fr. President of Indonesia Bacharuddin () Arabic + Jusuf (Jospeh in Arabic0 + Habibie (Clan name) Native Surname Muslim 1/2 Gronotalo + 1/2 Javanese
Maria Kristen Yulianti Fr. Badminton Player Maria (Mother of Jesus) Latin + Kristen (Follower of Christ) Greek + Yulianti (beloved) Indonesian Multi-Word Name Catholic Javanese
Dian Paramita Sastrowardoyo Actress Dian (Lamp / Divine) Javanese / Hindi + Paramita (Perfection) Buddhist-Sanskrit + Sastro (book) Sanskrit + War (Above) Sanskrit + Doyo + (Gift / Enhance) Sanskrit Western: Given Name + Middle Name + Surname Muslim Javanese (born Catholic). Mother-Catholic, Father- Buddhist
Luther Kombong Politician Luther (Named After Martin Luther + Kombong () Toraja Western: Given Name + Surname Protestant Toraja
Kamasean Yoce Matthews Actress Kamasean (Receiving and Giving) Toraja + Yoce () Father's Name + Matthews Named After Book of Matthews * Western: Given Name + Surname Protestant Toraja-Batak
  • In Eastern Indonesia and Borneo (Malaysia and Indonesia) there are Christians with Western or Biblical last names. What happens is people will take a Christian name like Ismael Thomas, but Thomas isn't a surname. So when they have a child, they may decide to give it the surname "Thomas". This is on top of people with European ancestry either through Dutch/Portuguese colonialism, like Fernandez, Da Lopez, Pareira, Da Silva, etc

MULTIPLE SOCIETIES VS MAINSTREAM FILIPINO SOCIETY

The biggest difference between Indonesia and Filipino society is the Philippines has a mainstream society, which represents 91% of Filipino who make up Lowland Christian Filipino. While Indonesia is 86% Muslim, there isn't a mainstream Indonesian society, but multiple societies.

Mainstream Filipino society despite its linguistic diversity is culturally homogenous, courtesy of the Catholic Church, in which 80% of Filipino belong. Even though individual Catholic orders (ie Jesuits, Augustinians, Franciscans, etc) were assigned to different parts of the Philippines, they still belong to one Church, ultimately reporting back to the Pope. [22]

Islam in Southeast Asia spread largely through missionaries often affiliated with Madrasah (Pesantren/Pondok), and you can have varying interpretations depending on the Madrassah, and even within one Madrassah depending on ulama (preacher). Sunni Islam is a decentralized religion How Sultanate would manage religious affairs is they would set up religious councils and courts. Most Sultanates in Southeast Asia didn't have full-on Sharia courts, but a legal system with a mix of Sharia and local customary law, where they would share the responsibility with the village head. [23] In Southeast Asia, Sultanates varied in their involvement in religious affairs, and even between Sultans of the same lineage. Added to this large populated had been "converted" to Islam, but weren't under any Sultanate.

Most Christian Indonesians, who make up 12% of Indonesia's population, resemble the Highland Filipinos like Lumad or Igorot, who converted to Christianity between 1870-the 1980s.To complicate matters, some ethnic groups are split between Muslim and Christians, it can be 80% Christian, 20% Muslim. Among the Javanese, Indonesia's dominant ethnic group, 3% of the population is Christian, but in major Javanese cities like Surabaya, Surakarta, and Semarang it ranges from 10-25%. And in most of these ethnic groups, it's not segregated, the husband could be Christian, the is wife Muslim or vice versa, the children could be Muslim, others Christian. When Joko Widodo visited East Timor in 2016, he visited Margaretha Mariadi, a very old Catholic nun, who is the sister of, Moerdiono, who is Muslim, and was State Secretary under Suharto.[24]

Christianity can vary a lot in Indonesia. Flores in Eastern Indonesia once belonged to the Portuguese, and the Catholic Church has a history that stretches back to 1562. Whereas in Bali, it is much more recent. The first successful conversion happened in Bali in the 1930s and about 1.5% of the Balinese population is Christian.

HIGHLAND AND LOWLAND PARADIGM

When looking at culture and ethnicity in Southeast Asia, it's important to examine how societies/countries approach the lowland and highland (interior) dichotomy. This is one of the main paradigms found in anthropological literature. [25]

Here is a table showing some highland groups and their lowland counterparts.

HIGHLAND GROUP(S) LOWLAND GROUP(S) ARMED GROUPS LOCATION
Kachin Bamar Kachin Independence Army Kachin, Myanmar
Karen Bamar Karen National Liberation Army Kayin, Myanmar
Shan Bamar National Democratic Alliance Army, Shan State Army Shan, Myanmar
Wa Bamar United Wa State Party Wa, Myanmar
Hill Tribes Thai No Insurgency, Past Conflict Thailand
Khmer Loeu Khmer No Insurgency, Past Conflict Cambodia
Montagnards Vietnamese (Kinh) No Insurgency, Past Conflict Central Vietnam
Orang Asli Malays No Insurgency, Past Conflict West Malaysia
Dayaks Malays No Insurgency, Past Conflict Borneo, Indonesia, and Malaysia
Batak Minang, Aceh, Malays No Insurgency, Past Conflict North Sumatra, Indonesia
Toraja Bugis, Makassar No Insurgency, Past Conflict Southwest Sulawesi, Indonesia
Tengger Javanese   East Java, Indonesia
Highland Filipino Lowland Filipino New People's Army Philippines

Dayak, Batak, Orang Asli, Montagnards, Khmer Loeu are designation made outsiders describe an interior / highland groups,

The demarcation between lowland and highland societies is often blurry. In general, lowland societies are assumed to be sedentary and more "advanced", while highland societies are nomadic and primitive. In the case of the Philippines, some indigenous groups like Ifugao are primarily settled wet rice terrace farmers, while many so-called low land Filipinos like those in Samar practiced slash and burn farming well into 19th century

While the Philippines, like most other countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia, have a nationwide designation for highland groups like the Igorots and Lumad labeling them as indigenous, the Indonesian government does not. While some groups in Indonesia have embraced the term "indigenous", the Indonesian government hasn't. A Batak, Dayak, Toraja, and Tengger aren't treated differently from other Indonesians, by the government or most Indonesians. While Papuans are given preferences within West Papua and Papua, its a feature of their special autonomy status of the two provinces.

BLOOD VS LOCATION VS CULTURE

The Indonesians and the Indonesian government take ethnicity seriously. The Indonesian census tracks ethnicity and religion down to the district level, with one district being about 500,000 to 3 million people, while the Philippines government doesn't.

Most Indonesians like Indians have a conservative view of ethnicity, meaning people are linked by blood and not necessarily where they are born or raised. In the 18-19th centuries, in large cities like Batavia (now Jakarta), the Dutch put all people in one ethnic group in one location. In some cities, you have neighborhoods called Kampung Cina, Kampung Arab, Kampung Jawa, and Kampung Melayu,[26] In Malay, Kampung means village The Indonesian government since 1900 has been sending migrants from Java and Bali to the less populated islands like the Philippines sent settlers from Visayas and Luzon to Mindanao. Whereas, in the Philippines, these settlers mixed among themselves and with the native population. In Indonesia, the settlements were kept separate. As a result 4th generation Javanese / Balinese migrants in the transmigration settlements in Sumatra still speak Javanese/Balinese and live like they do in Java or Bali. [27] They would never call themselves Sumatran, whereas, in Malaysia or the Philippines, people call themselves Sabahian or Mindanaoan (aka Duterte).

Mainstream Filipino society has a more "cultural" view of ethnicity, meaning if you are of European or Chinese blood, you are still considered Tagalog or Cebuano, as long as you speak the language and are Christian. Among Malays, if you speak the language, follow Malay customs, and are Muslim, even if you have Arab or Chinese blood, you are Malay. However, among the Javanese and Balinese, ethnicity is more dominant, especially in the interior regions.

This focus on ethnicity translates into Indonesian politics, all of Indonesia's presidents, have little foreign ancestry whether Chinese, Arab or European. All of them are Javanese or part-Javanese. Unlike the Philippines where Presidents have Spanish or Chinese blood or Malaysia where Prime Ministers / Royalty have Arab, Indian or Thai blood. Secondly. when an Indonesian President decides cabinet positions, he makes sure each major ethnic group gets representation. Thirdly, in ethnically diverse cities, dynastic politics is rare in contrast to the Philippines, because people tend to vote based on ethnicity or religion. Lastly. while Indonesia does have regional polls like the Philippines, they also have polls based on ethnicity. [28]

CONCLUSION

The reason why I focus first on ethnicity is that it is the marker of identity which largely predates colonialism and the nation-state. One key defining characteristic of states, particularly in Asia, is how they define and organize ethnicity, which influences the type of nationalism they espouse, explicitly or implicitly.

FOOTNOTES

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6 Replies
Rick Cool
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Indonesians don't accept Chinese and Mestizos like Filipinos even if they are integrated 

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James avatar
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@j-r-c filipinos & thais giving passes to anyone to be filipino or thai. while malays and indonesian has a clear definition of austronesian race. Within a few generation, the demographics of philippines and Thailand can quickly shift with massive chinese pouring in. 

 

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Rick Cool
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@james I think you missed my point about leaving a large population from the population census. The census did not include chinese and mestizo from the census

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abbm avatar
 ABBM
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@j-r-c Indonesians & Malaysians will only accept fellow Muslims into their family. When it comes to Filipinos, they see us as fellow Austronesians.

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Rick Cool
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@abbm Indonesians have a more diverse population that the Philippines. Papuans I believe for example are left out of the census.

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Lannie avatar
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INTRODUCTION

This post will attempt to explain the differences in how Filipinos and Indonesians see ethnicity and the nature of the two societies. A couple of years ago I did some posts on the Philippines and Indonesia like TL: DR Reasons for the failure of the Philippines’s foreign policy,

The post will be organized as follows

  1. LATITUDINAL VS LONGITUDINAL ARCHIPELAGIC STATE

  2. AUSTRONESIAN CORE

    1. ETHNICITY AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT

  3. ETHNO-CULTURAL DIAGRAM

  4. RELIGIOUS-CULTURAL LAYERS

  5. MULTIPLE SOCIETIES VS MAINSTREAM FILIPINO SOCIETY

  6. HIGHLAND AND LOWLAND SOCIETIES

  7. BLOOD, LOCATION, AND CULTURE

Many, like Samuel Huntington's in his book Clash of Civilization (1996) label Indonesia as Islamic, and the Philippines as Western, but beyond these simple labels, people are left hanging. Little is done to describe the structure of the societies, how ethnic groups and religious minorities are organized. The four takeaways from this post are:

  • Indonesia is a longitudinal archipelagic state-aligned by trade and a shared lingua franca. The Philippines is a latitudinal archipelagic state orientated loosely by trade with China, and later on, shared religion.

  • In Maritime Southeast Asia, there are cultural layers, such as Sanskritization, Islam, and Christianity.

  • The Indonesian state believes Indonesia consists of multiple societies. While most Filipinos and the Philippines state assume there is mainstream Filipino society.

  • The Indonesian state defines ethnicity by blood and keeps detailed records of regions' ethnic composition. The Philippines' state doesn't keep such data.

This post will be the beginning of a series of posts I will do about Indonesia and the Philippines. The purpose of this particular post is to provide a very rough framework for looking at ethnicity, culture, and religion in Indonesia and the Philippines. I won't get into the "why", that will be for subsequent posts.

I decided to do this post, because Indonesia's importance to the Philippines is understated, and its importance will increase markedly after Indonesia moves its capital to Borneo. Secondly, in the past, their economies were remarkedly similar, because of their volcanic geologies. Indonesia and the Philippines were once sugar plantation economies. When their sugar exports collapsed, in the 1930s for Indonesia and the 1970s for the Philippines, it took 20-30 years for their economies to realign and recover. Lastly, Filipino academics and the media when talking about Indonesia don't provide context or background information, and if they do so from a Western viewpoint.

FOOTNOTES

LONGITUDINAL VS LATITUDINAL ARCHIPELAGIC STATE

Indonesia is a longitudinal thalassocracy like the Hanseatic League, united by trade that rides east-west trade wind. In the Malay archipelago, there are migratory trading communities, the most notable being the Malays and the Minang in Western Indonesia and Bugis in Eastern Indonesia. Starting from the 13th century, the Chinese would permanently settle in the North Coast of Java, and later on the rest of Indonesia, creating another network.[1]

 

r/Philippines - How Indonesia and the Philippines' Define and Organize Ethnicity

Members of these societies become migratory traders in part because of geography, war, and culture. For the Malays, their location in the Strait of Malacca and the poor soil of their homeland (lack of volcano) caused them to specialize, meaning they traded goods from China/India in exchange for foodstuffs (rice), most notably from Java. Malay entities like Sriwijaya, Malacca Sultanate, and today's Malaysia almost always ran rice deficits, which they would make up by trading. [2]

Another defining characteristic of a longitudinal thalassocracy in the development of a trading lingua franca. For the Hanseatic League, it was Middle Low German (MLG) and in the Malay archipelago, it was Malay. [3] In Indonesia, the influence of Malay was established even before it was adopted as Indonesia's national language. Malay creoles are spoken as the main language in many port cities from Jakarta to the Papuan Bird's Head. [4] Like their forefathers and the Hanseatic League with MLG, the Europeans in the VOC (Dutch East Indies Company) used Malay as the language of administration at the lower levels of their bureaucracy. Many languages in Indonesia have words adopted from Malay, just like many Scandinavian and Baltic languages have words adopted from MLG.

The Dutch colonial and the Indonesian government accelerated inter-island trade, use of Malay, and migration.

PHILIPPINES: LONGITUDINAL VS LATITUDINAL

On a map, the Philippines is orientated from north to south like Japan and the UK. However, unlike Britain and Japan, the Philippines' geography doesn't naturally favor north-south integration. Philippines trade winds run from Southwest and Northeast.[5] It's these trade winds that made Brunei the main point of contact with other civilizations in what is now Malaysia and Indonesia. The strongest currents run northeast as the Pacific Ocean merges with the shallow waters of the West Philippines Seas.

 

r/Philippines - How Indonesia and the Philippines' Define and Organize Ethnicity

While natives of the Philippines traded in a North-South direction, it rose significantly with the rise of trade with China. Chinese traders start to visit the Philippines on their ships starting from the 11th --12th century and made Manila its primary hub, where their goods would be redistributed by Chinese / Tagalog traders sailing southward.[6] When the Spanish arrived, they captured Manila and made it their capital. They strengthened this north-south axis through the Manila Galleon system. Their bans on other European ships arriving in the Philippines and their wars with the Moros cut trade with the rest of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, further cementing Chinese dominance.

AUSTRONESIAN CORE

When talking about ethnicity in Southeast Asia it's really about language and culture. Roughly 99% of Filipinos speak an Austronesian language and 98% of Indonesians do. While most Filipino are mixed Austronesian and Negrito stock, most Indonesians are part Austronesian-Austroasiatic (Western Indonesian) or Austronesian-Melanesian (Eastern Indonesian). [7]

 

r/Philippines - How Indonesia and the Philippines' Define and Organize Ethnicity

However, unlike in Malaysia with some Orang Asli groups speaking Austroasiatic languages, there are only linguistic and cultural fragments of the Austroasiatic influence in some ethnic groups in Indonesia and the Southern Philippines.[8] Similarly the Negrito in the Philippines have been Austronesized linguistically, with unique vocabulary ranging from 5-23%, that could represent lexical remnants from the pre-Austronesian languages.

Anthropologists use linguistics to define which groups are Austronesian rather than genetics. Besides linguistics, here are several dominant Austronesian cultural and sociological traits

  • Austronesians is predominately an island people, with only a few groups, most notably the Cham located in Mainland Asia.[9]

  • Most Austronesian societies are either coastal fishing-trading or farming societies. 90% of Austronesians worldwide live on volcanic islands.

  • Like most Southeast Asia linguistic groups, they have a mix of patrilocal and matrilocal residency customs, Whereas China, which these groups originate from, become predominantly patrilocal after the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD).[10]

  • The invention and use of the outrigger, either the double, single, or catamaran.[11]

  • Use of Salem or Mano is used across Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

ETHNICITY AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT

To understand ethnicity in Maritime Southeast Asia, one needs to understand the different anthropological approaches to ethnic identity. There are 6-7 different approaches, I am going to focus on three. The first is primordialism, which views ethnicity as fixed. While most anthropologists don't subscribe to this, some believe, like Clifford Geertz, that communities see ethnicity as fixed. [12]

The second approach is social constructivism, which focuses on the social nature of ethnic identity. Ethnic identity is created by social interactions between individuals and groups and is subject to change if the social conditions change. An example is the Toraja people native to the mountains of Southwest Sulawesi, Indonesia. Before the 20th century, the Toraja had no notion of themselves as a distinct ethnic group. The term Toraja was given by the lowland Bugis and means people of the uplands. In the 1920s, the colonial government recognized them as an ethnic group and demarcated their land as Tanah Toraja, the land of the Torajas.[13]

The last approach is instrumentalist, which understands ethnicity as a device used by individuals and groups to unify, organize, and mobilize populations to achieve larger goals. The term Igorot (Igolot) is derived from Tagalog meaning people from the mountain. In the past, most Igorot didn't use the term to refer to themselves, and many considered it derogatory. However, the younger generation uses this term as a means of self-identity/.[14]

ETHNO-CULTURAL DIAGRAM

Here is an ethnocultural diagram showing how ethnicity is organized in both countries, and interaction with external cultural forces.

r/Philippines - How Indonesia and the Philippines' Define and Organize Ethnicity

Here are some elaborations regarding the chart.

  1. This diagram is illustrative, so not all the ethnic groups are listed.

  2. The degree of Sanksrtization for groups that were formerly / weakly Sankritizated-Indianized. Most groups adopted Indian scripts, wedding customs, religious practices, etc. Low-land Filipinos like Visayas and Tagalog were once much more Sanrkitized than Bugis or Batak.

  3. The large rectangle or circle with smaller circles within them is to denote ethnic groups (like the Moro and Batak) that have been categorized by the government(s) or anthropologists as sharing similar culture, religion, and/or language.

  4. Moro refers to the 13 Islamized ethnolinguistic groups of Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan, native to the region known as the Bangsamoro. [15]

  5. Indigenous (or Highland) Filipinos refer to "indigenous" Filipinos who are ethnolinguistic groups that maintained partial isolation, or independence, throughout the Spanish era.[16}

  6. Percentage (%) shown in the Indonesian diagram, denotes the ethnic groups share of the population.[17]

  7. The dates like 1870-90s for Batak for example are to indicate when this majority of the ethnic group converted to Christianity / Islam.

The Sanskrtization layer in Indonesia has political ramifications. Even though the Javanese are predominately Muslim and Balinese are predominately Hindu, they vote for the same political parties.

Here is a map showing the distribution of religion in Maritime Southeast Asia. [18]

 

r/Philippines - How Indonesia and the Philippines' Define and Organize Ethnicity

DIFFERENT CULTURAL "LAYERS"

When talking about external influences in Maritime Southeast Asia one should imagine people and societies with an Austronesian / Melanesian cultural "core", and with later influences, whether Austronesian, Indic, Islam, and Christianity as "layers" that interact with the core and each other. This approach was used in Australia National University (ANU) Comparative Austronesian Series., were they all about Sanskritization, Islam, and Christianity, [19]

I am going to focus on three external cultural layers - Sanskritization-Indianization, Islam, and Christianity by illustrating how the layers impact the cultures of various groups as shown in the table below.

  JAVANESE TORAJA MARANAO TAGALOG
Population 97 Million 1.1 Million 1.3 Million 30 Million
Location Java, Indonesia SW Sulawesi Mindanao Luzon
Religion 96% Muslim, 3% Christian, 1% Hinduism, Buddhism and Kejawen 86% Christian, 8% Islam, 6% Hindu-Alukta* Predominantly Muslim Predominately Christian
Stratification Very Hierarchical Hierarchical Hierarchical Hierarchical
Religious and Cultural Worldview Dharmic-Abrahamic Animist - Christian Islamic Christian
Calendar System Javanese Calendar (Islamic-Saka), Pawukon (Indigenous- Hindu) Islamic, Gregorian, Saka Gregorian Calendar Islamic Calendar Gregorian Calendar
Writing Script Brahmi, Latin, Arabic Latin (only introduced in the 1920s) Arabic Latin, Brahmi
Names Sanskrit, Native, Arabic, Western Western, Native Native, Arabic Western, Native
Naming Conventions Mixed Surnames Surnames Surnames
Marriage Rites Religious and/or Indic-Native Religious and/or Native Religious and Native Religious-Western
Death Rites Burial or Cremation, Native Ritual Burial or Cultural Burial, Native Ritual Burial Burial
Mythology Indic-Native Native Native Native-Indic
Historical Highpoint Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit 1293-1517 N/A Lanao Sultanate N/A

NOTE: The reason Sankirtization-Indianization is used, instead of Hindu, is because the term Hindu originally was used to describe the Indus River. Then around the 15th century, it was used by some Indians to differentiate themselves and Muslims. Until 19the century, no "Hindus" in South Asia or Southeast Asia would describe the beliefs they were following as Hindu, but by the diety, they were worshipping ie Shiva, etc.

I have done a brief clarification of some of the categories.

Religion: Kejawen is the belief-philosophical system followed by almost all Javanese on top of their religion. It incorporates Animism, Hindu-Buddhism, and Islam into a belief-philosophical system. However, there are Javanese who only follow Kejawen. Some adhere to the rituals, while others focus on the philosophical aspects. Hindu-Alukta got its start in the 1960s when Indonesia required people to belong to five 'official" religions, Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Many people in Indonesia in the 1960s followed traditional beliefs and folk religions, so they picked one of the five official religions. Most Torajans picked Protestantism and Catholicism, but some lobbied the government to include their traditional beliefs as Hinduism. This was to ensure they would get state funding and support.[20]

Religious and Cultural Worldview: The Javanese, as well as the Sundanese to a lesser extent, have what I call a Dharmic-Abrahamic, while most other predominately Muslim ethnic groups in Maritime Southeast Asia have an Islamic worldview. Lowland Christian Filipino have a Christian worldview.

A good example is the current President of Indonesia, he is a devout Muslim, often doing regular fasts throughout the week. However, when he thinks about social relations, politics and power are little different than his Hindu-Buddhist ancestors of the 15th century. To them, the world is grey and morally ambiguous like the Indian epic, Mahabharata. [21]

To most Javanese the world is cyclical and linear, meaning history repeats itself as it travels on a linear path. This in contrast purely cyclical view of Indic astrology and the linear one held by Islam. The Javanese calendar which I talk about in the next section is both cyclical and linear.

Calendar System: While both Indonesia and the Philippines use the Gregorian for official purposes. in Indonesia/ The Javanese use 4 Calendar systems. First, they have the Javanese Calendar which is used for religious and cultural purposes, uses a lunar calendar like the Islamic calendar, but the base year is based on Indic Saka Calendar. The Islamic calendar is used by Muslims to determine Muslim religious holidays and the start and end of the fasting month. The Saka Calendar is used by Hindu Javanese. Finally, there is the Pawukon which is a special 210-day calendar used by both Javanese and Balinese for astrological purposes.

Writing Script: Brahmi script is a family of abugida writing systems, which all Indic and Southeast Asian scripts including Javanese's Hanacaraka, and Tagalog's Baybayin fall under. Hanacaraka is taught in schools in East and Central Java. The Javanese and the Maranao also use Arabic script to write their respective languages. However, for the Javanese, Javanese using Arabic script is only taught in the Madrassah (Pesantren).

Naming Conventions: The Indonesian government has no rules requiring people to have a surname or even a second name. However, certain ethnic groups or families do have surname/clan names. but most don't. The Philippines adopted a Western European convention. The use of fixed surnames wasn't common in Europe until 13-14th, names like Rodríguez were originally patronym.

Here is a list of names from both Indonesia and the Philippines

NAME OCCUPATION MEANING OF NAME NAMING CONVENTION RELIGION AND ETHNICITY
Fidel Valdez Ramos Fr. President of the Philippines Fidel (Faithful) Latin + Valdez (From the Valley) Asturian + Ramos (branch) Spanish Spanish: Given Name + Mother's Surname + Father's Surname Protestant Tagalog
Rodrigo Roa Duterte President of the Philippines Rodrigo (powerful) German Origin + Roa (wheel) Catalan + Duterte (hill) French Spanish Catholic Visayan
Jejomar Cabauatan Binay Fr. Vice President of the Philippines Jejomar is a portmanteau of Jesus, Joseph, and Mary + Cabauatan + Binay (Good) Tagalog. Binay - Sanskrit Origin. Spanish Catholic Tagalog
Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo Fr. President of the Philippines Maria (Mother of Jesus) Latin + Gloria (Gory) Latin + Macaraeg (he who beats) Kapampangan + Macapagal (he who last ) Tagalog + Arroyo (Stream) Castilian Spanish: Given Name + Mother's Surname + Father's Surname + Husband's Surname Catholic Tagalog-Kapampangan
Samira Ali Gutoc Politician Samira (She who is Loved) Arabic + Ali (Elevated) Arabic. Muhammad's Cousin + Gutoc (Family Name) Western: Given Name + Middle Name + Surname Muslim Maranao
Sukarno Fr President of Indonesia Su (Very) Sanskrit + Karno (Wise) Sanskrit Single Name Muslim Javanese. Father - Javanese Nobility. Mother - Balinese Hindu (Brahim Caste)
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) Fr President of Indonesia Su (Very) Sanskrit + silo (Moral) Sanskrit + Bambang (knight) Javanese + Yudho (War) Sanskrit + yono (Mission) Sanskrit Multi Word Name Muslim Javanese
Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono SBY's Son Agus (Born in August) + Hari (Attracts) Sanskrit + Murti (Divine) Sanskrit + Yudhoyono Western: Given Name + Middle Name + Surname Muslim Javanese
Joko Widodo President of Indonesia Joko (Boy) Javanese + Wi (Very) Sanskrit + Dodo (Healthy / Chest) Javanese Multi Word Name Muslim Javanese
Kaesang Pangarep Joko Widodo's Son Kae (He) + Sang (Is) + Pangarep (Leader) Javanese Multi Word Name Muslim Javanese
Abdurrahman Wahid Fr President of Indonesia Abdurrahman (Named after Caliph who brought Islam to Spain) + Wahid (The One) Arabic Arabic Naming Convention Muslim Javanese (Clerical)
Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie Fr. President of Indonesia Bacharuddin () Arabic + Jusuf (Jospeh in Arabic0 + Habibie (Clan name) Native Surname Muslim 1/2 Gronotalo + 1/2 Javanese
Maria Kristen Yulianti Fr. Badminton Player Maria (Mother of Jesus) Latin + Kristen (Follower of Christ) Greek + Yulianti (beloved) Indonesian Multi-Word Name Catholic Javanese
Dian Paramita Sastrowardoyo Actress Dian (Lamp / Divine) Javanese / Hindi + Paramita (Perfection) Buddhist-Sanskrit + Sastro (book) Sanskrit + War (Above) Sanskrit + Doyo + (Gift / Enhance) Sanskrit Western: Given Name + Middle Name + Surname Muslim Javanese (born Catholic). Mother-Catholic, Father- Buddhist
Luther Kombong Politician Luther (Named After Martin Luther + Kombong () Toraja Western: Given Name + Surname Protestant Toraja
Kamasean Yoce Matthews Actress Kamasean (Receiving and Giving) Toraja + Yoce () Father's Name + Matthews Named After Book of Matthews * Western: Given Name + Surname Protestant Toraja-Batak
  • In Eastern Indonesia and Borneo (Malaysia and Indonesia) there are Christians with Western or Biblical last names. What happens is people will take a Christian name like Ismael Thomas, but Thomas isn't a surname. So when they have a child, they may decide to give it the surname "Thomas". This is on top of people with European ancestry either through Dutch/Portuguese colonialism, like Fernandez, Da Lopez, Pareira, Da Silva, etc

MULTIPLE SOCIETIES VS MAINSTREAM FILIPINO SOCIETY

The biggest difference between Indonesia and Filipino society is the Philippines has a mainstream society, which represents 91% of Filipino who make up Lowland Christian Filipino. While Indonesia is 86% Muslim, there isn't a mainstream Indonesian society, but multiple societies.

Mainstream Filipino society despite its linguistic diversity is culturally homogenous, courtesy of the Catholic Church, in which 80% of Filipino belong. Even though individual Catholic orders (ie Jesuits, Augustinians, Franciscans, etc) were assigned to different parts of the Philippines, they still belong to one Church, ultimately reporting back to the Pope. [22]

Islam in Southeast Asia spread largely through missionaries often affiliated with Madrasah (Pesantren/Pondok), and you can have varying interpretations depending on the Madrassah, and even within one Madrassah depending on ulama (preacher). Sunni Islam is a decentralized religion How Sultanate would manage religious affairs is they would set up religious councils and courts. Most Sultanates in Southeast Asia didn't have full-on Sharia courts, but a legal system with a mix of Sharia and local customary law, where they would share the responsibility with the village head. [23] In Southeast Asia, Sultanates varied in their involvement in religious affairs, and even between Sultans of the same lineage. Added to this large populated had been "converted" to Islam, but weren't under any Sultanate.

Most Christian Indonesians, who make up 12% of Indonesia's population, resemble the Highland Filipinos like Lumad or Igorot, who converted to Christianity between 1870-the 1980s.To complicate matters, some ethnic groups are split between Muslim and Christians, it can be 80% Christian, 20% Muslim. Among the Javanese, Indonesia's dominant ethnic group, 3% of the population is Christian, but in major Javanese cities like Surabaya, Surakarta, and Semarang it ranges from 10-25%. And in most of these ethnic groups, it's not segregated, the husband could be Christian, the is wife Muslim or vice versa, the children could be Muslim, others Christian. When Joko Widodo visited East Timor in 2016, he visited Margaretha Mariadi, a very old Catholic nun, who is the sister of, Moerdiono, who is Muslim, and was State Secretary under Suharto.[24]

Christianity can vary a lot in Indonesia. Flores in Eastern Indonesia once belonged to the Portuguese, and the Catholic Church has a history that stretches back to 1562. Whereas in Bali, it is much more recent. The first successful conversion happened in Bali in the 1930s and about 1.5% of the Balinese population is Christian.

HIGHLAND AND LOWLAND PARADIGM

When looking at culture and ethnicity in Southeast Asia, it's important to examine how societies/countries approach the lowland and highland (interior) dichotomy. This is one of the main paradigms found in anthropological literature. [25]

Here is a table showing some highland groups and their lowland counterparts.

HIGHLAND GROUP(S) LOWLAND GROUP(S) ARMED GROUPS LOCATION
Kachin Bamar Kachin Independence Army Kachin, Myanmar
Karen Bamar Karen National Liberation Army Kayin, Myanmar
Shan Bamar National Democratic Alliance Army, Shan State Army Shan, Myanmar
Wa Bamar United Wa State Party Wa, Myanmar
Hill Tribes Thai No Insurgency, Past Conflict Thailand
Khmer Loeu Khmer No Insurgency, Past Conflict Cambodia
Montagnards Vietnamese (Kinh) No Insurgency, Past Conflict Central Vietnam
Orang Asli Malays No Insurgency, Past Conflict West Malaysia
Dayaks Malays No Insurgency, Past Conflict Borneo, Indonesia, and Malaysia
Batak Minang, Aceh, Malays No Insurgency, Past Conflict North Sumatra, Indonesia
Toraja Bugis, Makassar No Insurgency, Past Conflict Southwest Sulawesi, Indonesia
Tengger Javanese   East Java, Indonesia
Highland Filipino Lowland Filipino New People's Army Philippines

Dayak, Batak, Orang Asli, Montagnards, Khmer Loeu are designation made outsiders describe an interior / highland groups,

The demarcation between lowland and highland societies is often blurry. In general, lowland societies are assumed to be sedentary and more "advanced", while highland societies are nomadic and primitive. In the case of the Philippines, some indigenous groups like Ifugao are primarily settled wet rice terrace farmers, while many so-called low land Filipinos like those in Samar practiced slash and burn farming well into 19th century

While the Philippines, like most other countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia, have a nationwide designation for highland groups like the Igorots and Lumad labeling them as indigenous, the Indonesian government does not. While some groups in Indonesia have embraced the term "indigenous", the Indonesian government hasn't. A Batak, Dayak, Toraja, and Tengger aren't treated differently from other Indonesians, by the government or most Indonesians. While Papuans are given preferences within West Papua and Papua, its a feature of their special autonomy status of the two provinces.

BLOOD VS LOCATION VS CULTURE

The Indonesians and the Indonesian government take ethnicity seriously. The Indonesian census tracks ethnicity and religion down to the district level, with one district being about 500,000 to 3 million people, while the Philippines government doesn't.

Most Indonesians like Indians have a conservative view of ethnicity, meaning people are linked by blood and not necessarily where they are born or raised. In the 18-19th centuries, in large cities like Batavia (now Jakarta), the Dutch put all people in one ethnic group in one location. In some cities, you have neighborhoods called Kampung Cina, Kampung Arab, Kampung Jawa, and Kampung Melayu,[26] In Malay, Kampung means village The Indonesian government since 1900 has been sending migrants from Java and Bali to the less populated islands like the Philippines sent settlers from Visayas and Luzon to Mindanao. Whereas, in the Philippines, these settlers mixed among themselves and with the native population. In Indonesia, the settlements were kept separate. As a result 4th generation Javanese / Balinese migrants in the transmigration settlements in Sumatra still speak Javanese/Balinese and live like they do in Java or Bali. [27] They would never call themselves Sumatran, whereas, in Malaysia or the Philippines, people call themselves Sabahian or Mindanaoan (aka Duterte).

Mainstream Filipino society has a more "cultural" view of ethnicity, meaning if you are of European or Chinese blood, you are still considered Tagalog or Cebuano, as long as you speak the language and are Christian. Among Malays, if you speak the language, follow Malay customs, and are Muslim, even if you have Arab or Chinese blood, you are Malay. However, among the Javanese and Balinese, ethnicity is more dominant, especially in the interior regions.

This focus on ethnicity translates into Indonesian politics, all of Indonesia's presidents, have little foreign ancestry whether Chinese, Arab or European. All of them are Javanese or part-Javanese. Unlike the Philippines where Presidents have Spanish or Chinese blood or Malaysia where Prime Ministers / Royalty have Arab, Indian or Thai blood. Secondly. when an Indonesian President decides cabinet positions, he makes sure each major ethnic group gets representation. Thirdly, in ethnically diverse cities, dynastic politics is rare in contrast to the Philippines, because people tend to vote based on ethnicity or religion. Lastly. while Indonesia does have regional polls like the Philippines, they also have polls based on ethnicity. [28]

CONCLUSION

The reason why I focus first on ethnicity is that it is the marker of identity which largely predates colonialism and the nation-state. One key defining characteristic of states, particularly in Asia, is how they define and organize ethnicity, which influences the type of nationalism they espouse, explicitly or implicitly.

FOOTNOTES

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