Andi Faisal Bakti
Paramadina and its Approach to Culture and Communication : an Engagement in Civil Society 0)
Introduction
A few months prior to the fall of the Berlin wall, Arief Budiman edited and published articles from a conference entitled "Civil Society" (1990), which were described as "prophetic" by Dawam Rahardjo (1999 : 10). In Indonesia, several similar events were organized, indicating a strong interest in this topic. These included the Muhammadiyah general assembly in December 1991, the IIP (Institut Ilmu Pemerintahan or Institute of Government Science) seminar of January 1995, and the AIPI (Asosiasi Ilmu Pemerintahan Indonesia or Association of Indonesian Government Scientists) held in the same month. The most important event, a national symposium within the " scientific forum" at the Istiqlal Festival (September 1995) in Jakarta, was attended by Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia.
In 1993, Amien Rais, president of Muhamadiyah, and a prominent reform (reformasi) leader, addressed the organization's general assembly meeting and demanded Soeharto's resignation. His call, repeated in 1997 at a meeting of the Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals Association (ICMI), upset not only Soeharto but Rais' own supporters. Rais was eventually sacked from the advisory board of ICMI and on May 21, 1998, Soeharto was also forced to step down by Rais supporters, among others.
1. This research was funded by the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden, the Netherlands, within the programme The Dissemination of Religious Authority in 20th Century Indonesia.
Archipel 68, Paris, 2004, pp. 315-341
