Collaboration or Liberalisation? Predicaments of Academia in the Indonesian Science System

The transition toward knowledge society in Southeast Asia shows mixed result in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia (see: Evers 2003; Hornidge 2007; Hornidge 2012). This paper asks amid this transition on the one hand, and further integration to a market based system, on the other; how does this affect the (disciplinary, scientific) knowledge production of academia? The study is based on an empirical fieldwork carried out in Indonesia in 2010-2011. It is situated in Science, Technology and Society (STS) discourse, whilst at the same time taking insights from area studies. Universities and public research institutes are facing predicaments and challenges due to the characters and the increasing liberalisation of Indonesian science system. The paper contends that there is a disruption of disciplinary and scientific knowledge production of academia in Indonesia due to normativities and policy prescriptions of state funded research, practices of policy-makers and actors of science system, and market liberalisation.