The Faculty of Cultural Science (Fakultas Ilmu Budaya/FIB) of Universitas Hasanuddin (Unhas) held a public lecturer entitled “Primordial Identity: Challenges in Multicultural Societies.” The webinar is part of the World-Class University Program.
Universitas Hasanuddin conducted this public lecture in collaboration with the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education (Ristekdikti) and Institut de Recherche Sur l’Asiel’Asie du Sud-Est Contemporary Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC). It was held virtually using the Zoom Meeting application at 15.00 WITA on Friday (03/09)
Andar Nabowo, DEA., Ph.D. Cand. from Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, France, was invited to present the topic on primordialism in multicultural societies like France and Indonesia.
“The public lecture was expected to broaden students’ knowledge and insight related to the multicultural society in Indonesia. We hope that the webinar can be a forum to expand our understanding and knowledge and be part of the Merdeka Pelajar Kampus Merdeka Program by the Ministry of Education,” added Prof. Akin.
Prof. dr. Muh. Nasrum Massi, Sp.MK, Ph.D., as the Vice-rector for Research, Innovation, and Partnership, officially opened the event. Prof. Nasrum also expressed his gratitude to the organizer and the diaspora, Mr. Nabowo, for participating in this virtual program. He hoped that we could collaboratively research to produce innovation in the near future, especially in social science, which has not met our goal.
“Therefore, we hope to increase and develop the research to contribute to community welfare,” explained Prof. Nasrum.
Mr. Andar Nabowo, who currently lives in Lyon, France, generally explained French and Indonesian culture that views secularism and freedom of expression on social bonds in the form of norms and customs and individual beliefs.
The multicultural society in France has existed for a long time. With the diversity in culture, beliefs, and political views, France is considered fragile and susceptible to conflict. Throughout history, the French government has been able to mitigate the possible scenario by implementing secularism. However, it still cannot avoid the growing primordialism in every community, especially in politics.
According to Mr. Nabowo, this also happened in Indonesia. As a multicultural country in ASEAN, Indonesia has experienced the growth of primordialism in politics and beliefs for the past decade, especially the 2019 election in Jakarta.
The public lecture was guided by Ilham Daeng Makkelo as moderator and went smoothly and was attended by approximately 450 participants.
Kumara Tungga Dewa, S.S.
Editor: Ishaq Rahman, AMIPR
