Papers (Part 1)

• Introduction: The Concept of Socioculture Vincent Houben Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
• Social Inequality and Sociocultures in Laos Boike Rehbein Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

  Current forms of social inequality are results of long historical processes. Even after deep social transformations, e.g. in the wake of wars or revolutions, earlier social structures do not simply disappear. They rather persist to some degree, while at the same time pre-structuring the forms of inequality that develop after the transformation. This is particularly evident in societies which experienced transformations only recently. Laos even experienced two such transformations, namely the socialist revolution in 1975 and the introduction of a market economy in 1986. The paper shows how social structures that developed before and after 1975 still shape the currently emerging structure of social classes, which is typical for capitalist societies. These persisting hierarchies are called sociocultures. The paper first introduces the concepts of socioculture and social class before proceeding to outline the two sociocultures in question and the contemporary structure of social classes.

• Social Inequality and Sociocultures in Vietnam Herrmann Königs Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

  This paper deals with the relevant sociocultures for contemporary social inequality in Vietnam and presents preliminary findings from 40 life-course interviews. The relevant structures that inform contemporary inequality in Vietnam are the village, Buddhist, Confucian, colonial, socialist and capitalist sociocultures. However, only the two latest sociocultures are relevant for the emerging structure of social classes. All sociocultures are still relevant on the symbolic level, while the Confucian socioculture still informs contemporary (patriarchal) gender and family structures. The land reform of 1953-56 in the socialist North and the Northern victory over the western-oriented South in 1975 meant a profound break with the previous Confucian and colonial social structures, at least on the level of class inequality. Both events aimed at ousting the previously powerful people while bringing those on the side of the communists to power, thereby establishing the rule of the communist party over all fields of society and introducing a socialist structure. A renovation process initiated since the mid-1980s, dubbed Doi Moi, introduced capitalism as a new form of social hierarchy. Thus, Vietnam’s current class structure is informed mainly by these two sociocultures. The party hierarchy is still the most relevant and powerful social structure, while the new domestic capitalists emanated entirely from upper positions in the party-state. Capitalism produced also a number of small-scale entrepreneurs as well as a marginalized group at the bottom of the social hierarchy, while leading to a re-evaluation of certain professions in the middle.

Papers (Part 2)

• Clashing Social Ontologies: A Sociological History of Political Violence in the Cambodian Elite Daniel Bultmann Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

  Using interviews with members of the elite, the paper analyzes the current Cambodian political elite as a fragmented social field with competing groups fighting for hegemonic control over the state apparatus. It traces the creation of these competing elite groups through a historical account of significant transformations within the social fabric of the political field. In doing so, it argues that transformations such as colonialism, anti-colonial strife, civil war and genocide, foreign occupation, and capitalism each led to the emergence of new elite groups with differing social ontologies – or views about what society is, how it is structured and what is part of that collective and what not – that shaped corresponding hierarchical structures, or sociocultures. There are elite groups with roots in the sociocultures of colonialism, of communism, of war culture and – most recently – of capitalist class transformation.

  Although this is similar in many ways to elite competition in other countries with similar histories, the history of elite transformation in Cambodia is unique due to the Khmer Rouge regime (1975–1979), which left large parts of the pre-Communist elite either dead or resettled in diaspora communities around the globe. After the end of the Khmer Rouge regime, a new political elite was created almost out of thin air by the Vietnamese occupation force. This new elite heavily relied on mid-range cadres of the Khmer Rouge and former so-called Khmer Vietminh, most of whom did not have an elite background. This deep fissure in the country’s elite still forms the basis of political violence in Cambodia today. Since 1979, the artificially created new elite has clashed with members of the old elite in various ways. During the waning days of the Cold War, it took the form of a civil war between a collection of old elites against the new elite under Hun Sen. Later, the return of the old elites to the political field after the UNTAC peace mission began in 1992 led to fierce competition for (scarce) state resources. This conflict led to a constant ebb and flow of expulsions from the political field. Instead of viewing the Cambodian political elite as monolithic, the presentation explains the history of political violence in Cambodia through the lens of competing elites with roots in different sociocultures and social ontologies.

• Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Initiative in Indonesia Arianti Ina Restini Hunga Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana

  The progress of Indonesia in the last decade has been impressive, but there are issues of particular concern, mainly pertaining to religious intolerance (Wahid Institute 2015: 26), gender inequality (UNDP, 2018), social exclusion, and environmental destruction. As Indonesia progresses towards higher-income status, many of the poor are trapped in precarious employment relative to other emerging economies, particularly women (gender inequality) (OECD, 2018). This fact, in turn, requires serious attention, particularly from higher education, in order to assume an active role in producing & sharing of values of pluralism, justice, peace, and sustainability. This paper aims to explain higher education initiatives in integrating Gender Equality & Social Inclusion (GESI) in education, research & community service activities, especially related to politics, environment & natural resources. The study was conducted using focus group discussions, in-depth interview, & secondary data. GESI analysis was conducted to understand and critical reflection on GESI initiation in education & teaching, research, and community service programs. At the level of education institutions, especially higher education, the issues of GESI have not been included in the curriculum, teaching, research, and community service. There are relatively few studies and community services activities funded by the Kemenristekdikti for the period of 2013-2017 that deal with GESI. But there is a relatively high number of females awarded chairs in the GESI program. Theoretically the number may be potential in boosting the research and programs related to GESI. The GESI Initiative faces the obstacles: 1) GESI is not clearly stated as a national priority; 2) lack of knowledge and / or skill in integrating GESI into every existing scheme; 3) insufficient number of proposal reviewers who are knowledgeable and competent of GESI; and 4) the patriarchal norms. Although GESI has a strong basis in government policy but not yet an integrated part of the state policy implementation such as the National Development Plan. In line with that, higher education has not yet fully committed to integrate GESI into management and the three higher obligations of education (education, research, and community services). Even though the numbers are relatively small, there is a movement from the 'bottom' – lecturers / researchers who already have a GESI perspective. They are active personally, as a group, and through the women's / gender / child / disability study centres, which are integrating GESI in educational & teaching activities, research, community service & publications.

• Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Social Areas: Issues and Policy in Indonesia Keppi Sukesi Universitas Brawijaya

  Gender issues occurred from the Patriarchate system can be seen in the phenomena of gender bias, stereotype, subordination, and gender-based marginalization. A gender gap results in the women isolation including in social areas. This research aims to: 1. Identify issues of gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) in social areas. 2. Map strategic on GESI . 3. Formulate policies for community empowerment based on GESI in Indonesia. The research method used is secondary data study from Directorate General of Research and Public Service, Higher Education, social field policy study in East Java, and focus group discussion (FDG) with Social Service and Women Empowerment in Malang city. The results showed that there are seven priorities of GESI Malang and national level namely poverty, social action and behavioral deviation, disability, corruption, disaster victims, alienation, and victims of violence. The FDG showed that gender-based poverty becomes a problem, depicted by many poor women, gender and social transparency including violence againts children and domestic violence. Strategic planning of Social Ministry data in 2015 showed an increasing social children problems in 2013 estimated by 6,9888 compared to 6,271 in 2012. Of the 84 million children in Indonesia, 6.76% is displaced. 1.5 million girls suffered physical abused of 1.5 million; 1.2 million suffered emotional violence; and another 600,000 had sexual violence. Gender and disability become one of the 2015-2019 Social Ministry strategic plans. Disability is no longer considered as a medical problem, but also a social issues. Based on Indonesia Central Statistics agency data, the disability level in 2015 reached 9 million people or about 4.74 % of the total population in Indonesia. The disability number is balanced between women and men. Last problems are women trafficking and young marriage in Malang. In conclusion, GESI issues should be prioritised to solve. Therefore, women and children protection agencies should formulate appropriate policies.

• The Sociocultural Making of the Inequality Under China’s Reform Lumin Fang Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

  The initiation of the reform and opening up in China since the late 1970s has given rise to an emerging stratified society. This paper tries to understand the inequality under China’s reform from a sociocultural perspective. Firstly, it utilizes multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) to quantitatively represent the underlying structure of Chinese society through data from the 2015 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS). It is found that the configuration of social stratification under China’s reform is, to some extent, reproduced from the state-socialist hierarchical system that persists as a socioculture. This paper further examines how the reproduction of inequality happens under China’s reform. It argues that the reproduction of inequality is assisted by Chinese citizens’ habitus acquired through the socialist hierarchical relations. In particular, some state-socialist hierarchical arrangements are maintained in the form of symbolic inequalities under China’s reform, and are defined together as a socialist socioculture that is hypothesized to mediate human practice in a market environment. Following the findings of the quantitative study, this hypothetical mechanism is reconfirmed by a series of qualitative interviews. With regard to the qualitative research, two things are under exploration: (1) What ideal habitus types can be constructed in a transforming society; (2) how are these habitus types linked to social class situations in a market environment?

Abstract

Keywords

• Bourdieu
• Social Structure
• Theory