1 DYNAMISM OF BUGIS COMMUNITY IN BADUNG REGENCY AND DENPASAR CITY I Putu Gede Suwitha Department of History Faculty of Letters and Culture Udayana University email: putusuwitha@yahoo.com ABSTRACT The Bugis community in Badung Regency and Denpasar City had played political and economic roles for a long time. Historically, its existence had never been disputed as it had a political entity as its patron. In addition, cultural exchange in many social, political and economic activities also contributed to this, causing the relationship among ethnic groups became collaborative rather than competitive. This present study was conducted using qualitative and descriptive method. The data were collected through in - depth interview. What the informants knew about the Bugis community was collected using this technique. The information which needed to be deepened was continued using interpretative and practical approaches. The result of the present study showed that the Bugis community had played political and economic roles for a long time. It also showed that it was contributive to the Balinese community. They made adjustment and adaptation economically and culturally. It formed an identity which was not given but was adjusted to what was needed. They established public spaces where they could establish multicultural life and blew up the local values of the Balinese culture. Now the Bugis people became marginalized (subaltern). As subaltern, they were not able to express themselves. The factors which caused them not to be able to express themselves were their inability to follow the economic change as they were too weak to compete and their inability to compete in tourism in Bali. Keywords: identity, subaltern, marginalization, multiculturalism. INTRODUCTION The role played by the Bugis people in Badung Regency had taken place since the kingdom era. This had never been a problem as there was a political entity which became their patron. Historically, the scarcity of human resources with particular competencies such as traders, politicians and business persons made the Bugis people the choice. Then, there were cooperation and social contact through cultural brokers such as ‘haji’ (those who have made pilgrimage to Mecca), ‘ulama’ (Muslim leader), and other leaders. They made cultural contacts, took and gave cultural elements from one another. Then this developed as a means of approaching themselves to establish a multicultural community. They made acculturation and cultural adaptation in order to mailto:putusuwitha@yahoo.com 2 maintain their existence. The Bugis people flexibly adapted to the dominant Balinese culture. Actually, this was their basic capital for maintaining their existence among the Balinese people who are Hindus for hundreds of years. One of the characteristics of the diaspora people is that they are very good at using their identity as needed. How a culture is put into practice and how it is created is part of the perspective of cultural studies. In other words, as far as the present study is concerned, how culture was put into practice by the Bugis people to resist the hegemonic culture. Their identity was not seen when they were in public spaces where they sat and got together friendly. They gave priority to real life rather than abstract life as ideology. As a result, multicultural life and “Bhineka Tunggal Ika” (unity in diversity) came true and, in fact, they blew up the Balinese/local values. This dissertation would like to reveal how the dynamism of the Bugis community appeared in Badung Regency and Denpasar City, the factors contributing the social dynamism and interrelation between the Bugis community and Balinese community, and the meaning of the social dynamism of the Bugis community nowadays. This present study was conducted at the Bugis residences living in Badung Regency and Denpasar City, and was intended to explore and explain the existence of the Bugis people in Badung Regency and Denpasar City. From the perspective of cultural studies, the current existence of the Bugis community could explain the cultural practices taking place in the interaction between the Bugis community and Balinese community. It was expected that the result of the present study could help the government formulate the policy which might regulate the inter relation among ethnic groups and the policy which might regulate social and political matters. RESEARCH METHOD This present study is an interpretative and qualitative study. The main instrument was the researcher (human instrument). The qualitative method used in the present study included three stages; the stage in which the data were collected through in -depth interview, observation, and documentation study; the stage in which the data were analyzed and interpreted, and the stage in which the data were presented. RESULT AND DISCUSSION The result of analysis of problem one showed that the appearance of the Bugis residences in Badung Regency and Denpasar City commenced the role played by the 3 Bugis community in the Balinese political-economic constellation. The Bugis Residences with their Islamic characteristics developed the Bugis tradition and culture adhered to by the Bugis people living in South Sulawesi, where they came from. There was a power relation between the Bugis community and the palace and government. This could be seen from the political practices put into by the palace and government towards the Bugis people. According to Foucault, the relation of power is always related to knowledge. Power requires relationship such as political relationship. Foucault (19XX) successfully relates the theory of discourse and struggle to real practices (Lubis, 2006: 231). Pierre Bourdieu (1991: 163) adds that the type of power is the symbolic power. The Bugis diaspora community could not be separated from the multicultural community in Bali. It then “blew-up” the Balinese values such as ‘menyama braya’ (brothershood), ‘ngejot’ (giving food to one another when they have celebrations), ‘saling seluk’ (getting mixed with one another). Historically, the Serangan sea played a central role out of a number of the sea unit systems), such as trading, shipping, harbor, cultural communication. The Serangan Sea functioned as the “hintersea”, meaning the back area supplying the hinterland needs). The result of analysis of problem two showed that the factors contributing to the dynamism of the Bugis community were political, economic and cultural factors. Politically, since the kingdom era, the Bugis people played a crucial role. Although they were a minority ethnic group, they always had political leaders regionally and nationally. Economically, the Bugis people played an important role as well since the kingdom era. The developmental hegemony and global tourism caused the Bugis people to be marginalized especially in economy. According to them, tourism was strange and was considered negative. Apart from political and economic factors which supported the crucial role played by the Bugis people, the cultural factors might not be neglected. The specific leadership which gave priority to ability (achievement) was the cultural factor. The flexible social layer made those coming from the lower class the high social class due to wealth (vertical mobility). In addition, the network of the Bugis family tree was very wide. It followed both the father and mother. According to Pelras (2006), the Bugis people were the modern ethnic group from the East, almost the same as the Europeans which adhere to the bilateral family tree. Such a wide kinship relation led to solidarity, loyalty, responsibility and interdependent cooperation. They also protected the local people who 4 became their friends, and themselves. In addition, they also used their identity as needed. The result of analysis of problem three showed that the dynamism of the Bugis people contained political meaning, democratic meaning, multicultural meaning, the meaning of marginalization, and the meaning of dynamism. What was intended by the political meaning was that the Bugis people struggled hard to be dominant for the sake of their economic sustainability. Sometimes they struggled coercively and bravely. What was meant by the democratic meaning was that they were developing equality and egalitarian society. Getting mixed and high solidarity referred to the multicultural meaning. The meaning of dynamism meant that they Bugis people always worked hard where they were. The fact that they were never frustrated was reflected from their habit of leaving their home to live in other regions (pasompe). The meaning of marginalization in the constellation of globalized and capitalistic life meant that they could not compete; as a result they became marginalized or subaltern as conceptualized by Gayatri Spivak (19XX). CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION Based on the results of the study, it could be concluded that the role played by the Bugis people in establishing the relation of power was indicated by the appearance of the Islamic Bugis residences in the southern coast of Bali. Then they developed a multicultural life. The factors encouraging such dynamism were political factor, economic factor, and cultural factor. The dynamism of the Bugis people had several meanings; they are: political meaning, democratic meaning, multicultural meaning, dynamic meaning, and the meaning of marginalization. Based on the conclusions described above, it is suggested that diversity (multicultural community) should be well maintained in order to maintain the ethics of collective life and diversity. More public spaces and the spaces in which dialogues may be held should be created. The normative base of diversity, that is, the five principles “Pancasila”, which is line with the multicultural life, should be redefined. Tourism should be internationalized to the Bugis people. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In this opportunity, the writer would like to thank Prof. Dr. I Gde Parimartha, MA, as supervisor, Prof. Dr. I Wayan Ardika, M.A. and Prof. Dr. I Nyoman Kutha Ratna, S.U., 5 as co-supervisor 1 and co-supervisor 2 for their patience, time and ideas; otherwise, this dissertation could not have been completed. Thanks are also extended to Drs. Haji Ahmad Sastra, M.Pd, as the key informant, and the other informants for the data provided. A word of appreciation should also go to the other parties which cannot be mentioned one by one. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bourdieu, Pierre. 1991. Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lubis, Akhyar Yusuf. 2004. Masih Adakah Tempat Berpijak Bagi Para Ilmuan. Bogor: Akademia. Pelras, Cristian. 2006. Manusia Bugis (terjemahan). Jakarta: Nalar. Suwitha, I Putu Gede. 2013. “Dinamika Masyarakat Bugis di Kabupaten Badung dan Kota Denpasar”, disertasi, Program Doktor, Program Studi Kajian Budaya, Program Pascasarjana, Universitas Udayana, Denpasar.