"Drawing on the concept of 'imagined community' as the basis for national identity (Anderson, 2006), this study examines a case of educational policy reform and resistance to it in which contested visions of national identity played a central role. The policy in question was adopted as part of Indonesia's National Education Law of 2003. It established a special category of schools known as Rintisan Sekolah Bertaraf Internasional (RSBI) (or Pilot International Standards School) in order to improve the quality of public education in Indonesia. For piloting, a selection of existing schools were transformed into International Standards Schools and were expected to enrich their curriculum under the influence of more highly developed countries. After 7 years of implementation, the constitutionality of these schools was challenged in the Constitutional Court. Six critical education issues constituted the core of the case: the constitutional requirement for the government to "smarten" the life of the nation, government responsibility for organizing and financing the education system, the charge that the government had created a dual education system whereas the Constitution required a unitary system, allegations of 'liberalization' (understood as creating a market system in education), the question of whether the new schools had led to discrimination and a 'caste' system, and finally the implications for national identity. Each side in the court case had the opportunity to present its vision of Indonesia in defense of its position. The RSBI trial is therefore a case in which we can look at how different elements of the nation bring different imaginations to bear on how they envision Indonesia as a nation, as a country. On one side, the petitioners envision Indonesia as a nation strongly united to maintain its rootedness in the country's cultural values and history, and not overly influenced by trends and conditions outside the country. On the other side, the government is seeing the nation from the "outside" looking in. Instead of focusing so much on the inner strengths that Indonesia already had, the government wanted to develop the knowledge and competencies (inspired by other nations) needed to enable Indonesia to play an important role internationally. In January 2013, after hearing these arguments, the Court reached a surprising decision in which it ruled against the government on all counts. The RSBI schools were promptly abolished and turned back into regular schools. In my view after studying the case, there was no need to rule so completely in favor of one side and against the other. Another way of imagining Indonesian national identity would be to see Indonesia as part of the global community, participating actively at the international level while still being rooted in its culture and values. Indonesians can identify with both of these imaginations without compromising their unity and national identity. In addition to this analysis of contesting visions of national identity, this study gives the English speaking reader a needed opportunity to understand how the Constitutional Court works. After being established in 2003, the court has played an important role in the transition to democracy. The RSBI court case is a landmark of democracy in education in Indonesia because for the first time in history Indonesian people used the court system to defeat the government."--Pages ii-iii.
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