Strategy to Preserve Local Culture vs. Globalization

Strategy to Increase the Durability of Local Culture in Facing the Current of Globalization ABSTRACT Facing serious threats in the era of globalization for local culture. The rapid development of information and communication technology has turned developed countries into developing countries, including Indonesia. However, there is a problem where this culture does not match what Indonesian society adheres to. These values and identities are the underlying elements of culture, so strategies are needed to resolve current problems to save local culture. This strategy re-develops our national identity, understands the culture of identity, organizes actions to protect local culture, and uses information technology to introduce this local culture. INTRODUCTION Along with the rapid development of communication and information technology, the flow of globalization is increasingly spreading to all corners of the world. This spread took place very quickly and widely, without any obstacles, whether in developed countries with high economic levels or developing countries with low economic levels. The development of communication and information technology and the magnitude of globalization are two processes that are interconnected with each other. Both are equally supportive. Globalization is an inevitable phenomenon (Scholte 2001). Like it or not, all groups of society must accept the fact that globalization is a deadly virus which will have a negative impact on the existence of local culture, because globalization is being promoted by developed countries out there which have local cultures that are different from local Indonesian culture. We admit that the main role in the globalization process today is developed countries. These developed countries are trying to export their local culture to spread it to other countries to become a global culture. It is very easy for developed countries to do this because developed countries have mastered the flow of globalization. So at the same time, developing countries cannot spread their local culture because of tight competition with developed countries, which means that developing countries can only watch the development of developed countries. With the influx of local culture in this era of globalization, this country has become a serious threat to local culture in Indonesia. Traditional arts are threatened by pop culture typical of developed countries increasingly popular among Indonesian people. In conditions like this, if we respond incorrectly to globalization it will result in the disappearance of local Indonesian culture. Implementing the wrong strategy to maintain local culture can result in local culture being increasingly shunned by Indonesian society. And this is a big problem nowadays. According to Saidi (1998), this process has been going on for a long time, starting with the era of Indonesian liberation during the era of President Soeharto. Since this time, foreign culture entered Indonesia at the same time as other influences. Then, Wilhelm (2000) thought that the destruction of local culture had begun as information technology develops. At that time, information consumption became unlimited. A time when what is haram becomes halal, because small children can easily access adult sites, and hedonism is adored by teenagers. Therefore, in this era, the test that local culture must face is how to maintain its existence in this era of globalization, so the right strategy is needed to strengthen local culture. THE RELATIONSHIP OF GLOBALIZATION AND CULTURE Jan Aart Scholte (2001) observes the globalization process through five indicators: (1) internationalization, (2) economic liberalization, (3) westernization, (4) democratization, and (5) deterritorialization. Among these five indicators, this paper focuses on the concepts of internationalization, westernization and deterritorialization. Internationalization refers to events in one region that can influence events in other regions. In essence, this concept emphasizes the concept of information and closeness between elements of society. Meanwhile, westernization is the diffusion of Western values into local values. This is indicated by the waning of local culture and the tendency towards homogeneity of world culture. Meanwhile, deterritorialization refers to the waning role of the state as an actor. The fading role primarily affects individual freedom. Individuals who are free to interact and take any action will certainly make it easier for outside influences to enter. This is different when the state's power is still real, which allows for efforts to filter culture from outside. The beginning of the era of globalization itself is still debated. There are at least three opinion regarding when globalization emerged (Balaam 2001). The first is the early period of mercantilism around the 16th to 17th centuries. This era was marked by at least an important event, namely the birth of the nation-state after the Westphalian agreement (Jackson 2005). With the birth of this new country, of course the stability of the country is something that is certain. Even though conditions at that time were new countries implementing strict protectionism. Because of this, economic interaction between one country and another becomes increasingly difficult. This is what then gave rise to new concepts called colonialism and imperialism. This period emerged with the mottos gold, gospel, and glory (Gilpin 1987). These new countries that need an injection of economic income are looking for other areas outside their territory to become gold mines. However, apart from looking for gold, they also have another mission, namely spreading religion (which can be broadly interpreted as culture) and also glory their country. This journey beyond the country is what some experts consider to be the beginning of globalization. The second opinion is from around the 1970s. At this time, economic interdependence between one country and another is increasingly felt. The movement of money from one country to another is accelerating. Interestingly, unlike economic law, the commodity being traded at this time is money itself. Trading is done only via computer. This period is often called the stock market period. This increasingly sophisticated economic development turns out to be closely related to other areas of life. One of the requirements during this period is liberalization in every field. Without liberalization, a country will be isolated from international relations and will experience its own difficulties. The implication is that this liberalization will change a country's political system and also the character of its society. This liberalization period is what is called the initial period of globalization. The third opinion is the period when the internet began to develop in the 1990s. Through the internet, shopping transactions between one person and another company outside the country can occur. Through the internet too, the flow of information and communication is increasingly unstoppable. The internet can also influence a country's political policies. In short, the internet can minimize -even eliminate- the role of the state (Scholte 2001). This increasingly sophisticated development makes the world seem to be becoming something homogeneous. Likewise with shared values that exist in society. This internet era is considered by some experts to be the beginning of real globalization. In line with this development, the values of globalization are increasingly influencing the lives of people around the world, including sociocultural life. Culture must then be forced to accommodate the influence of globalization. Culture itself is defined by Bourdieu (Bourdieu in Soedarsono 1999) as a map of a place, as well as a journey to that place. Maps are rules and conventions, while travel is actual action. What is called cultural awareness is the feeling of negotiating the rules of that culture, aimed at choosing our way into a culture of action is our action towards cultural awareness. The map contains all understandings, values, norms, knowledge and all social, religious structures, as well as all intellectual and artistic statements that are characteristic of a society (Eppink in Soedarsono 1999). Apart from that, it also stores knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs and other abilities that a person acquires as a member of society (Taylor in Soedarsono 1999). It is not surprising that Selo Soemardjan and Soelaiman Soemardi (in Soedarsono 1999) stated that culture is a means of the work, taste and creation of society. PATTERNS OF ABSORPTION OF FOREIGN CULTURE When the internet developed, that was when the flow of communication and information from all corners of the world crossed nation-state boundaries very quickly, which also marked the beginning of pressure on local culture. Facing the pressure of globalization, local culture has various ways to maintain its existence. Paul S.N. (Lee 1991 in Goonasekera et al. 1996: 98-99) found that there are four ways that local culture responds to foreign culture brought by globalization. First, parrot pattern; is a pattern of completely absorbing foreign culture in its form and content, such as the parrot which completely imitates the human voice without paying attention to its meaning or significance. Second, amoeba pattern; is a pattern of absorbing foreign culture by maintaining its content but changing its form, similar to amoeba which appears in different forms but the substance remains the same. For example, foreign television programs presented by local presenters so that they do not give the impression of imported programs. Third, coral pattern; is a pattern of absorbing foreign culture by maintaining its form but changing its content, according to the character of the coral. For example, a song is played with a foreign melody but the lyrics are in the local language. Fourth, butterfly pattern; is a pattern of total absorption of foreign culture so that the differences between foreign culture and local culture become invisible. Just like butterfly (butterly) metamorphosis which takes a long time, this pattern also takes a long time. GLOBALIZATION AND CULTURAL LOCALITY In line with the development of information and communication technology, globalization which goes hand in hand with modernization spreads to all corners of the world as an inevitable process. Globalization driven by information technology Communication is playing out a social revolution that is permeating all corners of life. It blurs the traditional boundaries that distinguish business, media and education, overhauling the structure of the business world, encouraging meaning trade and investment, health, entertainment, government, work patterns, trade, production patterns, even patterns of relations between communities and between individuals. This is a challenge for all nations, communities and individuals throughout the world (Justiani 2009). A world without borders as a consequence of globalization encourages people to unite as a world community that is increasingly connected through the internet network and other communication tools. Geographically, the communities are far apart, but they can communicate quickly so that the relationship feels closer. As a result, cultural traffic between world regions runs smoothly without significant obstacles. The boundaries of state sovereignty are unable to prevent the entry of culture from other countries even though they have that culture big difference. The entry of foreign culture into a country cannot be limited by strict binding rules because the globalization of information and communication is able to overcome this. There are no large funds that need to be budgeted to make a country's local culture metamorphose into a global culture that is embraced by the world community. Simply by mastering information and communication technology, a country can exporting its culture throughout the world. In the global era, this is what many large countries such as the United States, Japan, England, Germany, France and developed countries in the European region are doing but which countries are unable to do developing like Indonesia. The situation that then emerged was that Indonesia became one of the potential markets for the development of foreign culture belonging to powerful developed countries. This situation threatens local cultures that have long been a tradition in the sociocultural life of Indonesian society. Local culture is faced with competition with foreign culture to become the culture adopted by society in order to maintain its existence. The resilience of local culture is being tested in the face of the global penetration of foreign culture. The problem is that the resilience of local culture is relatively weak in facing the invasion of foreign culture. Slowly but surely, local culture is losing interest because people tend to use foreign culture which is considered more modern. When problems arise, there must be a strategy to ward them off. The most appropriate strategy to strengthen the resilience of local culture is to absorb the good and superior aspects of foreign culture to combine with local culture so that there is a combination that still maintains the image of local culture. LOCAL CULTURAL PROBLEMATICS IN THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION The problems faced by local culture in the past were much different compared to today. In the past, globalization has occurred in different models. The history of the 5th century records that the establishment of local culture which was an accumulation of the culture of the surrounding community was incorporated into Hindu traditions and culture. In the 13th century, Muslim traditions also entered local culture. This was addressed with a natural acculturation process without engineering, giving birth to a new culture with Hindu and Islamic nuances that were uniquely Indonesian. Dutch colonialism starting in the 16th century shifted local culture closer to the West. However, this shift did not produce significant changes. In Javanese culture, for example, the cultural strategy is 'ngeli without ngeli' (driving away but not really drifting away in the face of the changing waves of the times) has proven successful in warding off the flow of foreign culture (Suryanti 2007). However, the past situation is clearly different from the present. The mode and scale of globalization have changed. Now, the world is experiencing the 4T Revolution (Technology, Telecommunication, Transportation, Tourism) which has a dominant globalizing force so that boundaries between regions are increasingly blurred and has led to the creation of a global village as predicted by McLuhan (Saptadi 2008). This condition raises the problem of the erosion of cultural heritage. Concrete evidence of the fading of cultural heritage can be seen, among other things, in clothing styles, language styles and information technology. Mini skirts are considered more beautiful than tight clothes. Regional languages, even national languages, are being replaced by foreign languages. On various occasions it is often seen that people prefer to use English because it is seen as more modern. People's consumption patterns have also shifted to fast food which can be found in restaurants. Pizza, spaghetti, hamburgers, fried chicken are considered more attractive than local food. This variety of food offers practicality. The public assesses that globalization has encouraged the creation of speed, efficiency, effectiveness which leads to practicality in all things. Not only in food, globalized foreign culture also offers practicality in dressing by simply wearing shirts, tshirts, trousers and skirts. On the other hand, local culture is considered too complicated. In native Javanese culture, people are encouraged to wear beskap and kebaya, which take a long time to wear (Suryanti 2007). Such patterns implement many complex rules. The problem is, rules that are too strict as part of a cultural ritual are considered to limit people's freedom. People who are carried away by globalization want freedom of expression. Complicated and expensive ritual ceremonies are considered inconsistent with the expressiveness that society wishes to express. The desire to violate the ritual cannot be accommodated by local culture, but is very easily facilitated by foreign culture. Foreign cultures certainly do not recognize ritual ceremonies in phases of life such as birth, marriage, pregnancy and death. The desire not to do so is categorized as a violation. On the other hand, electronic media is always flooded with Mandarin, Bollywood and Hollywood films. Local shopping places do not meet needs, so shopping trips abroad have become a culture, even though they are expensive. That means the process of imitation of foreign culture will continue. In it there is an attempt to homogenize culture which does not pay attention to intercultural heterogeneity. STRATEGIES FOR FACING GLOBALIZATION It cannot be denied that the increasingly rapid flow of globalization is a threat to the existence of local Indonesian culture. This could be a threat to Indonesia considering the risk of Indonesia's position in the global community. Globalization cannot be prevented, its effects must not be ignored. This local culture must also be strengthened in its resilience in this era of globalization of foreign cultures. If we as Indonesian people are powerless to face this, it will result in the disappearance of local cultural identity. People actually have to respond to this globalization well for the sake of the country's progress, but local cultural actors should not be careless in this era of globalization, which can also produce negative impacts that can later damage the nation's culture. However, rejecting globalization is also not justified, because it could hinder the progress of the country itself. So the following appropriate strategy is needed. * DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL SELF-IDENTITY Efforts to develop the identity of the Indonesian nation, including respect for cultural and linguistic values, the values of social solidarity, kinship and love for the country are felt to be fading. Local culture that is more in line with national character is increasingly difficult to find, while global culture is more easily penetrated. So far, what has been caught by society is only a lifestyle that leads to westernization, not a modern lifestyle. Therefore, national identity as a societal identity value must be built firmly and internalized deeply. The way to do this is by instilling local wisdom values from an early age in the younger generation. Education plays an important role here, so cultural teaching needs to be included in the national education curriculum and taught since elementary school. It must be understood that local wisdom values are not outdated values that are outdated and therefore abandoned, but can be synergistic with universal values and modern values brought by globalization. The international world really demands that democracy, human rights, and the environment become development agendas in every country. These issues can synergize with the actualization of the cultural philosophy 'hamemayu hayuning Bawana' which teaches people to behave and behave in a way that always prioritizes harmony, harmony and balance in the relationship between humans and nature, humans and humans and humans and God in carrying out life and life so that the country becomes long, arbor, gemah ripah loh jinawi, karta tur raharja (Suryanti 2007). A honed human mind will always produce things that are good and even noble in the form of desires and actions or works of art (Suryanti 2007). In this case, it is hoped that humans can continuously give birth to good or noble thoughts or desires in order to contribute to human interests or great interests, including protecting or preserving the world as a whole. Work ethic and professionalism can be synergistic with the philosophy of 'sepi ing pamrih rame ing gawe' (work actively without thinking about yourself). Establishing peaceful conditions in relationships with other countries so that security stability can be created at the sub-regional, regional and even world levels, which should be achieved by applying the concept of 'surrender without reinforcements, win without despair' (Suryanti 2007). The unavoidable globalization must be anticipated with cultural development characterized by strengthening identity and local wisdom which is used as a basis for formulating strategies for preserving and developing culture. Efforts to strengthen regional identity can be done through instilling cultural and historical values of shared fate among residents. Therefore, it is necessary to revitalize regional culture and strengthen regional culture. Building a culture that is characterized by strengthening identity has the character and nature of interdependence or has cross-sectoral, spatial, multidimensional structural, interdisciplinary linkages, relies on society as the basic strength by utilizing the potential for high equity resources. The character of cultural development effectively embraces and mobilizes all elements in facing the era of globalization which opens up cross-cultural and cross-cultural processes that are sustainability will bring together one cultural values with another (Saptadi 2008). * UNDERSTANDING CULTURAL PHILOSOPHY An understanding of cultural philosophy is also needed in order to follow up on the development of national identity. This step must be implemented as soon as possible by local communities in order to strengthen the process of preserving local culture. Therefore, improving quality is very necessary to support the continuity of improvement and learning of local and national languages. Competent educators in this field are a valuable asset and very important in the process of understanding this cultural philosophy. Cultural stakeholders must also contribute to the development of regional arts. Art performances in the regions must be held. There must be a routine scheduling for each performance which must remain under the supervision of cultural developers in the existing area. This is also helped by print media and others to strengthen the implementation of this art performance. In this case, the contribution of all parties is needed in the development of local culture. And anyone who makes a big contribution in it must be appreciated for their appreciation and dedication. * PUBLISHING REGIONAL REGULATIONS Basically, culture is a work which must be protected by law which must be followed by all groups of society which contains ideas, traditions, cultural values and behavior which will later add to our nation's valuable assets. If there are no strict laws, it will become a big worry and cause local culture to be abandoned by society as time progresses. Therefore, local governments are required to issue regulations governing the preservation of local culture in their government areas. The public's concern is really being paid attention to because the threat is right in front of their eyes. Therefore, the government has an important role in issuing regulations to preserve local culture. This regulation must include patent rights for local culture so that it is not recognized by other countries. It is necessary to build an information center that combines various aspects of art to strengthen cultural competitiveness. * UTILIZATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Foreign culture managed to enter Indonesia and influence it development of local culture in optimally utilizing advances in information technology. In this era, those who master information technology will have a greater opportunity to dominate world civilization compared to those who are weak. So, the strategy that must be implemented is to utilize this technological progress as a form of preserving or defending local culture. This local culture will have high added value if it is adapted to the development of communication and information media. Efforts are also needed to make this media a means of promoting local culture. If this is implemented, this will increase the role of local Indonesian culture at the world level.