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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 3

Publication Date: March 25, 2023

DOI:10.14738/assrj.103.14179.

Yuniar, R., Syafera, A., Yamin, A., & Said, M. (2023). Contruction of Wawasan Nusantara as a Means of Filtering Foreign Cultures

in The Border Areas of Jayapura, Indonesia. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(3). 76-88.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Contruction of Wawasan Nusantara as a Means of Filtering

Foreign Cultures in The Border Areas of Jayapura, Indonesia

Ririt Yuniar

Faculty of Communication Sciences, Universitas Pancasila &

a Professional of National Defense Institute of Indonesia, Indonesia

Arkan Syafera

Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Cultural Sciences,

Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia

Ade Yamin

Department of Constitutional Law of Fattahul Muluk State Islamic Institute,

Papua, Indonesia

Mashadi Said

Faculty of Communication Sciences, Universitas Pancasila, Indonesia

Abstract

Instead of foreign culture enriching the way of life and perspective of local people,

its existence has actually weakened the position of local culture. The position of

foreign culture is no longer side by side with local culture, but its "beats". Here, local

existence is not higher than foreign culture. As a counter to such a massive

expansion of foreign culture, Indonesia actually has a Wawasan Nusantara which is

a view that every Indonesian must have it as a pride for their own nation. It also

meas a way for Indonesia to see itself (geographically) as a unified whole from the

aspects of ideology, politics, economy, socio-culture, security, and defense.

Referring to it, this study seeks to analyze the construction of Wawasan Nusantara

in the border areas to filter foreign cultural exposure, especially by using a human

communication approach. During the research period, the values of Wawasan

Nusantara were communicated to the border communities to further see what the

community was doing. The data was then collected using a mixed method, namely

quantitative and qualitative methods that reinforce each other. The results showed

that the implementation of the Wawasan Nusantara had an effect in filtering foreign

cultural exposure in the border area between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea,

namely Skouw in Jayapura. Therefore, Wawasan Nusantara can be a solution for

managing the exposure to foreign cultures in general. The strategy that can be

implemented is strengthening local intelligence to increase public awareness of the

dangers posed by destructive foreign cultures and the importance of tightening

security in Indonesia's border areas.

Keywords: Wawasan Nusantara, border area, foreign culture, local intelligence, human

communication

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Yuniar, R., Syafera, A., Yamin, A., & Said, M. (2023). Contruction of Wawasan Nusantara as a Means of Filtering Foreign Cultures in The Border Areas

of Jayapura, Indonesia. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(3). 76-88.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.103.14179

INTRODUCTION

Tens of thousands of islands stretching from Sabang to Merauke are equipped with various

cultures in them. The Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics (2020: 3) reports that Indonesia

has a total of 16,056 islands when viewed by province. Indonesia also earned the nickname

"nusantara". The nickname “nusantara” etymologically stems from the word “nusa” which

means “island”, and “antara” which means “distance relationship” (Himam, 2020: 81).

Nusantara shows the fact that Indonesia has islands that are separated by distance, but are

united in a national philosophy. As an archipelagic country, Indonesia is bordered by several

foreign countries. Foreign culture is like a double-edged sword, on the one hand it provides

positive benefits and on the other hand it provides negative benefits. The entry of a destructive

foreign culture also slowly produces humans who are reluctant to work together, intolerance,

and apathetic (Ruslan, 2015: 1-2). Exposure to foreign culture is very easy to enter Indonesia

through border areas because of its strategic position and directly dealing with outside

ideologies (Agustan and Agustan, 2017: 266). This raises concerns about the decline of noble

values in Indonesia.

Jayapura—the provincial capital of Papua as well as an area directly bordering the state of

Papua New Guinea—also experiences problems on several sides. Reporting from

https://www.papuatoday.com (2019), the Jayapura City Police Narcotics Investigation Unit

during January-July 2019 managed to uncover 39 cases of abuse of narcotics, especially

cannabis. All of the cannabis originates from Papua New Guinea, which is smuggled through

Jayapura waters and the border rat route. Another foreign culture that is also not in accordance

with the views of the archipelago and the ideals of the nation is the act of adultery. Such deviant

practices will continue to occur when there is no counter as soon as possible. This is also

corroborated by the findings of Ahmad and Glaister (2011) that exposure to foreign culture has

had an impact on increasing social inequality and increasing rates of crime such as drugs and

juvenile delinquency. By applying Berger and Luckman's theoretical framework, this paper

aims to frame and categorize the actions and interactions between the state—through its

representatives—and border communities to interpret how they collectively try to contribute

to the development of Wawasan Nusantara in order to filter the impact of foreign cultural

exposure.

This paper is based on the assumption that the process of constructing Wawasan Nusantara

occurs starting from socialization (internalization), objectivation (institutionalization), and

continued with externalization (self-expression). In other words, socialization becomes the

starting point which determines the expression—including actions—of society at a later stage

whether it conforms to the values of the Wawasan Nusantara or not. Therefore, our second

assumption is that the socialization acceptance rate is always higher, only then is it possible

that the expression number as a form of implementation of the values being taught is not higher

than the internalization rate. This can be influenced by the level of representation that varies

from one individual to another even though the socialization is carried out using the same

communication method and communicator. In this case, our third assumption is formed that it

all comes back to decision making per individual which cannot be forced to always be in line

with the goals of the communicator.

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 3, March-2023

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

LITERATURE REVIEW

Construction of Wawasan Nusantara

Legislators in each country frame their territory using national consensus and values [5]. This

became an effective political strategy. The use of national political frames is particularly

successful when it draws on pre-existing narratives about acceptable and unacceptable

behavior [5]. This kind of national history lesson can be a source of national awareness [6]. Not

only history, Stasevich (2018) mentions that national culture can also be a source of

fundamental values which in turn require the construction of national ideas and symbols. In

turn, the construction of national values contributes to how relationships are built [8]. When

talking about the construction of values, our discussion cannot be separated from the theory of

"The Social Construction of Reality" which was coined by Berger and Luckman [9][10]. Their

analysis includes primary socialization, face-to-face interaction, language structure and

relevance, and dialectics of externalization, objectivation, and internalization [11]. Sometimes,

the social construction of reality requires coercive intervention which can then be analyzed

with the concept of social power [12]—including its relation to Wawasan Nusantara.

Insight into the archipelago has been defined by many experts in the country. Tennis et al.

(2020) defines Wawasan Nusantara as a nation's perspective on itself in the midst of a fast- paced and dynamic strategic environment so that the nation continues to exist and survive. In

line with that, Prakoso & Najicha (2022), Risnain (2020), Anggraini & Najicha (2022) also

mention Wawasan Nusantara as the nation's point of view about oneself and its environment.

Meanwhile, Aminullah & Umam (2020) define Wawasan Nusantara as a determination to unite

based on national ideals and goals. In this case, cultural, historical, geographical, living space,

idealism, state philosophy, constitution, aspirations, identity, integrity, survival and

development of life as well as capabilities and competitiveness are also considered [13].

Wawasan nusantara as a perspective also teaches how important it is to foster unity and

cohesion in all aspects of the life of the nation and state [17]. Point of view and determination

are two things that are emphasized in this Wawasan Nusantara.

There are three basic elements of insight into the archipelago, namely means, contents, and

procedures [18]. Regarding the means, there is Wawasan Nusantara in the form of a means for

the life of the community, nation and state which covers the entire territory of Indonesia which

has an all-archipelagic nature with natural wealth and people and a variety of cultures [18].

Meanwhile, the content indicates that Wawasan Nusantara is a form of national aspirations that

develop in society, ideals and national goals contained in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution

[18] and Pancasila [17]. Furthermore, the result of the interaction between the means and the

contents is called conduct which is divided into two, namely internal conduct and external

conduct [18]. Internal conduct reflects the soul, spirit, and mentality [18], while external

conduct is reflected in actions, deeds, and behavior (Arga Ilyasa et al., 2021; Mulyati, 2020). As

for the value of national insight that is embodied in the unity and integrity of the nation, it has

6 fundamental human dimensions, namely: a) respect for dignity as creatures of God Almighty;

b) a shared determination to live a free, independent and united national life; c) love for the

motherland and nation; d) democracy or popular sovereignty; e) social solidarity; f) a just and

prosperous society [17]. Thus, Wawasan Nusantara is not only in the form of knowledge, but

also penetrate the soul which is then reflected in daily behaviors.