This article examines the legal protection of academic freedom in post-authoritarian Indonesia. It takes a critical stand to the analysis that the increasing attacks on academics during Joko Widodo's presidency are explained as a form of democratic regression. This regression is signified by the increasing government control of higher education institutions (HEIs) through acts of repression and bureaucratization, thus undermining academic freedom. Conversely, this article argues that the hostile academic environment is a product of a failed neoliberal higher education reform that occurred after the fall of the authoritarian New Order regime. By aiming to strengthen the institutional autonomy of HEIs, neoliberal reform was rationalized as a means to promote academic freedom that was previously subjugated by bureaucratic and military apparatuses. This article demonstrates how, like many other aspects of neoliberal reform in Indonesia, higher education reform was hijacked by dominant predatory forces established during the New Order regime - leading to the continuation of centralist and predatory HEI governance in the Reform era. This continuation explains why academic freedom's legal protection remained weak. The article elaborates on this weakness in two forms: (1) the conservative and depoliticized individual legal protection of academics inherited from the New Order regime; and (2) the usage of neoliberal principles to sustain state intervention and politicization of HEIs.

Authors:
Pradnya Wicaksana, Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies of Mahidol University, Thailand

About the Presenter(s)
Pradnya Wicaksana is an M.A. Candidate at the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies of Mahidol University. His research interests include education rights, law and diversity, and renewable energy policy.

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/pradnya-wicaksana-a806271b4/

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