Irrelevancy of Marxism

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 05/18/2007 7:56 AM | Opinion

I'd like to comment on one of the articles in The Jakarta Post, May 11, under the title ""The positive effects of books on communism"" by Setiono Sugiharto.

The fact that the banning of books on communism has always created a controversy is unquestionable. There are always people or agencies in charge of what is obviously a political decision and academics who are denied the pleasure of studying if not sharing it with their students for the sake of raising their level of critical thinking.

The problem often starts when academics who voice their concern on the decision make erroneous remarks that are often used in the decision to confiscating books.

In his article, Setiono Sugiharto reasonably stated the importance of letting teachers and students study books written about communism. ""The banning and withdrawing of these history textbooks is tantamount to restricting intellectual freedom and will create a phobia of communism among school students. Teachers and students should be given the opportunity to learn different ideologies that both match, and differ from, their own national ideology.""

This unyielding standpoint should be applauded in the first place considering how some academics often fall into the pit of knowing best about Marxism without sufficient reading and so consequently misled students to think that studying Marxism is equal to studying communism.

Unfortunately, his further statements made me question his sincerity in promoting ""intellectual freedom"". Obviously, in the spirit of not sounding like too much of an academic who favors communism, a sensitive issue regarded by some politicians, he stated: ""Most Marxist teachings are irrelevant in this era of globalization. Marxism has become obsolete that it is no longer able to embrace the complexities and contradictions emerging in this postmodernist era.""

When Sugiharto uses the term ""Marxism"" it is unclear whether he is referring it to what Marx scholars call Marxian or Marxist or Marxist-Leninism. Consequently his statements are confusing and reflect the logic of the authority who banned books on communism with the fallacious excuse that they were ""irrelevant"" for the public and therefore were better off in the hands of a handful of ""chosen"" people with special interests or tasks on that matter. Sugiharto needs to clarify his use of the word ""Marxism"" and re-read for instance the link between Marxism and popular culture from a postmodernist perspective.

M.A.I. SAPTENNO
Head of Pusat Penelitian,
Pengembangan, Pelayanan
Bahasa dan Budaya (P4B2)
Universitas Nasional
Jakarta

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