Socio Cultural Reactions Before the Nationalitation of Dutch Railroad in Indonesia 1945-1958

¹ Department History, Faculty of Humanities, Diponegoro University, Semarang – Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: widiwardoyo@gmail.com

Abstract

The issue of the nationalization of Dutch companies (railroad), which strengthened in the early 1950s, had caused some concern among Dutch companies. The issue was rolled by leftists who were disappointed with some of the results of the Round Table Conference (RTC) in December 1949. There was a phenomenon of xenophobia among natives of something that smelled of foreign (Western) so that the government policies that emerged were rooted in this matter, starting from the Benteng program and the nationalization of the company foreign. This paper aims to parse the anti-foreign phenomenon before nationalization by emphasizing the socio-cultural aspects. If the political process is carried out by the state political elite, then the social process is carried out by other elements of society such as trade unions in the form of boycotts, strikes and demonstrations. While cultural action is carried out by elements of society such as artists and humanists who carry out a variety of artistic actions such as murals, propaganda graffiti, advertisements in the mass media or images that burn the spirit of warriors on the walls in the city area. Particularly among railways, various socio-cultural activities were carried out by the Djawatan Kereta Api (DKA) in the 1950s. This research uses historical research methods based on primary sources traced from archival institutions and libraries. Research results show that the phenomenon of xenophobia that occurred in the decade of the 50s is part of the national socio-political criticism expressed through various forms of social culture.