Globalising Social Science in Indonesia: Problems of Interrelations of Institutions, Networks, and Social Skills

The globalisation of social science in developing societies and its trajectories have attracted scholars across the continents. At least two perspectives dominate these studies namely, academic capitalism and academic dependency. While these perspectives are useful to assess the current position of national social science in the global sphere, they seem to pay less attention on the level of development of social science in a country. This paper tries to fill this void, using Indonesia - a country still in the infant stage of social scientific development - as a case study. It aims at explaining the impacts of globalisation-directed state in scientific works upon production of social science in Indonesia. It is argued that publishing social scientific works in reputable international journals is considered as a corner stone for the rise of academic social science and in turn policy social science in Indonesia. Rather than competing for a place in global academic ranking, the rise of both types of social sciences contributes to the modifications of Western social theories and public policies appropriate for a national context. By assuming production of social science as a field and by employing a perspective of interrelations of institutions, networks, and social skills, this paper raises the following question. Under what circumstances globalisation of academic works directed by the state change the field of production of social science in Indonesian universities. The results of this study reveal that typologies of networks among actors inside and outside universities play a pivotal role in bringing about successful and failure of globalising social scientific works. Resilience and robust networks indicated by the present of academic leaders and characterised by wide ranging relations involving scientific producers, private and public sectors contribute significantly to globalisation of academic works.