Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia - Jurusan Antropologi ...

38 MICHAEL PINCHES
of old elites, by appropriating and redefining elements of indigenous ‘tribal’ or
‘peasant’ culture. These sections of the new rich and nationalist intelligentsia may
seek to represent themselves not only as exemplars of national economic success,
but also as the cultural re-embodiment of the nation. This is evident in Kahn’s
(1992) study of the Malay middle class who have been the major force behind such
projects as Malaysia’s new national theme parks. According to Kahn (1992), the
unifying symbols of the traditional peasant community have been idealised and
transformed by the Malay middle class into their own class symbols. Similar
processes are demonstrated by Heryanto in Chapter 6, which describes the efforts
of newly wealthy Indonesian tycoons to legitimise their social positions by
participating in the popular tradition of public poetry recitals. Similarly, in the
Philippines, it has become increasingly fashionable among wealthy business people
and professionals to have among their household art collections a display of ‘tribal
Filipino’ artefacts (Pinches).
Consumer fashions and aesthetic standards have become increasingly fluid in the
Asian region and, to varying degrees, new, looser, status structures are being
negotiated by and around the new rich. Some of the symbolic struggles entailed in
this cultural restructuring have been over national identity and the appropriation of
Western luxury, but they have also been over the status of particular classes and
groups. While Bourdieu’s characterisation of France suggests a relatively stable
configuration of status relations with the petite bourgeoisie perennially caught in a
position of cultural subordination to the taste standards and practices of the
bourgeoisie, the case in much of contemporary Asia seems more contentious and
uncertain. Although some elements among the old elites may assert their cultural
capital in such ways as to exclude newcomers, others have found their economic
and cultural foundations moving from under them. That many from the old elites
remain wealthy and influential is some measure of their preparedness to move
with the new rich (Pinches), as well as with global fashion trends. Prior to the 1997
economic crisis, this seems to have been evident in Thailand and Indonesia, in the
increased acceptability of cultural practices identified with the newly rich ethnic
Chinese (Pasuk and Baker 1996:133—6; Heryanto).
Indeed, in a number of countries in the region, one popular representation of
societal change is to speak of the emergence of a new generation comprising
sections of the new rich, as well as the still prosperous offspring of the old rich,
who, in some ways, may have distanced themselves from their parents’ generation
(Ockey, Pinches). While the new rich are often accused of vulgarity and ostentation
among local artistic and intellectual circles, at least some high-culture specialists
are happy to play a role in cultivating the more privileged and socially ambitious
new rich, and in acknowledging the gains they have made (Pinches). Ultimately, the
livelihoods and cultural authority of these specialists depend on their doing this; so
too does the social standing of those new rich in a position to rise above the status
levels of the mainstream middle classes.
Notwithstanding these contentions, uncertainties and newly forged alliances,
there is also ample evidence of hierarchy in the restructuring of consumer-status