World · East Asia & Pacific · 1 hr ago
Nobel economist James Robinson says Indonesia’s Pancasila merits study
James A. Robinson, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics, said he is interested in how Pancasila may have shaped Indonesia’s development after colonial rule.
Pancasila is Indonesia’s national ideology, and Robinson noted the country’s diversity of languages and ethnic groups.
He said Indonesia’s state-building had been more successful than that of Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which also experienced colonial rule.
Robinson described the colonial systems in all three countries as extractive and enforced through violence and coercion.
He did not claim that Pancasila was the main reason Indonesia developed successfully, but said the idea was worth studying.
He argued that strong ideological foundations matter for building a country.
He pointed to South Korea and other countries as examples to consider when examining how such foundations are built.
Nobel laureate James A. Robinson said Indonesia’s Pancasila ideology merits further study.
He said he was interested in the philosophy behind Indonesia’s formation after colonial rule.
Robinson said he was unsure whether Pancasila was the main explanation for Indonesia’s development success.
He contrasted Indonesia’s experience with that of Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He said a strong ideology matters because national development needs a strong foundation.
- Who
- James A. Robinson, the 2024 Nobel laureate in economics.
- What
- He said Indonesia’s Pancasila ideology and its role in the country’s development merit study.
- When
- October 12, 2026.
- Where
- At a discussion organized by Indonesia’s National Economic Council and the Prasasti Center for Policy Studies.
- Why
- Robinson said the philosophy behind Indonesia’s post-colonial formation is interesting to study, while noting he was unsure whether Pancasila was the main explanation for the country’s success.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Robinson spoke about Pancasila at a discussion organized by the National Economic Council and the Prasasti Center for Policy Studies.
CNBC Indonesia published its report on Robinson’s comments.
- Speaker
- James A. Robinson
- Award
- 2024 Nobel Prize in economics
- Subject
- Indonesia’s Pancasila ideology
- Event date
- October 12, 2026
- Comparisons
- Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
What people are saying
I am very interested, for example, in Pancasila and the ideas about the philosophy underlying the formation of post-colonial Indonesia. I do not know whether Pancasila is the main explanation for that success. But I think it is very interesting to study.
Indonesia, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are post-colonial countries formed after being colonized by colonial powers that used extractive systems, violence, and coercion to control society. But Indonesia’s process of state formation has shown very great success compared with the experience of countries in Africa.
Sources
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