Women’s Role as the Actor of Citizen Diplomacy to Promote National Identity Based on Local Wisdom

Abstract

In millennial era, all the components of the society can participate in human development. Nowadays, village women can explore their potency to be developed in public domain bravely. Some women come from Bakalan Village, Polokarto Sub District, Sukoharjo Regency, Central Java, have explored their potency recently through traditional art, such as kothekan lesung and karawitan, as a means of preserving local wisdom. The objective of the current research is to describe that the village women can show off their ability in performing kothekan lesung and karawitan, and introduce it abroad. The data was collected through surveys, interviews, and documentation directly from the objects studied. From the data, it could be seen that the women in Bakalan village had intention, spirit, and motivation to introduce kothekan lesung and karawitan to other countries such as Malaysia and South Korea. Those women could serve as actors in citizen diplomacy. The research results showed that the activity should be supported by family, community, and the government. The process of introducing kothekan lesung and karawitan to other countries could be accomplished because nowadays women have been accustomed with using information and communication technology particularly internet through gadget. One of supports expected by the emaks (moms) were other language training centres for English, thereby still dependent on the trainer. The conclusion was that the traditional culture as the manifestation of local wisdom could be a means for women (emaks) to be actors of citizen diplomacy.