ELIT PERKEBUNAN KOLONIAL DALAM PERSAUDARAAN MASONIK: DINAMIKA ORGANISASI DAN INTELEKTUAL KRING PANGALENGAN

Abstract

This study examines the organizational and intellectual activities of the Vrijmetselaar-kring Pangalengan (Pangalengan Masonic Circle), an auxiliary body affiliated with the Lodge Sint Jan Bandung, during the period of 1934–1941. Operating as a "circle" in the periphery of the colonial city of Bandung, its members were key colonial plantation elites, including technocrats and managers such as J. H. W. Rüsch and Dr. B. Vrijburg. They utilized this fraternal forum to overcome geographical isolation and sustain their Masonic activities. The research employs the historical method, consisting of heuristics, source criticism, interpretation, and historiography. A Social History approach is applied, relying on primary sources such as the chronicles of meetings and annual reports published in the Indisch Maçonniek Tijdschrift. The findings demonstrate that the Circle successfully functioned as a Social Network hub, maintaining regular connections among Freemasons originating from various lodges and plantations (including Santosa, Malabar, Taloen, Wanasoeka, and Negla), thereby mitigating spatial isolation. Institutionally, the Circle showed consolidated logistical adaptation, utilizing facilities like the plantation cinema warehouse as a meeting venue, while maintaining a stable organizational structure. The Pangalengan Circle also maintained a regular meeting schedule and was responsive to external issues. Intellectual activities included ethical-spiritual discussions, alongside in-depth ideological studies on sociopolitical movements like the Nazis and the Anti-Masonic movement. These critical discussions and moral reflections also addressed the global conditions preceding World War II. These debates were part of a conscious Collective Identity formation effort, aimed at defining and reinforcing liberal Masonic principles and moral reflection as an antidote to totalitarian ideologies. Consequently, the Pangalengan Circle served not only as a Masonic organization but also as a vital intellectual platform for the elite, striving to preserve liberal principles through the bonds of Brotherhood (Broederschap) amidst the turbulent global situation, until its activities ceased in mid-1941. This historical study of the Vrijmetselaar-kring Pangalengan aims to enrich local history research by demonstrating the activities of the Dutch elite in the Southern Bandung region, while also contributing to social history studies that describe the social activities of the European community in the Dutch East Indies.