Curriculum As A Technology Of Power: Knowledge Production And Reproduction Of Educational Ideologies In Post-Reform Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32492/jpp.v8i2.8207Keywords:
curriculum, epistemic power, knowledge production, subject formation, Public AdministrationAbstract
The curriculum is not just a pedagogical instrument, but an epistemic arena where knowledge, values, and identities are determined as legitimate. This article analyzes how state power operates through the curriculum in shaping knowledge and educational subjects in post-reform Indonesia. With a qualitative-critical approach through Critical Discourse Analysis and genealogical perspectives, the research analyzes curriculum policy documents from the perspective of power/knowledge, ideology, hegemony, and symbolic power. The findings show that democratization does not eliminate curricular power, but changes it from directive control to regulation, standardization, normalization, and self-regulation. The process takes place through a chain of knowledge selection, legitimacy of knowledge, normalization of subjects, self-regulation, which forms the characteristics of ideal subjects such as competent, religious, moderate, nationalist, creative, and independent. Based on this mechanism, the article proposes the concept of Curriculum as Epistemic Technology of Power (CETP) to explain how the curriculum transforms epistemic power into the formation of subjectivity and self-regulation. Thus, curriculum studies need to shift from the question of what is taught to how knowledge is legitimized and how subjects are shaped through the curriculum.
References
Addina, Najwah, and Muh Hanif. "Education and Power: Between Liberation and Domination Perspectives of Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, and Paulo Freire." Journal of Indonesian Education Research Innovation (2025): 196-210.
Adi, Anggun Putri, Dwi Rizky Wulan Maulida, and Lisa Aziza Rohman. "Reconceptualization of Indonesian youth nationalism in the digital era." Moderation: Journal of Social Science Studies 6, no. 1 (2025): 79-95.
Ahmad, Fauzi, and Siti Aminah. "Creative Pedagogy: The Integration of Universal Values and Local Wisdom." Journal of Islamic Education Transformation 1, no. 1 (2026): 14-30.
Astuti, Astuti. "Governmentality in Public Policy: Government Rationality and Performance-Based Policy Instruments in Indonesia." Al-Zayn: Journal of Social Sciences & Law 4, no. 3 (2026): 7278-7291.
Basil Bernstein, Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity: Theory, Research, Critique, rev. ed. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000)
Budiatri, Aisah Putri. "The Dichotomy of Indonesian Identity and Post-New Order Parenthood." Journal of Political Research 14, no. 1 (2017): 1-15.
Darma, Dini, and M. falqih Akbar. "The Relationship of Power and Knowledge in Public Policy: A Critique of Orientalism from the Perspective of Edward Said and Michel Foucault." Al-Zayn: Journal of Social Sciences & Law 4, no. 4 (2026): 3375-3389.
Dhuka, Moh Nur. "Mutual strategy planning of Islamic religious education." Journal of Industrial Engineering Research & Management 3, no. 4 (2022): 287-298.
drien Sautereau and Daniel Faas, “Comparing National Identity Discourses in History, Geography and Civic Education Curricula: The Case of France and Ireland,” European Educational Research Journal 22, no. 4 (2023):
Elfarisyah, Diwani, "Madrasah Teacher Competency Development Policy in the Framework of Quality Accreditation." Mesada: Journal of Innovative Research 2, no. 2 (2025): 1254-1263.
Gonzales, Leslie D., and Anne-Marie Núñez. "Ranking regimes and knowledge production: Implications for academia." Measuring in higher education: How university rankings and league tables are reshaping knowledge production in the global era (2021): 75-101.
Hotib, Habsy. "Revitalization of Education Units through Facilities and Infrastructure Assistance: Policy Analysis, Implementation, and Impact on National Education Quality." Alasma Journal: Scientific Information and Communication Media 7, no. 2 (2025).
Ibnu Andy Wicaksana, “Pancasila in a National Curriculum: Political Education or Indoctrination? Case Study: Indonesian School of The Hague,” PCD Journal 11, no. 2
Johnson, Terry. "Governance and the institutionalization of expertise." Health Professions and the State in Europe 2, no. 4 (1995): 24.
Kahfi, Andika Febriyanto, Dinda Agustiana, and Awla Putri Adibah. "Formalization of Quality Based on Ideological Legitimacy in the Management of Islamic Education in Madrasah Ibtidaiyah." Progress in the Journal of Education 2, no. 5 (2026): 307-320.
Kambie, Akhmad Sudirman, "Capital, Habitus, and Arena: Dismantling the Social Structure Behind the Achievements of Makassar Choir." Journal of Humanity and Social Justice (2025): 201-219.
Khotimah, Putri Husnul, et al. "The Relationship of Power and Education Policy in the Development of Madrassas in Indonesia." IHSAN: Journal of Islamic Education 4, no. 3 (2026): 1864-1868.
Labib, Alfi Lakhana. "Schools as Ideological Hegemonic Spaces: An Analysis of Education in the Perspective of Antonio Gramsci." JUPEIS: Journal of Education and Social Sciences 5, no. 1 (2026): 202-206.
Latif, Mukhtar, Yenizar Yenizar, Hadiyanto Zulbasri, and Ardaini Ardaini. "Transformation of the Islamic Education Curriculum: A Study Compared to KBK, KTSP, K13, Full Day School, and Independent Learning." QOSIM: Journal of Social Education & Humanities 3, no. 3 (2025): 1314-1323.
Louis Althusser, “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses,” dalam Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1971).
Masithoh, Dewi, "The role of curriculum in preparing human resources in the global era." Al-Ilmiya: Journal of Islamic Education 1, no. 6 (2026): 314-322.
Michael W. Apple, Ideology and Curriculum, 4th ed. (New York: Routledge, 2019).
Michael W. Apple, Official Knowledge: Democratic Education in a Conservative Age, 3rd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2014).
Michel Foucault, “Governmentality,” in The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality, ed. Graham Burchell, Colin Gordon, and Peter Miller (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991), 87–104
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, trans. Alan Sheridan (New York: Vintage Books, 1977).
Nasution, Sahara Aulia. "Political Dynasties in Indonesia in the Perspective of Islamic Law." Tabayyun: Journal of Islamic Studies 1, no. 01 (2023): 60-78.
Nur Shabrina Atsarina Ramadhani et al., "Ideology, Power, and Policy: A Discourse Analysis of the Merdeka Belajar Curriculum in Higher Education," SOSHUM: Journal of Social and Humanities 15, no. 1 (2025): 29–37,
Nurholis, Ujang. The paradox of formal religiosity in Islamic religious education: Between symbolic obedience and moral awareness. PANAONDERZOEKTIK 8, no. 2 (2025): 141-154.
Nurul Izzah, "The Politics of the PAI Curriculum: Foucault's Power Analysis in Islamic Education Policy Changes 2000–2025," AN-NUR: Journal of Education and Learning 1, no. 2 (2025),
Parada-Ulloa, Marcos,. "From knowledge as domination to knowledge as government: a theoretical rearticulation of power in late modern knowledge regimes." Frontiers in Sociology 11 (2026): 1799909.
Pusparani, Carolina, "Examining the Role of Curriculum in Education: Creating Knowledge Agents or Creating Worker Subjects." Wathan: Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 2, no. 1 (2025): 14-30.
Radjilun, Mus S. "The Transformation of Curriculum Policy in Indonesia in the Perspective of Educational Philosophy: A Critical Analysis and Its Implications for Learning Practices." Journal of Education, History, and Culture 1, no. 1 (2026): 10-17.
Radjilun, Mus S. "The Transformation of Curriculum Policy in Indonesia in the Perspective of Educational Philosophy: A Critical Analysis and Its Implications for Learning Practices." Journal of Education, History, and Culture
Rafillah, Rahadatul Aisyi. "Foucault-style Power Discourse on the Role of the State and Institutions in Perpetuating Power Inequality in Girls Victims of Sexual Violence in Pontang, Serang." Nusantara Scientific Journal 2, no. 5 (2025): 01-22.
Rifa'i, Rifa'I. "Strengthening the Inclusive Islamic Education Ecosystem through Collaborative Management: The Role of Madrasah Heads, Teachers, and the Community in Building Diversity-Friendly Schools." Pijar Pelita: Journal of Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Islamic Education 2, no. 3 (2026): 27-54.
Rutmita, Elmi, and Marintan F. Silalahi. "The Development of the Principle of Deantralization in the Pre-Reform and Post-Reform Period." PIJAR: Journal of Education and Teaching 2, no. 3 (2024): 257-268.
Situmorang, Sisca Theres, "Critical reflections of Paulo Freire's education on the Merdeka curriculum in Indonesia." Mudabbir: Journal of Research and Studies of Education 5, no. 2 (2025): 2288-2302.
Sobriyah, Sofiatus. "The Fundamental Concept of Curriculum Management in Improving the Quality of Educational Programs." Harmony of Education: Journal of Education 2, no. 1 (2025): 114-132.
Susilo, Kurnia Ahmad, and Ellen Prima. "Student Self-Regulation Strategies in the Midst of Digitalization Pressure and Social Media Ethics." Journal of Economics, Education and Engineering 3, no. 3 (2026): 218-223.
Syafiudin, Aldiri Septian, Roekhan Roekhan, and Kusubakti Andajani. "Assertive Messages in the Independent Curriculum Education Policy Document: A Review of the Content of Discourse." Journal of Onoma: Education, Language, and Literature 10, no. 3 (2024): 2651-2666.
Yunita, Sri, "Critical analysis of educational citizenship in the Indonesian curriculum." Journal of Indonesian Learning Studies 5, no. 2 (2025): 69-78.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sufinatin Aisida, Tadjoer Ridjal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
