Indonesia in transition: A guide to resources

Abstract

This essay is my attempt to guide readers through the thicket of print and film resources from and about Indonesia in a way that provides a structure for making sense of the evergrowing body of literature about Indonesia. The choice of literature recommended in this essay is inspired by my own fascination with the theme of transition from a traditional to a modern society. Just what we understand by “tradition” and “modernity” is, of course, debated constantly, as is the way we evaluate these two conditions. What is not in doubt, however, is that a transition is in progress, that it is taking place rapidly, and that it is at times unrelentingly cruel to those who are experiencing the phenomenon. “Concerned” scholarship, I believe, should be determined to achieve a measure of rational control over that transition through its mastery of all relevant literature.     

The campaign in and evacuation of Burma

A History of the Crusades. Vol. III. By Steven Runciman. Cambridge University Press. 1954. Pp. 530; 15 plates, 5 maps and genealogical table. 35s.

The Persian Gulf. By Sir Arnold T. Wilson, with a foreword by the Rt. Hon. L. S. Amery. George Allen and Unwin. London. 1954. Pp. x + 313. 25s.

The Men who Ruled India (the Guardians). By Philip Woodruff. London: Jonathan Cape. Pp. 385, including bibliographical and source notes, appendices, index, 5 maps and 8 illustrations. 8½” × 5½”. 25s.

Within the Taurus. A Journey in Asiatic Turkey. By Lord Kinross. London: John Murray. Pp. 182; 21 illustrations and sketch‐map. 18s.

In the Shadow of the Mahatma. By G. D. Birla. Longmans, Green. Pp. 331. 10s. 6d.

World Without Mercy. The Story of the Sahara. By René Lecler. London: Werner Laurie. 1954. Pp. 223; 13 illustrations, sketch‐map, bibliography. 15s.

The Middle East. Royal Institute of International Affairs. London. 1954. 2nd Edition. Pp. 590 + xviii; 2 maps, bibliography. 35s.

Middle East Dilemmas. By J. C. Hurewitz. New York: Harper Brothers. 1953. Pp. 273 + viii; endpaper map.

The Arab World. By N. Izzedin. Chicago: H. Regnery Company. 1953. Pp. 412 + xii; 19 illustrations. $6.50.

Call to Greatness. By Adlai E. Stevenson. London: Rupert Hart‐Davis. 1954. Pp. 100. 9s. 6d.

The Upanishads. A second selection, translated by Swami Nikhilananda. London : Ph?nix House. Pp. 381. 4to. 18s.

Moslems on the March. By F. W. Fernau. Translated from the German by E. W. Dickes. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1954. Pp. xi + 312 and index. $5.00.

The Wonder that was India. A Survey of the Culture of the Indian Sub‐Continent before the Coming of the Muslims. By A. L. Basham, B.A., Ph.D., F.R.A.S. Sidgwick and Jackson. Pp. xxi + 586. Illustrated with pictures, line drawings and maps. 45s.

The East India Company and the Economy of Bengal from 1704 to 1740. By Sukumar Bhattacharya. Luzac and Co. Pp. 240. Maps and appendices. 21s. (cloth).

Warren Hastings. By Keith Feiling. Macmillan. 1954. Pp. xi + 420. 8¾” × 6½”. 30s.

Big Tiger and Christian. By Fritz Mühlenweg. Jonathan Cape. Pp. 558. Illustrated. 15s.

Persia is my Heart. By Najmeh Najafi. Gollancz. Pp. 245. Illustrated. 13s. 6d.

A Village in Anatolia. By Mahmut Makal. Translated by Sir Wyndham Deedes. Valentine Mitchell and Co. 1954. Pp. 208. Illustrated. 18s.

No Ten Commandments. Life in the Indian Police. By S. T. Hollins, C.I.E. Hutchinson. 1954. Pp. 304. 8½” × 5¾”. 16s.

Nanga Parbat. By Dr. Karl Herrligkoffer. Elek Books Ltd. London. Pp. 254; 8 colour plates, 55 monochrome plates, 5 sketch maps and diagrams. 9” × 5½”. 25s.

Growing up in an Egyptian Village. By Hamed Ammar, M.A., Ph.D. Rout‐ledge and Kegan Paul, Ltd. 1954. Pp. 299. 28s.

The Temple Tiger and more Maneaters of Kumnon. By Jim Corbett. Oxford Unversity Press. 1954. Pp. 197. 8” × 5¼”. 12s. 6d.

Afghanistan (Ancient Aryana). By A. Rahman Pazhwak, of the Afghan Bureau of Information. Key Press, 194, Portland Road, Hove. 1954. Pp. 81. With coloured portrait of H.M. Zahir Shah, 2 maps and 66 excellent illustrations. 9½” × 7”. No price.     

American sociologists on Indonesia - A comment

“Liberalism manifests itself in various ways. To let things slide for the sake of peace and friendship when a person has clearly gone wrong, and refrain from principled argument because he is an old acquaintance, a fellow townsman, a schoolmate, a close friend, a loved one, an old colleague or old subordinate. Or to touch on the matter lightly instead of going into it thoroughly, so as to keep on good terms.”

Mao Tse-tung, Combat Liberalism, September 7th, 1937.

     

An introduction to the articles on Indonesia

Abstract

In May 1987, general elections will be held in Indonesia. These will be the fifth such elections since the country's independence in 1945, and the contesting parties will be the government electoral organization, GOLKAR, which convincingly won the last elections, the largely Muslim PPP (Unity Development party), and the small Christian and nationalist PDI (Indonesian Democratic party). After the previous elections in 1982, the Indonesian government made the claim that the proceedings had been “direct, general, free and secret,” and indeed it was difficult to find more than incidental evidence of fraud or manipulation in the conduct of the poll itself. However, this attempt by “Pancasila Democracy” to claim kinship with the Western democratic tradition studiously ignored the context of political restriction which has operated in Indonesia for the last three decades. Since such claims are likely to be revised after the coming elections to suggest that the power of the New Order government of President Suharto rests on the active consent of the people, the editors of the Bulletin have thought it appropriate to devote this issue to a closer examination of the recent political history of Indonesia.     

Konfrontasi and Australia's Aid to Indonesia during the 1960s

This article examines Australia's aid program in Indonesia in the 1960s. With the transfer by the Dutch of West New Guinea to Indonesia in May 1963, the Australian government looked to expand aid to its northern neighbour beyond the Colombo Plan in an effort to cement friendly relations. The events associated with konfrontasi threatened this policy objective. Yet despite Indonesia's belligerent stance, Australia was able to continue its aid program (by supporting the Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network) and to keep the lines of communication with Jakarta open. When konfrontasi ended in August 1966 after regime change in Indonesia, Australia was able to rapidly expand its aid program. This article argues that konfrontasi changed the ways in which Australia's aid program in Indonesia was construed, which in turn contributed to a re‐consideration of the role of aid in Australia's foreign policy more broadly.     

二战期间中英在反攻缅甸问题上的分歧与斗争

二战期间,在缅甸保卫战役失利后,由于中英双方的共同需要,双方都希望实施反攻缅甸计划。中国政府坚持要海陆空协同作战,而英国政府从战后政治考虑不愿意出动海军和空军。由于中英双方在这个问题上存在不同的利益纷争,影响了反攻缅甸计划的实施。     

菲律宾与印尼军人政治参与的比较

印度尼西亚与菲律宾是有着相似历史和相同政体的东南亚国家,军人在政治生活中起着重要作用是两国政治的共同特点.但由于国家独立过程和两国文化等的差异,两国军人政治又呈现出不同的发展态势.本文主要分三个历史阶段对两国军人政治参与进行比较分析,并对军人干政的共性进行了总结.     

A. Reviews and notes of recent bibliographies

i. Middle East and Islam: A Bibliographical Introduction (Bibliotheca Asiatica 15). Edited by Diana Grimwood‐Jones, for the Middle East Libraries Committee [MELCOM]. Revised and enlarged edition. Zug, Inter Documentation Company, 1979. pp. ix, 429.

ii. Middle East Studies and Libraries. A Felicitation Volume for Professor J.D. Pearson. Edited by B.C. Bloomfield. London, Mansell, 1980. pp. xi, 231.

iii. Cultures of the Islamic Near East: A Guide to Introductory Readings for the Non‐Specialist. By John W. Bagnole. Washington, D.C., America‐Mideast Educational & Training Services, Inc. (Occasional Paper, No. 4), 1978. pp. ii, 79. $4.00

iv. The Modern Arab Woman: A Bibliography. By Michelle Raccagni. Metuchen, N.J. & London, The Scarecrow Press, 1978, pp. x, 282.     

Land reform and Bimas in Indonesia

Underlying the current process of industrial restructuring in Korea is the weakening of the social and political comerstones of Korea's “miracle” economy: low wages maintained through labor market segmentation and suppression of labor movements, state leverage over the chaebol and labor, the containment of the middle class through a state-of-war mentality, and the decentralization of industry away from the capital city through the creation of countermagnets and growth poles. Korea's success in generating its own version of a post-fordist regime of accumulation will depend as much on changes in social and political institutions as it will on pursuing an industrial path of flexible specialization.