Local Government and Community in Java: An Urban Case-study (South-East Asian Social Science Monographs)

This book discusses the development and use of community as an instrument of government. It argues that the small local communities embracing most of Java's population are basically political constructions and elements of a modern capitalist order. Sullivan proposes that the practice demonstrates that it is more efficient to govern communal collectives than a smaller family or other household units, making it possible to control vast populations with little administrative overhead.