<p>The history behind the publication of this work is as fascinating as the questions this work raises about the abortive October 1965 coup, led by Lieutenant Colonel Untung and his associates, in Central Java. This paper, an informal 1971 account, presents both the problems and the excitement of such a field of study in which little primary material was available aside from the transcripts of many of the political trials conducted in the coup's aftermath. The authors' hypothesis presents many controversial views about the various configurations and possibilities of power and motive that led to the coup; yet it allows for many important insights about the complex role of the military in political life and the antagonism between city and provincial governments as well. 1971. 4th printing 1999. 174 pages.</p>

A Preliminary Analysis of the October 1, 1965, Coup in Indonesia (Prepared in Jan. 1966)

History

Benedict R. O'G Anderson

Ruth McVey

Frederick P. Bunnell

Asia

Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Publications

This collection of memoirs by the Japanese military police (the Kenpeitai) of World War II is often infuriating and frustrating (these disciplined and fanatical former officers freely terrorized and repressed the native populations of Southeast Asia for such crimes as Marxism, Islam, and nationalism). Yet they are documents of great historical significance. The men are self-deceiving and self-glorifying rather than apologetic or self-critical, but the reader is allowed a rare glimpse of what a mind or mind-set justifies to itself during a state of war. These memoirs (only certain Indonesian sections are published here) clarify obscure motives and historical moments of the events during the Pacific War and the Japanese occupation.

The Kenpeitai in Java and Sumatra: Selections from Nihon Kenpei Seishi

<p>Sutan Sjahrir, a man who would eventually become the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Indonesia, was first involved in the nationalist movement as the leader of a group of youth from Jakarta during the Japanese Occupation. His intent was to prepare for the future struggle for independence. Legge's study is a reassessment both of the part played by the PSI (and specifically that part of it led by Sjahrir and comprised of intellectuals) in the Republic's formation and of the role played by intellectuals in transitional societies. In one particularly vivid section, the author presents and analyzes interviews with surviving members of the organization. Such a focus may be inherently biased, but Legge is concerned with historiography as well: the differences in methods of interpretation and analysis and in ideological preferences, which affect what is observed and how facts and evidence are relayed. 1988. 159 pages.</p>

Intellectuals and Nationalism in Indonesia: A Study of the Following Recruited by Sutan Sjahrir in Occupation Jakarta (Cornell Modern Indonesia Project)

J.D. Legge

Americas

The armed conflict in Madiun, during the darkest and most violent year of the revolution, was a result of the escalating tension among various nationalist groups fighting for Indonesian independence and the frustration of the reinstitution of Dutch rule in certain areas. Swift documents the extraordinary impact of Musso, whose arrival presaged the creation of a new political force that aligned itself with Moscow (the PKI espoused a doctrine of international communism and little compromise). Yet after the renewed Dutch attack in December 1948, Indonesians of all ideologies were motivated to band together in the face of external threat, the PKI was rehabilitated, the supporters forgiven, and the top leaders executed. 1989. 120 pages.

The Road to Madiun: The Indonesian Communist Uprising of 1948 (Cornell Modern Indonesia Project)

Elizabeth A. Swift

Burhan Magenda has produced a study of the role of local aristocracies that dominated the politics of the various regions outside Java from pre-colonial to postcolonial times. Such an area of interest has largely been ignored in previous studies of Indonesia and this study corrects that mistake by focusing upon the area of East Kalimantan, a harbor principality engaging in commercial trade. The author details the bureaucratic positions obtained by aristocrats under the Dutch colonizers and the tensions that existed among the various levels and groups within the aristocracy. He also delves into the anti-aristocratic feeling and nationalistic sentiment (among people the aristocrats were alienated and independent from) which made the aristocrats' transition to the post-colonial period especially difficult. 1991. 120 pages.

East Kalimantan: The Decline of a Commercial Aristocracy

Burhan Magenda

This valuable title, in print for over thirty years, provides a lasting contribution to our understanding of Javanese society. Insight comes through an analysis of wayang (Javanese shadow plays), not just as theater but in a broader social context. The revised edition has been completely reformatted and the quality of the rich artwork has been enhanced. 1997. 104 pages. 65 illustrations.

Mythology and the Tolerance of the Javanese (Cornell Modern Indonesia Project)

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

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