Dutch colonizer Jan Pieterszoon Coen is remembered as a hero for establishing the spice monopoly and as a perpetrator who mass-killed the Bandanese population in 1621 in pursuit of that monopoly.... Show moreDutch colonizer Jan Pieterszoon Coen is remembered as a hero for establishing the spice monopoly and as a perpetrator who mass-killed the Bandanese population in 1621 in pursuit of that monopoly. After his statue in Hoorn fell off its pedestal in 2011, the municipality decided to restore it in disregard of protesters requesting the statue’s relocation to Westfries Museum. As a compromise, the municipality granted the protest a voice by providing the statue with an updated inscription that acknowledges Coen’s controversial legacy and an accompanying exhibition in Westfries Museum. In this essay, I will analyze these events as a conflict about the articulation of postcolonial memory: how should the colonial past be remembered? Through Olson’s theory of legality and affect and Marcuse’s theory of repressive tolerance, I will interpret this conflict as the negotiation of different legalities. Show less
Very few studies explicitly, let alone quantitatively, examine gaps in religious intolerance among individual Muslims based on affiliation with major Muslim organizations in Indonesia. Most... Show moreVery few studies explicitly, let alone quantitatively, examine gaps in religious intolerance among individual Muslims based on affiliation with major Muslim organizations in Indonesia. Most existing studies either focus on a single organization (non-comparative), are at the organizational policy level (not examining individual attitudes), or use a limited number of samples in their analysis. Against this backdrop, this study compares Indonesian Muslims’ levels of religious intolerance based on their affiliation with Muslim organizations or traditions: Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Muhammadiyah, and other organizations. We utilize a large-scale household survey, the 2014 Indonesia Family Life Survey-5, and run an ordinal logistic regression to identify organizations’ rank on the religious intolerance scale. We find that Muslims without any affiliation with a Muslim organization (some 18 percent of Indonesian Muslims) are the most tolerant. Against this reference group, we find that NU followers are generally the most tolerant, followed by those affiliated with Muhammadiyah, and those affiliated with other Muslim organizations. This finding adds a stock of knowledge to our understanding of religion and society, especially regarding interfaith relations in Indonesia and in the Muslim world in general. Methodologically, this study also shows the benefit and feasibility of identifying the dynamic of religious intolerance using a quantitative approach at a micro level. Show less
This book is about postcolonial memory in the Netherlands. This term refers to conflicts in contemporary society about how the colonial past should be remembered. The question is often: who has the... Show moreThis book is about postcolonial memory in the Netherlands. This term refers to conflicts in contemporary society about how the colonial past should be remembered. The question is often: who has the right or ability to tell their stories and who do not? In other words: who has a voice, and who is silenced? As such, these conflicts represent a wider tendency in cultural theory and activism to use voice as a metaphor for empowerment and silence as voice’s negative counterpart, signifying powerlessness. And yet, there are voices that do not liberate us from, but rather subject us to power. Meanwhile, silence can be powerful: it can protect, disrupt and reconfigure. Throughout this book, it will become clear how voice and silence function not as each other’s opposites, but as each other’s continuation, and that postcolonial memory is articulated through the interplay of meaningful voices and meaningful silences. Show less
In Empire's Violent End, Thijs Brocades Zaalberg and Bart Luttikhuis, along with expert contributors, present comparative research focused specifically on excessive violence in Indonesia, Algeria,...Show moreIn Empire's Violent End, Thijs Brocades Zaalberg and Bart Luttikhuis, along with expert contributors, present comparative research focused specifically on excessive violence in Indonesia, Algeria, Vietnam, Malaysia, Kenya, and other areas during the wars of decolonization. In the last two decades, there have been heated public and scholarly debates in France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands on the violent end of empire. Nevertheless, the broader comparative investigations into colonial counterinsurgency tend to leave atrocities such as torture, execution, and rape in the margins. The editors describe how such comparisons mostly focus on the differences by engaging in "guilt ranking." Moreover, the dramas that have unfolded in Algeria and Kenya tend to overshadow similar violent events in Indonesia, the very first nation to declare independence directly after World War II.Empire's Violent End is the first book to place the Dutch-Indonesian case at the heart of a comparison with focused, thematic analysis on a diverse range of topics to demonstrate that despite variation in scale, combat intensity, and international dynamics, there were more similarities than differences in the ways colonial powers used extreme forms of violence. By delving into the causes and nature of the abuse, Brocades Zaalberg and Luttikhuis conclude that all cases involved some form of institutionalized impunity, which enabled the type of situation in which the forces in the service of the colonial rulers were able to use extreme violence. Show less
Within the framework of a larger debate on literary history and censorship studies, this research delves deeper into the role of literature in narrating Indonesia’s bleakest pages of history,... Show moreWithin the framework of a larger debate on literary history and censorship studies, this research delves deeper into the role of literature in narrating Indonesia’s bleakest pages of history, namely the events of 1965-66 and the mass killings that followed. The historical legacy of the events was a matter of grave contention within Indonesia and to speak directly and write with honesty about them could become fraught with danger. Throughout most of the 1970s, creative literature in Indonesia was almost totally silent on the background and meaning of the killings of 1965-66, the very specific topic that did not collocate with the values of the authoritarian New Order regime. The aftermath in the lives of individuals who witnessed this tragedy was also skipped over in Indonesian literature. In addition, the traumatic nature of the experience seemed to have been expunged from the memories of witnesses and inhibited a wider group of people from talking. However, against all odds, a few literary authors spoke up and openly addressed this theme in their novels. They were even sympathetic in portraying the victims even though the regime was at the height of its power and exerting maximum social and political control through rampant censorship. In this regard, this dissertation addresses the broader question about what this case of literary production tells us about the nature of censorship under the New Order. Show less
Afscheidscollege van Prof. dr. Gert J. Oostindie Directeur van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (KITLV-KNAW) Hoogleraar Koloniale en Postkoloniale Geschiedenis aan de... Show moreAfscheidscollege van Prof. dr. Gert J. Oostindie Directeur van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (KITLV-KNAW) Hoogleraar Koloniale en Postkoloniale Geschiedenis aan de Universiteit Leiden uitgesproken op vrijdag 17 december 2021 Show less
This dissertation is about the broadcasting of dakwah on Indonesian TV stations. It deals with the production and circulation of dakwah programmes on TV and elucidates the social and educational... Show moreThis dissertation is about the broadcasting of dakwah on Indonesian TV stations. It deals with the production and circulation of dakwah programmes on TV and elucidates the social and educational backgrounds of popular TV preachers in order to understand the rise of the programmes in post-Suharto Indonesia. Furthermore, this dissertation discusses the competition among various Muslim organisations to influence the production of dakwah programmes and the formation of religious authority through the broadcasting of dakwah programmes on TV channels. This dissertation is based on one-year ethnographic fieldwork in Jakarta, Medan, and Bali, which includes observations and interviews with the producers, preachers, and audiences of dakwah programmes, Muslim leaders, and members of Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI). This dissertation shows the important role of TV in the construction of religious authority, which becomes more fragmented in Muslim societies like in Indonesia partly because of televised dakwah. Most of the current researches on dakwah activities focus mainly on social media like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram but neglect the role of other media like TV. In fact, TV still plays an important role in daily activities of Indonesian society with its programmes. Muslims watch TV programmes such as dakwah, news, soap operas, talk and reality shows during their leisure and busy time. Muslim leaders make use of TV to disseminate their teachings and enhance their charisma among Muslim audiences. Presidential candidates and political leaders use TV stations to promote their political agendas to gain supports from the society. Show less
This thesis discusses the ways in which local officials deal with the tensions concerning regulations on Muslim marriage and social practices that emerge as a response to such regulations. By... Show moreThis thesis discusses the ways in which local officials deal with the tensions concerning regulations on Muslim marriage and social practices that emerge as a response to such regulations. By looking at the implementation of legal norms on marriage, the functioning of marriage bureaucracy and the people's attitudes towards state recognition of marriage in the local setting, this thesis suggests that Indonesia is experiencing a continuing process of the penetration of state law into society. At the law-making level, instead of reforming the substance of the marriage law, which would only stir up controversy and debates, the government has used a citizens’ rights approach to control marriage practice. This citizens’ rights approach is helpful in guiding people towards compliance with the state legal framework.Furthermore, the central state is also endeavouring to remove all forms of informality from the procedures involved. Nevertheless, in practice, it seems it is an uphill battle to reduce informal intervention. In the end, the willingness of the state officials to give a less than strict interpretation of legal rules is key to guaranteeing the functioning of the state law and will be good for the legal development of Indonesia in the future. Show less
Muchatar, U.; Nugraha, F.M.; Sunjayadi, R.A.; Gustinelly, E.; Manullang, R.D.; Risdiani, R.; Veer, C. van 't 2021
This dissertation focuses on the actors and agencies in the transnational Buddhist networks that were involved in the making of Buddhism in Indonesia from 1900 to 1959. Using the framework of... Show moreThis dissertation focuses on the actors and agencies in the transnational Buddhist networks that were involved in the making of Buddhism in Indonesia from 1900 to 1959. Using the framework of transnational networks, this dissertation endeavours to understand how Buddhism gradually secured a place in Indonesian society. By viewing the late-colonial and early post-colonial period as a continuum in which Buddhism continued to take root, it connects developments that have thus far been treated as separated by the demarcation line of Indonesian independence.Furthermore it argues that modern Buddhism in the Indonesian archipelago developed as a result of global and regional religious transformations. Particularly important was the spread of Theravada Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia. Especially, the dissertation investigates the dominant roles of lay people, Buddhist missionaries and intellectuals who were living in and travelling to colonial Indonesia. The Peranakan Chinese were the primary local actors in this process because of their pivotal role in the making of modern Buddhism from the beginning of the period under consideration until the post- independence years. The Peranakan Chinese community can be seen as a “place” where people from various backgrounds articulated their ideas about Buddhism and interacted with others. Show less
This dissertation examines the dynamics of memory of violence in present-day society, by zooming in to memory of the anti-communist violence in Indonesia in 1965. The problem starts with the... Show moreThis dissertation examines the dynamics of memory of violence in present-day society, by zooming in to memory of the anti-communist violence in Indonesia in 1965. The problem starts with the contrasting narrative about this particular event. On the one hand, the national narrative by the state commemorates the death of six generals and one low rank army officer during the September 30th Movement or Gerakan 30 September 1965/ G30S. The military accused the Indonesian Communist Party or Partai Komunis Indonesia/ PKI as the mastermind behind the movement. The movement was followed by a regime shift from Sukarno to Suharto in 1966. On the other hand, this new regime initiated a nation-wide purge against communists, leftists, and their affiliates in 1965-66 and in 1968 in some parts of East Java. This violent bloodbath continued to be excluded from Indonesia’s national historiography until today. They became the counter-narrative.This dissertation goes beyond this binary approach of state versus counter narrative. Through a case study in rural area of Donomulyo district in East Java, this research discovered that memories of violence are multi-layered. They are not exclusively determined by the repressive memory project of the state, but are actually embedded in social relations and local context where the violence occurred. Moreover, this case study shows that memories of violence did not diminish over time, not even under state repression. Narratives of violence travel within communities through stories of places, or sites of memory, and also through family narratives. Show less
