Illiberal Democracy in Indonesia charts the origins and development of organicist ideologies in Indonesia from the early 20th century to the present. In doing so, it provides a background to the theories and ideology that informed organicist thought, traces key themes in Indonesian history, examines the Soeharto regime and his 'New Order' in detail, and looks at contemporary Indonesia to question the possibility of past ideologies making a resurgence in the country. Beginning with an exploration of the origins of the theory of the organic state in Europe, this book explores how this influenced many young Indonesian scholars and 'secular' nationalists. It also looks in detail at the case of Japan, and identifies the parallels between the process by which Japanese and Indonesian nationalist scholars drew on European romantic organicist ideas to forge 'anti-Western' national identities and ideologies. The book then turns to Indonesia's tumultuous history from the revolution to 1965, the rise of Soeharto, and how his regime used organicist ideology, together with law and terror, to shape the political landscape consolidate control. In turn, it shows how the social and economic changes wrought by the government's policies, such as the rise of a cosmopolitan middle class and a rapidly growing urban proletariat led to the failure of the corporatist political infrastructure and the eventual collapse of the New Order in 1998. Finally, the epilogue surveys the post Soeharto years to 2014, and how growing disquiet about the inability of the government to contain religious intolerance, violence and corruption, has led to an increased readiness to re-embrace not only more authoritarian styles of rule but also ideological formulas from the past. This book will be welcomed by students and scholars of Southeast Asia, politics and political theory, as well as by those interested in authoritarian regimes, democracy and human rights.

Using an exhaustive selection of primary sources, this book presents a rich and textured picture of Indonesian politics and society from 1965 to the dramatic changes which have taken place in recent years. Providing a complete portrait of the Indonesian political landscape, this authoritative reader is an essential resource in understanding the history and contradictions of the New Order, current social and political conditions and the road ahead.

Illiberal Democracy in Indonesia charts the origins and development of organicist ideologies in Indonesia from the early 20th century to the present. In doing so, it provides a background to the theories and ideology that informed organicist thought, traces key themes in Indonesian history, examines the Soeharto regime and his 'New Order' in detail, and looks at contemporary Indonesia to question the possibility of past ideologies making a resurgence in the country. Beginning with an exploration of the origins of the theory of the organic state in Europe, this book explores how this influenced many young Indonesian scholars and 'secular' nationalists. It also looks in detail at the case of Japan, and identifies the parallels between the process by which Japanese and Indonesian nationalist scholars drew on European romantic organicist ideas to forge 'anti-Western' national identities and ideologies. The book then turns to Indonesia's tumultuous history from the revolution to 1965, the rise of Soeharto, and how his regime used organicist ideology, together with law and terror, to shape the political landscape consolidate control. In turn, it shows how the social and economic changes wrought by the government's policies, such as the rise of a cosmopolitan middle class and a rapidly growing urban proletariat led to the failure of the corporatist political infrastructure and the eventual collapse of the New Order in 1998. Finally, the epilogue surveys the post Soeharto years to 2014, and how growing disquiet about the inability of the government to contain religious intolerance, violence and corruption, has led to an increased readiness to re-embrace not only more authoritarian styles of rule but also ideological formulas from the past. This book will be welcomed by students and scholars of Southeast Asia, politics and political theory, as well as by those interested in authoritarian regimes, democracy and human rights.

Using an exhaustive selection of primary sources, this book presents a rich and textured picture of Indonesian politics and society from 1965 to the dramatic changes which have taken place in recent years. Providing a complete portrait of the Indonesian political landscape, this authoritative reader is an essential resource in understanding the history and contradictions of the New Order, current social and political conditions and the road ahead.

In June 1978, a forty-five year old Indonesian named Sawito Kartowibowo was pronounced guilty of subversion. He was charged with having composed a number of inflammatory documents criticizing the government's failings and requesting that Suharto stand down as President. These documents would have been quite insignificant if those who had endorsed them had not been so well known. Their signatories included former Vice-President Mohammad Hatta and four very prominent and well-respected religious leaders: the head of the Catholic Church in Indonesia, Cardinal Darmoyuwono; the Moslem publicist and writer, Hamka H. Abdulmalik Karim Amrullah]; leading mystic and founder of the Indonesian Police, Said Sukanto Tjokrodiatmojo; and retired General T. B. Simatupang, a Protestant leader and former Armed Forces Chief of Staff. As it was, the controversy over the documents became a national issue. The Sawito affair is one of the enigmas of recent Indonesian history. Puzzles abounded from the afternoon in September 1976 when the government dramatically announced the discovery of a "plot to topple the President," and a number of subsequent arrests. Had a coup been planned? Who was behind it? And who on earth was Sawito, the man the government declared had tricked Hatta and his fellow signatories into the "dark conspiracy"? Much of the public interest in Sawito, in the months following the announcement, derived from the publicization of a diary written by a former Indonesian diplomat describing a series of spiritual pilgrimages undertaken by Sawito in the early 1970s. According to the diary, Sawito had meditated on a sacred Javanese mountain-top and there received supernatural signs that he was destined to rule Indonesia. Subsequently, in a solemn and archaic ritual involving symbols of the fifteenth century Majapahit Kingdom, Sawito had been invested as Ratu Adil, the messianic Just King. The press, and later the courts, drew the conclusion that Sawito, convinced of his regal destiny, had then embarked on a mission to replace Suharto as President. In order to achieve this, so the story went, he had drafted a number of subversive documents and, with guile and deceit, obtained the signatures of several gullible dignitaries. One newspaper ran a cartoon of a demented-looking Sawito, praying before a row of Javanese daggers (keris) and a fuming incense pot, dreaming of the presidential throne. The tiny figure running towards him and brandishing a piece of paper calls to Sawito: "It's not the age for that sort of thing any more, mas " The general impression was thus created that the affair was essentially a product of Sawito's mystically inspired claim to power. This became the accepted perception of the Sawito affair, both for a large majority of Indonesians and in a number of Western academic treatments of the subject. A classic historical pattern of political challenge seemed to be repeating itself, and parallels were drawn between the "Sawito challenge" and messianic Ratu Adil movements of Java's past. Analysts also invoked Javanese cultural tradition in an attempt to come to terms with the government's remarkably severe response to the affair. Some sought to explain the danger Sawito posed to Suharto by referring to traditional conceptions of the linkage between earthly and supernatural authority still exercising an influence in Indonesian society. As some readers will be unfamiliar with the cultural-historical frame of reference alluded to here and elsewhere in this study, it is necessary briefly to identify a few key elements of the Javanese cosmology.

The terror campaign by pro-Indonesian armed groups before, during, and after East Timor's independence referendum in 1999 was a blatant challenge to the international community as many of the acts of murder, political intimidation, destruction, and mass deportation took place before the eyes of the world. Yet still the ultimate responsibility has been denied and obscured. Masters of Terror provides an authoritative analysis and documentation of the brutal operations carried out by the Indonesian army and its East Timorese allies. The authors carefully assemble detailed accounts of the actions of the major Indonesian officers and East Timorese militia commanders accused of gross human rights violations. This indispensable work explores a horrific frontal attack on democracy and calls for the establishment of an international tribunal for crimes against humanity in East Timor.

The terror campaign by pro-Indonesian armed groups before, during, and after East Timor's independence referendum in 1999 was a blatant challenge to the international community as many of the acts of murder, political intimidation, destruction, and mass deportation took place before the eyes of the world. Yet still the ultimate responsibility has been denied and obscured. Masters of Terror provides an authoritative analysis and documentation of the brutal operations carried out by the Indonesian army and its East Timorese allies. The authors carefully assemble detailed accounts of the actions of the major Indonesian officers and East Timorese militia commanders accused of gross human rights violations. This indispensable work explores a horrific frontal attack on democracy and calls for the establishment of an international tribunal for crimes against humanity in East Timor.