Decentralization is a major trend in Indonesia since the first decades of that nation under Sukarno and Suharto. Max Lane is justly treasured for illuminating those first decades, for example, through his translations of Pramoedya Ananta Toer, and his excellent book, Unfinished Nation: Indonesia Before and After Suharto. Anyone who seeks insights into the current trend of decentralization, whether in Indonesia or other parts of the world, will find this work cogent."" - James L. Peacock, Kenan Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ""This book opens up the discussion on the history and political economy of the new populist policies that seem to gain momentum in the face of the Indonesian elections. It also addresses questions pertaining to the problems and options related to popular aspirations within this context - all of which cannot be explained very well by any of the predominant theses on Indonesia, whether as an oligarchy or a democratically liberal but economically predatory country."" - Professor Olle Toernquist, University of Oslo

ICCEDI is an international seminar that is held every two years organized by the Law and Citizenship Department, Faculty of Social Science Universitas Negeri Malang. The activities aim to discuss the theoretical and practical citizenship education that becomes needed for democracy in Indonesia and other countries with a view to build academic networks by gathering academics from various research institutes and universities. Citizenship education is an urgent need for the nation in order to build a civilized democracy for several reasons. Citizenship education is important for those who are politically illiterate and do not know how to work the democracy of its institutions. Another problem is the increasing political apathy, indicated by the limited involvement of citizens in the political process. These conditions show how citizenship education becomes the means needed by a democratic country like Indonesia. The book addresses a number of important issues, such as law issues, philosophy of moral values, political government, socio-cultural and Pancasila, and civic education. Finally, it offers a conceptual framework for future democracy. This book will be of interest to students, scholars, and practitioners, governance, and other related stakeholders.

Struggling to assert the voice of his people, Minke is met with corruption tragedy. "A complex and colorful batik of political, intellectual, and social life in the Dutch East Indies at the turn of the 20th century."—The New York Times Book Review.

Minke, a young Javanese student, struggles to discover where his allegiances lie in colonial Indonesia. "A powerful love story and a tale of a young man's growing maturity in a land corrupted by political repression."—The Washington Post Book World.

"In this most significant contemporary study of Indonesian trade unions and the broader working class, Max Lane provides a concise and informed examination of the practical and ideological challenges of incipient labour organizations engaged in political and popular struggles in an underdeveloped nation. This detailed and highly informative book evokes similar historical and comparative struggles of exploited workers worldwide and is indispensable for students of labour movements in the Global South." --Immanuel Ness, Professor of Political Science, City University of New York, author of Southern Insurgency: The Coming of the Global Working Class

The quartet concludes with the story of Pangemann, the colonial police inspector assigned to monitor Minke, who was trained in the West but still harbors nationalistic sympathies.

Unfinished Nation traces the evolution of Indonesia from its anti-colonial stirrings in the early twentieth century to the lengthy, and eventually victorious, struggle against the dictatorship of President Suharto. In clarifying the often misunderstood political changes that took place in Indonesia at the end of the twentieth century, Max Lane traces how small resistance groups inside Indonesia directed massive political transformation. He shows how the real heroes were the Indonesian workers and peasants, whose sustained mass direct action was the determining force in toppling one of the most enduring dictatorships of modern times. Taking in the role of political Islam, and with considerations on the future of this fragmented country, Unfinished Nation is an illuminating account of modern Indonesian history.

Minke embarks on a personal odyssey of self-discovery that takes him into the heady dawn of a fledgling nation. "Here is an author half a world away from us whose art and humanity are both so great that we instantly feel we've known him—and he us—all our lives."—USA Today.