Unfinished Nation: Indonesia Before and After Suharto

by Max Lane

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781844672370
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	05/17/2008
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Max Lane was a Lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Sydney until 2008 and will soon be based in the Department of Malay Studies, National University of Singapore. In addition to numerous academic publications, he has actively supported political change in Indonesia since the mid-1970s, and has translated work by the acclaimed Indonesian novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     vii
Introduction     1
Indonesia     11
Counter-revolution     42
Students     60
Memory     91
Plans     116
Aksi     140
Power     177
Aksi (and Politics after Suharto)     202
Political Economy of Aksi     232
Back to the Future: Memory, Class-consciousness, Ideology     246
Conclusion: Aksi, Nation, Revolution     269
Epilogue 2008: Escaping the Conjuncture?     279
Notes     293
Index     303