• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.57-91
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• 2009

The purpose of this paper is to examine historical development, ideology and praxis of Islamic radicalism in Indonesia. In the second part of this paper, radical trends under Sukarno and Suharto governments will be dealt with, focusing on three streams of Darul Islam, Dewan Dakwah Islamiyah Indonesia and Islamic secret sects. The third part investigates the surge of radical Islamic movements after the fall of Suharto regime. For this, three organizations are again selected for detailed analysis. This paper argues that, judging from active engagements of radical organizations in national and international affairs and favorable attitude of general Muslims toward them, radicalism has recently established itself as one of the major constituents of Indonesian Islam. To put it differently, the current situation signifies that under the Suharto regime, a diversification of so-called the santri has been underway. Contrary to the traditional santri group which emphasizes the fulfillment of faith in the private sphere, another group has been crystallized, which gives priority to Islamic roles in public sphere and attempts to realize these. It is difficult to pinpoint the reasons why this group has emerged. Its effect, however, can relatively easily be grasped. With the surge of this new radical stream, the rhetoric of an establishment of Islamic state and a realization of Islamic law has no longer been tabooed and has been instated as the key element in public discourse of Islam.

• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.171-199
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• 2012

Saman, a novel written by Ayu Utami, has been recognized as the symbol of the politico-social changes, which began to occur since the collapse of Suharto' New Order regime in 1998. In the novel, Ayu Utami showed the spirits of resistance against various absurd socio-political circumstances during the New Order era such as pressure on discussion, abuse of power, politics-business collusion, patriarchism, and suppression of gender. In representing those spirits, Ayu Utami used unconventional structure-making, fresh feedback and multilayered descriptions of the figures, which brought her a fame as the pioneer of the Fragrant Literature (Angkatan Wangi or chick-lit). Ayu Utami particularly criticized that, under the name of sustaining the national integrity and identity, the New Order regime enhanced patriarchal system, which consequently infringed gender equality and women's rights to self-determination. In addition, Ayu Utami argued that the abuse of power and politics-business collusion, which were prevalent during the New Order period, destroyed lives of the masses and the Indonesian society.

• Journal of International Area Studies (JIAS)
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.187-214
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• 2010

This article is aimed at understanding the goals of the citizenship educations and changes of political cultures in the Sukarno, Suharto, and the post-Suharto periods in Indonesia. Sukarno's and Suharto's regimes adopted Pancasila, Indonesia's state ideology, as the philosophical basis of education. The citizenship education based on Pancasila was nothing but a political education, which aimed at suppressing the masses and justifying authoritarian rules of the regimes. After the collapse of the Suharto regime, a democratic citizenship education has launched, which emphasized the expanded civic rights and obligations as world citizens and the masses' active participation in politics. However, in this new curriculum, Pancasila is still emphasized as the supporting philosophical pillar of education. The reason is because, through the values of communitarianism represented in the discourse of Pancasila, the state needs to control the possible irresponsible and undemocratic behaviors of local powers and global economy when liberalism is not effectively controlled.

• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.191-221
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• 2014

South Sumatra's capital, Palembang, has long maintained a river-oriented transportation system. With road transportation's increased importance for exploiting natural resources, however, hundreds of roads have been constructed since the Dutch colonial period. This article examines how the construction of roads and bridges affected people's lives and social networks in Palembang, and what social and political significance it has in the context of a region in the postcolonial Indonesia, with a focus on the huge river called the Musi River, which horizontally crosses the city. After independence, there has been strong aspiration to link these two parts by road, and in 1965 the Musi Bridge (then the Sukarno Bridge) over the river was eventually opened. The construction of the bridge apparently initiated socioeconomic transformations and development in the region, including Ulu (the southern river bank)'s rapid urbanization. However, the features of regional development actually were prerequisites for "national" development. The regional development was impossible without financial support from the central government, and the local or regional aspiration for development was often supported only when it fitted with national envision. The Musi Bridge was a model case that fitted with such national envision. While it was the symbol of regional development, it was also celebrated as an exemplary sign of "national" development, by both Sukarno's government and Suharto's New Order regime. By analyzing the discussions and discourses regarding the Musi project since early 1950s, in addition to its social and economic impact after the construction, this article explores the continuities and changes in the roles and significance of the (construction of the) Musi Bridge with the changing political backstops in both regimes. Together with it, this article also aims to reexamine the interplay between "the national" and "the regional" in the prevalent aspiration for the national and regional "development" throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.1-36
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• 2017

This paper deals with the rise of Islamic scheme of security in Indonesia's longstanding traditions of vigilantism since the fall of Suharto's New Order regime. For that purpose, in comparison with other modes of the securitization process on morality issues that functioned by the end of New Order, I discuss the background that enables Islamic security to launch off, and the process of institutionalization and the practices of Islamic security agenda. I then argue how that scheme relates to power and moral legitimacy, and how it shapes the way of perceiving self and society. Through this ethnographic analysis of the rhetorical and institutional changes to the scheme of security in Indonesia, this paper demonstrates how the social stress in the reform era, which is mediated by the ideas of globalization and Islam, is put into the securitization process, and how Indonesian society imagines its future through the Islamic vehicle of security.

• Journal of International Area Studies (JIAS)
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.155-180
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• 2011

This paper aims at comparing the metanarrative and East Timor's local narrative in Indonesia during the Suharto's regime. Although these history writings have different political goals, the patterns of writings are ironically similar. Both of the history writings show strong nationalistic history writing patterns. Yet, in the writings, these histories place different interpretations on the historical events. In the metanarrative, local dynamics are seen through the diagrams of the nation and nationhood. This narrative finds the roots of the "ethnie" from some kingdoms in Java and Sumatra. These kingdoms, which throve based on the Hindu-Buddhist culture, achieved a territorial unity to a degree, covering some parts of Java and Sumatra. The glorious past disappeared with the advent of the colonial rule. The metanarrative then emphasizes the unity of the ethnic groups in the archipelago, which fiercely resisted against the colonial exploitation and oppression. By this, these ethnic groups were defined as "the masses," the collective identity, which had a same goal to achieve the national independence. In addition, some local histories, which took positive attitudes toward the European forces, were simply left out from the metanarrative. All the separatist movements taking place in the republic were also described as the anti-unifying forces. On the other hand, the goal of the history-writing in East Timor was to enhance the sense of nationalism and create the perception of the "East Timorese." The fundamental aim was the separation from Indonesia. In the narrative, the nationalist politicians overcame the problem of the non-existence of any memories of the glorious past with the awakening of the idea of "the imagined gloriousness of the past if there was no colonial rule." In addition, the narrative overemphasizes the memory of the colonial rule for 450 years under the Portuguese rule in order to stress the fact that it was the colony of Portugal, not of the Netherlands. Finally, the narrative shows how the East Timorese collectively fell to the status of slaves. By this, the political leaders of East Timor evoked the notion that it was recolonized by Indonesia, under which the East Timorese were demoted to the status of slaves. This notion of "slave-master" relationship then became the motives for the independence struggles in East Timor.