Indonesia Musings
I just received an email from this account asking if I still want to keep this blog as I haven't posted anything in a while. So, I'll add a short post here.
Over the summer I've been reading a lot about Indonesia, and now have a much better understanding of its history, dating back from 1200 to the present. I'm currently reading through an excellent book about Chinese emigration, including to Indonesia, by Philip Kuhn, "Chinese Among Others: Emigration in Modern Times." I've written several hundred pages of notes and comments, and soon need to compile these into the book proposal, for a planned, co-authored book about Chinese Indonesians with Sunny Lie. I feel as though I'm writing a second dissertation!
Here are some thoughts worth sharing.
1. Dutch Colonialism was very bad! The Dutch East India Company went to the "East Indies" in the 1500s with the intent of monopolizing the spice island trade. They were quite good at that. But to do so meant engaging in some battles with other European powers in the region--Portugal and England. And they also practiced slavery on a wide-scale, using workers on their plantations. They also engaged in a number of massacres, including the first recorded massacre of thousands of Chinese who were living in Batavia, or today's Jakarta, in 1740.
2. The Dutch led to the creation of the idea of Indonesia, which emerged as a nation in the 20th century. This comes from another excellent book by R. E. Elson, The Idea of Indonesia: A History.
3. The contemporary, post-colonial "problem" of the Chinese population, that has been in Indonesia at least since the 1400s, is an outcome of the Dutch colonial practices. The Dutch designated Chinese as a "second class" population, below Europeans, but above all local, non-Chinese, whom they called inboorling, a term that came to be understood as "savages." The Chinese served in the middle, with many becoming wealthy by operating "tax farms" on behalf of both the Dutch and local rulers, especially on Java. But this also led to both a bitter resentment and sense of distinction, that became manifest in the anti-Chinese policies of both Soekarno and Suharto, and continues in discourses today.
4. As seen from the experience of Chinese Indonesians, assimilation versus acculturation is a complex, fraught issue. Suharto wanted the Chinese to "assimilate," and erase all of their Chineseness. But at the same time Chinese were not allowed to identify as anything but Chinese. Some benefitted economically, under the so-called "Ali-Baba" system, whereby a "local" Indonesian fronted a Chinese in a business venture. But not all, such as in Singkawang.
Just some preliminary thoughts. More to come.
Todd
Over the summer I've been reading a lot about Indonesia, and now have a much better understanding of its history, dating back from 1200 to the present. I'm currently reading through an excellent book about Chinese emigration, including to Indonesia, by Philip Kuhn, "Chinese Among Others: Emigration in Modern Times." I've written several hundred pages of notes and comments, and soon need to compile these into the book proposal, for a planned, co-authored book about Chinese Indonesians with Sunny Lie. I feel as though I'm writing a second dissertation!
Here are some thoughts worth sharing.
1. Dutch Colonialism was very bad! The Dutch East India Company went to the "East Indies" in the 1500s with the intent of monopolizing the spice island trade. They were quite good at that. But to do so meant engaging in some battles with other European powers in the region--Portugal and England. And they also practiced slavery on a wide-scale, using workers on their plantations. They also engaged in a number of massacres, including the first recorded massacre of thousands of Chinese who were living in Batavia, or today's Jakarta, in 1740.
2. The Dutch led to the creation of the idea of Indonesia, which emerged as a nation in the 20th century. This comes from another excellent book by R. E. Elson, The Idea of Indonesia: A History.
3. The contemporary, post-colonial "problem" of the Chinese population, that has been in Indonesia at least since the 1400s, is an outcome of the Dutch colonial practices. The Dutch designated Chinese as a "second class" population, below Europeans, but above all local, non-Chinese, whom they called inboorling, a term that came to be understood as "savages." The Chinese served in the middle, with many becoming wealthy by operating "tax farms" on behalf of both the Dutch and local rulers, especially on Java. But this also led to both a bitter resentment and sense of distinction, that became manifest in the anti-Chinese policies of both Soekarno and Suharto, and continues in discourses today.
4. As seen from the experience of Chinese Indonesians, assimilation versus acculturation is a complex, fraught issue. Suharto wanted the Chinese to "assimilate," and erase all of their Chineseness. But at the same time Chinese were not allowed to identify as anything but Chinese. Some benefitted economically, under the so-called "Ali-Baba" system, whereby a "local" Indonesian fronted a Chinese in a business venture. But not all, such as in Singkawang.
Just some preliminary thoughts. More to come.
Todd
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