Indonesia: Towards Democracy
Taufik Abdullah, author
Date of publication:
2009
Number of pages:
640
Code:
BM295
Hard Cover
ISBN: 9789812303660
Soft Cover
ISBN: 9789812303653
Reviews
"This volume is the fourth in a series of texts on the history of nation-building in Southeast Asia. The series has its origins in the mid-1990s when historian Wang Gungwu brought together a group of eminent nationalist historians from the region to begin work on a scholarly history of their particular country. The emphasis was to be on tracing the historical process of nation-building. Taufik Abdullah's text forms the Indonesian contribution to this series. In this book, the author returns repeatedly to one of his major themes: as Wang Gungwu puts it in his introduction: 'Taufik Abdullah believes that nation-building in Indonesia was, from the start, rooted in the democratic ideals held by some of the country's best and brightest, and that the ideals were deeply held' (p. xiv). Throughout, Abdullah is concerned to show that in the case of Indonesia we are faced with a history in which '... the ideals that have been nurtured since the beginning when the nation began to be visualised remain intact. Some changes in the interpretation may have taken place and some deviations here and there can be seen, but the literal meaning of the ideals continues to be the guiding light' (p. xi). For the author, these ideas centre basically on a general commitment to democracy, which -- although variously interpreted in post-1949 period -- has remained a potent force for change, re-emerging strongly in the late 1990s" (Asian Affairs).
About the publication
This book traces the beginning of the process of nation-formation, the struggle for independence, the hopeful beginning of the new nation-state of Indonesia only to be followed by hard and difficult ways to remain true to the ideals of independence. In the process Indonesia with its sprawling archipelago and its multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation has to undergo various types of crisis and internal conflicts, but the ideals that have been nurtured since the beginning when a new nation began to be visualized remain intact. Some changes in the interpretation may have taken place and some deviations here and there can be noticed but the literal meaning of the ideals continues to be the guiding light. In short this is a history of a nation in the continuing effort to retain the ideals of its existence.
Contents
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Indonesia: Towards Democracy
[Whole Publication, ISBN: 9789812305619] -
Preliminary pages with Introduction by Wang Gungwu
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1. The Formation of a Multi-ethnic Nation
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2. War, Revolution, and the Nation State
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3. Democracy and Problems of Integration
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4. National Identity in a Revolutionary State
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5. National Values in the Pancasila Democracy
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6. The Greedy State and Its Nemeses
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7. Epilogue
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Chronology
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Bibliography
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Index
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The Author
