B86 Unfinished Nation:
Indonesia Before and After Suharto by Max Lane
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. Lane describes how small resistance groups inside
the country directed massive political transformation. It 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 archipelagic nation, Unfinished Nation is an illuminating account of modern Indonesian
history.
Max Lane is Visiting Fellow, 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, including the famed Buru Quartet.
B98
Freedom in Entangled World: West Papua and the Architecture of Global
Power
by Eben Kirksey
Eben Kirksey first went to West Papua
in 1998 as an exchange student. His later study of West Papua's resistance
to the Indonesian occupiers and the forces of globalization morphed as he
discovered that collaboration, rather than resistance, was the primary strategy
of this dynamic social movement. Accompanying indigenous activists to Washington,
London, and the offices of the oil giant BP, Kirksey saw the revolutionaries'
knack for getting inside institutions of power and building coalitions with
unlikely allies, including many Indonesians. He discovered that the West
Papuans' pragmatic activism was based on visions of dramatic transformations
on coming horizons, of a future in which they would give away their natural
resources in grand humanitarian gestures, rather than passively watch their
homeland be drained of timber, gold, copper, and natural gas. During a lengthy,
brutal occupation, West Papuans have harbored a messianic spirit and channeled
it in surprising directions. Kirksey studied West Papua's movement for freedom
as a broad-based popular uprising gained traction from 1998. Blending extensive
ethnographic research with indigenous parables, historical accounts, and
compelling narratives of his own experiences, he argues that seeking freedom
in entangled worlds requires negotiating complex interdependencies.
“Here at last is the account I
can unreservedly recommend to anyone interested in the courageous people
and fragile geography of West Papua. Eben Kirksey makes accessible the unique
imagery of West Papuans long subject to racism, corporate exploitation,
and a brutal military. Marshaling impeccable scholarship, he transcends
conventional political ideology to define a form of conflict resolution
relevant to many ‘entangled worlds.’ Bravo!”-- Max White, Amnesty International
USA
"[A] page-turning blend of cultural
analysis, human rights reportage, and ethnography..." -- Danilyn Rutherford,
author of Laughing at Leviathan: Sovereignty and Audience in West Papua
A new book about the indigenous
people of Indonesia's Papua region says Papuans have seemingly never-ending
reserves of hope for self-determination. Freedom in Entangled Worlds is
the culmination of almost 15 years of research about the West Papuan freedom
struggle by American cultural anthropologist Eben Kirksey. His book documents
the way West Papuans have collaborated with outside forces to further their
cause rather than continue resistance against the Indonesian military forces
in the region. --"New Technology Means West Papuans' Plight Won't Fade
Away, Says Author" Radio New Zealand International, May 16, 2012
“[A]n interesting hybrid of an
anthropological study crossed with an accessible history of the
separatist movement in West Papua, Indonesia. . . . The book provides an
engrossing history of the past two decades of this region, as well as a
pointed narrative that implicates the Indonesian government and the
multinational corporations seeking West Papua's natural resources in
grave human rights abuses and promotion of state terror. . . .” --
S. Maxim, Choice
Duke University Press, 2012, 305 pp.
$25 paperback
An eye-opening, firsthand account of Indonesia’s campaign of terror in Aceh.
Acclaimed journalist John Martinkus, whose first book, A Dirty Little War
told the definitive story of East Timor’s passage to independence, provides a vivid, eyewitness account of the brutal war in Aceh. Like East Timor,
Aceh wants independence but it is paying a terrible price, and since September 11 things have got much worse. This book gets inside a conflict. Includes
a final chapter on institutionalized impunity, the legacy of East Timor and the reality of West Papua.
"Martinkus should be saluted for braving brutal consequences to tell us the price of Western, and Australian, tacit acceptance of a
rapacious regional power. We can't say we weren't told." -- Antony Loewenstein,Sydney Morning Herald
The book "traces the immediate events that led to this military siege and the Acehnese people’s resistance to it. Martinkus has
an easy-to-read style, relaying his personal experiences of travelling throughout Aceh to present an intimate portrayal of the daily plight faced
by the Acehnese people." --Jon Lamb, GreenLeft Weekly
B67 Verandah of Violence: The Background to the Aceh Problem Edited by Anthony Reid
This book offers a guide to the complexities of modern Aceh, a land dubbed "The Verandah of Mecca" as it moves toward peace and reconstruction.
Verandah of Violence probes the underlying causes of the conflict that has pitted Aceh against Jakarta, explaining why the Acehnese entered
the Indonesian republic in 1945 with an unparalleled determination to resist outside domination, and how these
attitudes have shaped Aceh's relations with the Indonesian state.
In Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh, the democratization process that began in Indonesia in 1998 encouraged the overt expression of regionalist
sentiment and resentment of the military. The surprising extent of both feelings made Aceh, home to a long-standing independence movement, the
next potential candidate after East Timor to break away from Indonesia, and led to harsh repressive measures by the military. The tsunami of December
2004 brought incalculable destruction and loss to Aceh. At the same time, it brought international sympathy and aid on an unprecedented scale, along
with new pressures for peace. In August 2005, Indonesia and Aceh signed a peace agreement designed to put an end to the conflict. Authors include
Isa Sulaiman, Edward Aspinall, William Nessen, Damien Kingsbury and Lesley McCulloch, Kirsten E. Schulze, Aleksius Jemadu.
NUS Press, 2006 423 pp. Paper $30
B75 The Testimony Project: Papua
by Charles E. Farhadian, photographs by Stephan Babuljak
A collection of histories in West Papua. Twelve West Papuans speak for themselves, movingly present their life stories in 'raw narratives'
as if the interviewees were speaking directly to the reader. Introduction by Ed McWilliams. Dr. Charles Farhadian, who edited the book, explains:
"The goal in creating the book is two-fold. First, it is crucial that Papuans get a chance to speak for themselves, rather than being reinterpreted
or silenced for any number of reasons and by any number of people. By speaking for themselves, Papuans demonstrate they are actors in their
own right. Second, it is equally important to provide an historical document that records the lives of Papuans at the beginning of the 21st century."
“This book is the first of its kind. It dignifies Papuans and lets us speak on our own terms.”
-- Father Neles Tebay, Bishop of Jayapura, Papua
"The Testimony Project: Papua challenges the standardized or idealized views of Papuans.”
-- Rev. Dr. Benny Giay, Professor of Church & Society, Papua
Penerbit Deiya. 2007. 125 pp.$20
B54 West Papua and Indonesia
since Suharto: Independence, Autonomy or Chaos? by Peter King
I
n the 1950s, the people of West Papua (then Dutch New Guinea) were promised
self-determination and eventual independence by their colonial masters.
But in 1963 Indonesia took over the territory with the blessing of the United
States, the United Nations, and Australia. This book reviews the long guerrilla
struggle of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) for a Free Papua and traces
the rise of a non-violent independence movement alongside it led by the
Papua Council Presdium following the fall of Indonesia's military dictator
General Suharto in 1998.
Traveling extensively in West Papua and throughout Indonesia, Peter King
has interviewed leading figures from the West Papuan Independence movement,
church groups, and human rights NGOs. West Papua and Indonesia since Suharto
places the current Papuan struggles in a context of failing Indonesian reform.
Peter King is a research associate in government and international relations
at the University of Sydney.
University of NSW Press, 2004, 240 pp. $24.95
"King argues passionately and persuasively that international intervention
to resolve Papua’s plight is essential: Australia, the US and other countries
must act in concert through the UN once more, as they did in East Timor.
Indonesians must be persuaded that their best interests lie not in a ‘security
approach’ but in dialogue and negotiation with the Papuans and other disenchanted
minorities."
B93 Interfaith Endeavours for Peace in West Papua
by Fr. Neles Tebay
Pontifical Mission Society, Aachen, Germany, 2006 76 pp. $5
Packed with facts like this about the plight of the Papuan people, this short book is an indispensable read for activists
and anyone wanting to know why Papuans are so unhappy about their present plight as Indonesian citizens. -
TAPOL
P7 - A Day in the Life of U.S.-Indonesia Trade
Real Trade profile by International Trade Information Service,
April 1995.
50 pp$7
all are bi-lingual English and Bahasa Indonesia$3 each
P20 - Responding to Aceh's Tsunami: The First 40 Days 109 pp. 2005
$3
P21
- Aceh: Logging A Conflict Zone 40 pp. 2004
$3
P22
- Fear in the Shadows: Militia
in Aceh 62 pp. 2004
$3
P23
- We Are the Victims and the
Witnesses: Women of Aceh 38 pp. 2004
$3
P32 - A People's Agenda?
Post Tsunami Aid in Aceh with AidWatch, 50 pp. English only
2006
$3
P25 - Indonesia at the Crossroads: U.S. Weapons and
Military Training by Frida Berrigan.
World Policy Institute report
13 pp. 2001 $3
P8 - U.S. Arms Transfers to Indonesia 1975-1997: Who's
Influencing Whom? Detailed report on US arms sales by Bill Hartung &
Jennifer Washburn, World Policy Inst., 1997. 17 pp.
$4
In Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh, the democratization process that began in Indonesia in 1998 encouraged the overt expression of regionalist
sentiment and resentment of the military. The surprising extent of both feelings made Aceh, home to a long-standing independence movement, the
next potential candidate after East Timor to break away from Indonesia, and led to harsh repressive measures by the military. The tsunami of December
2004 brought incalculable destruction and loss to Aceh. At the same time, it brought international sympathy and aid on an unprecedented scale, along
with new pressures for peace. In August 2005, Indonesia and Aceh signed a peace agreement designed to put an end to the conflict. Authors include
Isa Sulaiman, Edward Aspinall, William Nessen, Damien Kingsbury and Lesley McCulloch, Kirsten E. Schulze, Aleksius Jemadu.
