Nov 04, 2024 Last Updated 2:20 AM, Oct 31, 2024

Reviews

Review: Money, power and ideology in Indonesia’s political party system

Marcus Mietzner argues that when seen in the context of other new democracies, Indonesia’s political parties are not so bad

Remembering Munir

A museum dedicated to the memory of the famous activist strives to promote human rights awareness among the younger generation

Review: Jokowi: From Solo to Jakarta and beyond?

Bob Lowry reviews the memoir of the current Jakarta governor and likely frontrunner for the 2014 presidential elections

Review: Voices from the unheard

Leila S. Chudori’s novel Pulang is an important addition to a growing literature examining the events of 1965-66 and its aftermath

Review: Julia’s jihad

The provocative Julia Suryakusuma on the rampage

Review: A tale of survival and resilience in modern Surabaya

Robbie Peters' new book brings the poor urban kampungs of Surabaya to life

Review: Justice, victimhood and remembering the violence in East Timor

Lia Kent’s study of East Timor’s attempts at transitional justice is an important contribution  

Review: Taking a musical journey in Sumatra

Margaret Kartomi’s life-long devotion to bringing Sumatran music to the world is revealed in her major contribution to analysing and preserving this musical heritage

Review: Suharto’s guardians and reluctant reformers

A new publication tells the story of the first graduates of the joint Indonesian Armed Forces Military Academy

Review: Lieutenant General Djaja Suparman tells his story

Editor’s note: For Indonesia-watchers the activities of the military and its leaders remain largely opaque and perhaps even menacing. In recent years the steady stream of memoirs and biographies by and about military leaders has, in some cases, assuaged some of this mystery and in others, added to the intrigue. As the public and judicial gaze has increasingly turned to the actions of military leaders with connections to the New Order, the memoir has been engaged by some as a form of testimony in an effort to ‘clear their name’. Whatever the motivation, with each new addition to this genre, we are offered new insights into the fractious and often treacherous ‘interior’ world of the Indonesian Armed Forces. Suparman holds the line but reveals some new insights into the transition of power after the fall of the New Order

Review: Reporting violence and promoting peace

A new book opens up debate about the power of the journalist and media organisations reporting conflict in Indonesia

Review: Power, change, and gender relations in rural Java

Tickamyer and Kusujiarti’s new book is essential reading

Review: My name is Khan

This Indian film’s popularity reveals a popular critique of the US

Review: From the dark side

Jusuf Wanandi’s memoir allows glimpses into the mindset of Suharto-era officialdom

Reviews: Flipping the national story of 1965

Recent ground-breaking publications, an internationally award-winning film and a major conference are opening up new truths about Indonesia’s past

Review: When perpetrators speak

Joshua Oppenheimer’s groundbreaking new film raises disturbing questions about why perpetrators of the 1965-66 mass killings still enjoy impunity for their actions

Review: An act of manipulation?

Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing is a bold, disturbing and ultimately unsatisfactory exploration of the place of violence in modern Indonesia

'Truth takes a while, justice even longer'

In 2012 significant new information exposed critical truths about the 1965 massacres in Indonesia, but there remain major obstacles to recovery and reconciliation

Review: The making of an Indonesian human rights lawyer

Dan Lev explains how an outsider became a national hero

Review: West Papua’s freedom struggle in its global context

Eben Kiksey invites the world to wake up to a crucial struggle unfolding in the Pacific

Latest Articles

Tetangga: These are the stories of our neighbours

Oct 23, 2024 - ASHLYNN HANNAH & SOFIA JAYNE

Introducing a new podcast series

Obit: Adrian Horridge, 1927-2024

Oct 22, 2024 - JEFFREY MELLEFONT

From distinguished neurophysiologist to maritime historian

Book review: The Sun in His Eyes

Oct 07, 2024 - RON WITTON

Elusive promises of the Yogyakarta International Airport’s aerotropolis

Oct 02, 2024 - KHIDIR M PRAWIROSUSANTO & ELIESTA HANDITYA

Yogyakarta's new international airport and aerotropolis embody national aspirations, but at what cost to the locals it has displaced?

Book review: Beauty within tragedy

Sep 09, 2024 - DUNCAN GRAHAM

Subscribe to Inside Indonesia

Receive Inside Indonesia's latest articles and quarterly editions in your inbox.

Bacaan Bumi: Pemikiran Ekologis – sebuah suplemen Inside Indonesia

Lontar Modern Indonesia

Lontar-Logo-Ok

 

A selection of stories from the Indonesian classics and modern writers, periodically published free for Inside Indonesia readers, courtesy of Lontar.