Rethinking Indonesia: Postcolonial Theory, Authoritarianism and Identity

This book employs alternative approaches to authoritarianism, power, domination and political identity in contemporary Indonesia. It seeks to clarify the relationship between knowledge and 'real' politics. Drawing upon the thought of Edward Said and Michel Foucault, the text argues that understandings of Indonesian political life are profoundly shaped by particular approaches to culture, tradition, ethnicity, Cold War politics and modernity. Power, domination and the effects of authoritarianism on identity are key areas of discussion in this innovative and topical analysis of Indonesia and the study of its politics.