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Article Excerpt
The Idea of Indonesia: A History. By R.E. Elson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Hardcover: 365pp.
This book, as the author explains at the outset, is not about Indonesian nationalism per se or the "ever present problem of national integration": "It is, rather, a book that sets out to explain the origins, development, triumph, tragedy and, more recently, persistence and reframing of Indonesia as both state and nation" (p. xxiii).
Naturally the book begins with the pre-revolutionary period, and some important themes emerge. The idea of "Indonesian pauperisation" (p. 56) seemed to enjoy great popularity among nationalists as a common bond, leading to President Sukarno's anti-colonial and subsequent anti-neo-colonial approaches. Sukarno's belief in modernization led him to reject a role for Islam in politics, although he often stated in public that Indonesia as a nation was "ordained by God Almighty". As Elson states, Sukarno,...
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